ATM question

Remember one thing, most ATMs are found on banks. And banks work in the world of money throughout the entire world. The language of money is English and the expectations are the same in the western part of the world.

Most of the time I have had to put my card into the machine. Fear not. ATMs in almost all of western Europe (including Italy) work exactly the same way that they do in the US. You'll get your card back. And if you don't just remember that a bank is a bank. If the ATM keeps your card for some odd reason the card will be safe and sound inside the machine. The English speaking people inside the bank can help you figure out why your card was taken and how to get it back.

Also, remember that Rick Steves tries to do things like lost his ATM card in a machine to see what would happen if he tried to get it back. Nowhere have I seen him talk about losing his ATM card in a machine. So my guess is that it's nothing to worry about.

Just like here in the US, some ATM's just let you swipe, other ATM's "grab" your card during the transaction.

I have never found a swiped ATM but that does not mean they do not exist. The ones I have used always sucked in the card. -- But --- two things, First, there is a reported scam around that puts a very thin plastic sleeve into the ATM slot which causes it to malfunction and retain your card. After you leave someone pulls the plastic sleeve out with your card. I have never seen that. Have read that running you finger across the card slot will detect the little plastic tab necessary to pull the sleeve out. THEREFORE, I will only use an ATM that someone else has just used. I will stand in line to do that. If it works for them, it will probably work for me, Second, I try to only use ATMs attached to a bank during open hours. If there is a problem, Marcia guards the machine and I can go into the bank. Never had to do that, but it is a habit.

One other difference with ATMs in Italy, is that you get a message on the screen to remove your card within 30 seconds. You are strongly advised to obey this instruction. If you don't remove your card, the ATM will suck it back in and you will have to go into the bank to get it back. That can happen here in the U.S. but I think you get more than 30 seconds and you don't get the message up front.

Message in Venice gave me 30 seconds to take my credit card back and then said I had 30 seconds to take my money. It did print me a receipt of my withdrawal, which I did not get in Rome.

About the 30-second warning, ATMs in the US will take your card back in 30 seconds also. They just don't tell you that they will. I know this because I forgot to take my card once and it was about 36 hours before I realized this. The machine had taken the card back in and it was safely in the hands of the bank. This is to PROTECT YOU in case you forget to take your card from the machine. 30 seconds in plenty of time to grab your cash, card and receipt.

All the machines I've used in Rome, Florence and Venice you had to fully insert the card. They all had the 30 second warnings that the previous poster mentioned. We had no problems. Just make sure the screen doesn't have a message saying it's out of order or needs to be serviced (in Italian of course).

You can expect the ATM to work the same in Europe as US. I recommend that you notify your Bank, Visa, American Express etc. that you will be traveling in Italy and the dates. That way they will not begin fraud checks when you begin using your cards in Italy. Potential is for the card to be froze if you don't let them know in advance.

I would also suggest that you take more than one type of card. We had trouble with one of our cards in Italy since it wasn't on cirrus. If it doesn't work at one bank it might work at another. Also, we found a couple of time the screen told us we didn't have enough in our account (although we did). So we simply tried again for a different amount and it worked fine.

Donna, the machines in Italy only except a 4 digit pin number. i had to change my pin before i left for Italy.