I will be in Florence for 1 week and am confused about best way to access cash:
I am a Bank of America Customer. While they do not have a bank in Italy, their partners (Barclay's, Deutsche Bank) do. Will I be charged additional fees?
Travelex card?
American Express travelers checks?
HELP!!!
I
Marci,
The easiest way to obtain cash in Italy (or most other places in Europe) is via an ATM. Note that your travel funds MUST be in a chequing account with a four-number PIN. The exchange rate on cash withdrawals from an ATM is usually charged at the "Interbank rate", which is good.
I'd suggest checking with your Bank regarding fees on cash withdrawals in Europe.
If possible, I'd suggest travelling with a "backup" ATM card, in case any problems arise with your primary card (something which happened to me when I was travelling in France last year). Having one credit card would also be a good idea.
I wouldn't suggest using Traveller's Cheques, as these will be a nuisance to deal with. Many merchants these days won't even accept them, or will charge horrendous rates for cashing them. I agree with Rick on that point, "I've cashed my last Traveller's Cheque".
Good luck and happy travels!
Marci..I'm a B of A. customer. You won't find many Barclays (UK) or Deutsche Bank (Germany) banks or ATM's in Italy. Your BA debit/check card will work in most Italian ATM's.
The fee BA charges for withdrawing foreign currency from an Italian ATM is $5 per transaction plus 1% of the amount withdrawn.
BA does not have a partner bank in Italy so there is no way to get fee free money using their card. Your choices as stated previous is to open an account with either Charles Schwab or Capital One.
Even with the fee, the exchange rate will probably be better in the long run taking money out of ATM's in Italy than getting money here, using travelers checks or using a Travelex card.
I've been there many times and usually I ask my local bank to get currency from them before I go..Sometimes bank rates when you get to italy are high....BUt I don't bring an enourmous amount of cash...Then i just use my credit card when I am there(notifying my bank ahead of time so they don't think these are suspicious transactions.
The absolutely least expensive way to obtain foreign currency is a debit card through an ATM. You cannot get a lower exchange rate anywhere than the ATM. There are NO charges in Europe for using an ATM. ALL fees are solely determine by your card issuer. Travelers checks are a dead issue. Prepaid cards, like Travelex, can be very expensive. Read fine print very careful. Prepaid cards provide min advantage over a debit card and a number of disadvantages.
There are some Deutsche Bank branches in Italy, but they are not plentiful. Since I am always in France before traveling to Italy, I get plenty of cash (Euros) at a BNP Paribas ATM in France.
Hi Marci,
I second what Ken said in every way! First, as to the traveler's check--recently when comparing different products one can use as a way to exchange cash, I discovered that exchanging a traveler's check would cost me .10 more on the dollar which is a HUGE deal. That's 500.00 less in my pocket if i spend 5000.00 on meals, expenses, and accommodations while in Italy. There are some great threads here on money exchanging; besides the comments others have left to your post, I suggest scrolling back through to read anything you can about using debit cards, visa cards, traveler's checks, etc. on this site. The information is invaluable. Happy travels!
