An ATM Question

Thank you. My question is concerning the average or usual limit at the European financial institution's ATM. I must deposit 900 euros for an apratment the day of arrival. Trying to decide whether to buy in USA or wait untill our arrival in Florence.

If you are withdrawing on you checking at ATM's, be sure to talk to your bank at home before you leave. You might want to raise the limit on what you withdraw. I asked my bank to change my daily limit for ATM withdraw for the trip from $300 to $500. I also told them the dates I would be out of the country and that I would be in Italy, so they didn't put a freeze on my use if they though someone using it without my knowledge. They also changed my pin from letters to numbers for me. I had read to do these things on this web site. Someone told me if you put you pin # in 2 or more time wrong in a row, your account might get frozen. My husband went to a local bank here before we left and purchased the Euro's we needed for the start of our trip last fall.

Ken: If you can't get $1600 from your ATM here, you won't be able to do it there. People in your situation who report in here say that for apartment deposits that are required to be in euros (cash), they have to get it here, usually by prearrangement at their bank here and then bring it with them (wear your moneybelt). An "average" maximum ATM withdrawal amount reported here in the last year is about €200 to €250 but I guess this varies with the individual's financial standing at his bank here.

Ken,

We needed to come up with that amount in Florence for a rental from rentalsflorence.com. Too hard. We wired the funds. A lot easier.

I suggest that there is no real way that you will be able to withdraw 1000Euro from an ATM on your arrival unless you have 3-4 ATM cards from different accounts. About 250Euro is the max unless you have made advance arrangements with your bank and even then, your arrangements could fail at the Italy end and you get 200Euro to 250Euro.

I would strongly suggest arranging to buy a certain quantity of Euros at your local bank before departing. They will charge you about 5% for the buy. We needed to do 500Euro for a cooking school class that we attended the day after arrival. The peace of mind of having the Euros in hand was really worth it.

Ken, you should check with your bank and find out if they have a partner bank in Italy. For example, I have a Bank of America account and the partner banks in Italy are (or were as of last July) DeutscheBank and Banca Antoniana. From ATMs at those banks, I could withdraw a larger amount, maybe 500 euros. From other banks, only 200 euros. You will probably need to call your bank, partner bank info is generally not listed on their website.

Ken - there are just too many vairiables in play to give you a more specific answer. First - there's your home bank limits. Through Bank of America my limit is at $1,000 DAILY! So it starts with your bank limitations per day, and as said here, whenever your next day bank cycle starts.

Next, you have to consider the banks here. Each bank, and there are hundreds of small & large banks here in Italy, has their own "ATM" system and their own "agreement" with your overseas bank. Whereas I have a $1,000 limit, Banco Populare di Milano will only let me pull out 200 Euro daily while the Intesa/San Paulo Bank ATM's let me pull out €400+.

Some ATM's only have "fixed" amounts up to €250 - you cannot enter "other" and then type in an amount. We pay our rent in CASH (€1,000) and so we have to pull out €€ each day to get our rent!

The long & short of it is you probably WILL NOT be able to pull out $1,000 in a 24 hr. period. Sorry we can't be more specific...

I was able to wishdraw 300 euros at one time from an ATM in Florence last week, but I'm not positive what the limit was from that ATM.

Your bank has rules for your daily limit. Most accounts have a $500 per day rule (about 300 Euro?). Some "Gold" accounts allow you twice that.

Check with your bank for your daily limit. See if they have another account you could switch to with a higher daily limit (you might have to wait for a new card in the mail). Also find out when it "cycles" (resets itself, usually midnight local at home); you may be able to take your daily max then go back thirty minutes later for another daily max if needed.

The fewer overall withdrawels you make, the fewer transaction fees you will pay. I take my max each time (possible exception, the last ATM stop near vacation end) and keep most of it in my money belt.

Thank you for all the answers. In trying to be helpful some of you misunderstood my question. I know what my bank will allow.

I do not know what the limits of the ATMs are in Florence. One person was able to withdraw 300 euros. Does anyone else have experience of withdrawing higher amounts from a Florence ATM? Will the ATM (not my bank)allow a second withdrawal the same day? Possibly just minutes later? Any knowledgeable answers are appreciated.

Thank you.

Ken in answer to your question, most ATMs in Italy can handle up to 300 Euros. Many have limits of 200 Euros(maddening with the service charge amortized over a smaller base). I don't think any of them are set up to dispense over 500 Euros (and I don't recall seeing that as an option anywhere). I agree with the poster above who suggested wiring the money (should be able to do it for less than the currency conversion fee at a local bank).

Our experience was that you could go to one machine only once a day. However, the larger cities (incl. Florence) have ATMs all over the place so it was very easy for us to find another machine the one time we needed more cash that we could get in one withdrawal.

From my understanding, regardless if you go to one machine or three - you will be maxed by your home banks daily withdrawal - which in my case was $500. Most ATM's in Europe only gave 250 euro max - although I did get 300 one day. I even asked my bank if I used my card and my husband used his in a separate ATM, could I get two withdrawals of up to $500?, they reiterated it was $500 per account per day. So I actually had two accounts set up with cash in them in case I had to witdraw more money. I had to pay 900 euros upon arrival as well and the only way I could figure out to do it was to travel over there with 1000.00 euros - so I exchanged at my bank here. NOT a good deal - but didn't have much choice. 5 days later I owed another 800 euros - so I had to make sure each day that I got the max out so that I'd have enough cash to pay for my next location and for activities each day, which mostly require cash. Just FYI - the Uffizi and Accademia only took cash.

I have found that where the ATM is located makes a difference.I have a 1000.00 limit which last Nov. was 600E.I went to large banks in large cities and had no problem getting it.In small towns especially on a sunday evening any of these banks had very small limits about 200-300e.It helps to have two separate bank accounts and if traveling with more then two people having accounts at different banks.That way someone can always get money.

Great point Jack... my wife and I do that now... use two separate accounts and thus we have access to about $2,000 a day (although now we have little need for that other than paying rent...). That's a great idea because on one trip years ago our ATM card got "demagnitized," and thus unusable... or at least that's how the bank explained it when we got back to the States... good thing we had the other account!

One year we "lost" an AMEX Platinum card in Amsterdam. Called AMEX on Int'l phone. They said I could pick a card up the next day at the local AMEX office. I said, "No thanks, I'll get it when I get back to the States... till then I'll just use my Visa!" Next morning concierge called me from downstairs at 8 AM to tell me a courier was here from AMEX for me - They had brought over my "new" AMEX card! Must have been the VISA comment - great service!

We were in Italy 10/07 and wre only able to pull out 300 euros per day despite raising our limits at home before we left.

Regarding transaction fees: we use Capitol One and had NO TRANSACTION FEES for using the ATM so you may want to look into Capitol One.

I recently closed an unused checking account. I have a Bank of America ATM card, and as a backup I have set up my CapitolOne credit card with a PIN in case I have a problem and need a cash advance. I will use this only as a last resort and then pay the bill on my BA internet account very quickly. That will minimize fees. I have two BA ATM cards to the one account; in case one card has a problem I have a backup card. I've never been able to withdraw more than 300 Euros at a time at ATMs in Europe. The limit per day is for US time, so you may be able to work around the day change at midnight wherever your home bank is located.

We have a similar issue with our arrival in Venice. We decided that the safest route is to get euros (and lots of them) prior to leaving. Almost all our accomodations have to be paid, in cash, the day we arrive in the city. We were concerned that the ATM's in the airport would be down, and we wouldn't be able to get cash. My bank can get me euros for a 5% fee and will have them within 24 hours. Yes, we have money belts. You might check if your apartment owner will accept a money transfer through paypal. I paid several deposits this way. They charge a 2-3% fee to send euros.