Capital One debit card dilemma

I believe this has come up in the recent past in the forum; you might do a search to
check on any updates.

If I recall, you can use a credit card at ATM's to withdraw cash. Since it is not a debit
card tied to one of your accounts, it's treated as a loan and you will be making interest
payments (which may have a minimum amount per month). But if you pay the amount
due as soon as you get back, it won't be that much, and it beats not having cash in
Italy if you need it.

Go find a local credit union. There must be dozens within a 30 minute radius. Call around, find one with no fees, tell them you need your card in no more than 3 days. You should be able to get their ATM/Debit card same-day in many credit unions - you can walk-in, open an account, make a deposit, they can make you a new debit card for your new account while you wait, they can print you checks, set up all your accounts, etc., etc. in no time at all. And you can probably find one who will do all of this for zero cost, and zero fees going forward.

Don't bring tons of cash with you, for a variety of reasons.

Charles Schwab works in any ATM anywhere and refunds fees. Only way to go.

Fidelity has the equivalent card to Schwab but no one talks about it. I looked into it because I already had a Fidelity account and found they had the same service. I've used it on a couple of trips and it works great - money with no conversion fee and any ATM charges refunded.

Good luck,
=Tod

Fidelity and Schwab may be wonderful, but don't know about getting the physical card soon enough for the OP. Maybe one of them could overnight a card?

Regarding Credit Unions, we joined one a few years ago, got ATM cards, and found that they were not accepted in European ATMs. After the trip, they told us their cards were "not set up for that" ?, but "maybe next year". So if you try a credit union, be sure to ask. And ask the right person, the teller probably won't know.

Whatever card(s) you wind up with, I'd suggest putting them into Google Wallet or Apple Pay if you can. The security is better, and might be more likely to work. Others here may correct me about that.

Thank you, all. You're right, of course, that carrying large amount of € is not a very smart way to go. I could avoid it by using my VISA/MC CREDIT cards to pay the tuition and prepare myself for the foreign transaction fee when the statement comes.
I understand UniCredit is one of the major Italian banks. I'm thinking of contacting them - the Lucca branch specifically - to confirm that the ATM will accept my PULSE network card. And I'll try phoning Betterment today to try for information from a real person.
I was just hoping to find some reassurance that someone else HAS used a PULSE network debit card without difficulty at UniCredit ATM.
I will certainly look into the credit union suggestion. That never occurred to me - thank you!

Not sure if this helps, could you make a bank transfer (ACH) ahead of time to pay the tuition. It might take pressure off of the rest of the process.

Oh my, what a good idea! I'll look into that right away!

The credit/debit cards we use are with the PULSE network and have used it all over Italy without problems. We withdraw cash from any ATM attached to a bank. Our credit card company treats it as a "cash advance" so interest rate is high.

Thank you, Charylm. While my card is debit, it is reassuring to know that you have been able to withdraw € in Italy using the PULSE network. I have sent an email to UniCredit and am now more hopeful about that possible reply.

Contact Capital One and see if it can issue you one on the Visa or M/C network.

Good idea, and when I asked that late last week the answer was NO. Cap One bought Discover to get out of paying user fees to the VISA/MC network. Now that they own a network, they will no longer offer cards outside of that.
The credit unions in my area do immediate-issue VISA cards for their checking accounts but the cards only work domestically, not overseas. But thanks for the suggestion!
I just spoke with Betterment and they have assured me that all looks good so far and the funds transfer into the new account IS in process. Also they entered/acknowledged my request to expedite delivery of that VISA-backed debit card and noted my Italian travel dates on my account.
And I'm about to email the two language schools and enquire about paying tuition in advance via ACH transfer - another welcome and helpful suggestion.

If the tuition is your real concern you could look into a provider like Wise. Direct transfers are the common way to pay for things in Italy so all you need is their payment account information and Wise - or other services - will allow you to shift dollars to euros and pay their account directly. Wise obviously does charge a fee but it may well be less that the percentage your credit card may charge you for a foreign purchase fee.

Checking their website it will cost you $1,169.59 for 1,000e with fees of $6.24 and their conversion is .8596 which is (sadly) currently pretty good. Every time I've looked into various services Wise was always the winner on fees.

You'll need their Full Name, BAN and their identifier Email address, phone number, or Wisetag (if they are in the system) but all this is standard and if you contact them about transfer payment they will know exactly what to send. This direct bank payment is common in Italy where checks aren't really used very much so direct bank to bank transfer payments are common. I've done this to reserve rooms (particularly in the south) in places where they didn't want to deal with credit cards and their clientele is primarily Italian rather than tourists.

Wise also has a debit card you can transfer dollars to and withdraw in euros but I haven't found their fee structure to be helpful, but if that can get you a card in a couple of days it may also be an option. Or if you can store your account on a phone payment system you might just need the account information.
https://wise.com/us/card/

Hope this helps,
=Tod

Thank you, everyone, for your support as I work this out!
Yes, I can pay the tuitions [in advance] by bank transfer. I've decided to wait until I know for certain that my new Betterment VISA has or hasn't arrived on time. If it has, great - I can use it to pay the tuition as was my original plan. If it doesn't arrive, then I can initiate the bank transfer through WISE once I'm settled in Lucca. (Thank you, Tod! I've used Wise in the past and am amazed at how quick and easy such overseas transactions are.) I
I'll order € to carry with me - fewer than I originally feared! - to have ready in case I'm without an easily working debit card. All trains & site tickets I've already purchased. The cash is for daily incidentals and the Venice lodging (though I'm going to double check about perhaps paying that 10-night cost with a credit card.)
Again, I thank you all so very much for taking the time to share your ideas and support. My head and my emotions are definitely in a better place after all these posts.