Debit (ATM) card troubles in Italy

Which credit union and what networks do they belong to? There might be a pattern.

In every trip we have always had one or two times when the debit card would not work in a particular ATM but always worked in the next one. I would check to make sure you card is in go share because it could just a problem with the card reader. But not sure how you would get a message of "non-operational" (I have never seen that) but still were able to enter the withdrawal amounts and access your account.

We are just back from Italy. We used Credit Union ATM Debit Cards and a Capital One Credit Card. No problem with either but we did let the powers that be know we were going.

Hi Eric, from wich bank is your debit card? I have GTE and I'm travelling to Europe this coming September. I would like to know that way I'd tell the bank about the problems some people are having with MTM's over there. Best regards,
Patricia P--Florida.

Credit union is a fairly small one based in Oregon. I don't want to get too specific. The problems with the ATMs in Italy seem to be isolated to the BNP Paribas network, which seems to be pretty extensive in Italy.

A more important question might be which network is the debit card associated with - Plus, Cirrus??? Those are the two most common. Some credit unions use the STAR network which is only good in the North America and, now, some limited parts of Europe. Also it is good practice to have to two debit cards linked to two different accounts. I actually carry three. Our primary is a credit union and two different accounts at a regular bank. But the CU has never failed me. Think you have to be careful about taking a bad experience (cause unknown) and trying to throw it as a blanket over all ATMs in Italy.

Just a comment on this, but no real help I'm afraid. I went with a friend to France in 2010. She was told by her bank that she would have fee free ATM withdrawals if she used BNP Parabis machines. After several attempts at various machines in different places and going in to speak to the staff at a branch (she is fully fluent in French), she gave up using this bank's ATMs all together as they never accepted her card. No one could ever straighten this issue out for her. So it sounds as if this bank is not totally reliable for use with out of country machines. I was able to use this bank's machine in Italy without a problem, but perhaps it might be a last resort.

Eric, The first question that comes to mind is whether your Credit Union had any explanations for the problem? I wonder if they were making any changes to their data system at the time? I had a similar problem with my usual ATM card on a trip to France a couple of years ago. In that case the card wouldn't work at all for about a week. Fortunately I had a "backup" card so was still able to get cash. After several days of unsuccessful ATM transactions with my primary card, the Credit Union called me (at 03:00) to find out what the problem was. That's one reason I always travel with a Cellphone - if they hadn't been able to reach me, they likely would have "frozen" both cards! The problem was eventually traced to a "coding error" when they were implementing a new data system. I always travel with at least one backup card, and I usually test the backup cards a few times during trips. I've received the "non operational" message a few times with those cards, but fortunately there were no false charges on my account. I'd suggest taking at least one backup card on future trips, and if you travel with a Laptop, iPod Touch (or whatever), check your accounts periodically during your trip. Cheers!

Occassionally I've had an ATM not work for me and I just move on. I have noticed problems with BNP - once in Rome a BNP processed my transaction but shorted me the money. In any event, perhaps it's some kind of issue with BNP and not your card.

Besides all the good advice here, I would also suggest that anyone traveling carry two bank cards under two separate accounts for a few reasons. First, if you have trouble with one account you have a backup. Two, if you lose a card you can close an account and you still have money. Three, there are limits on how much you can withdraw each day so the extra card can come in handy if you want more money later in the day. We had one machine 'eat' our card. We closed the account and used the other card. It is nice to have a back up.

We used ATMs last September for our trip (Germany, Austria, Italy) and didn't have any issues. Also had two accounts available to withdraw cash. Primary was Capital One with no fees, and secondary was a credit union (1% fee). We withdrew form both accounts on our first ATM visit to confirm both worked. After that, we exclusively used the Captital One card. During the trip, I periodically used my iPod to double check activity and balances.
The two Checking Accounts mentioned above are not our primary accounts used at home for paying bills/automated payrole deposits. I was concerned if the "worst" did happen and this debit card was lost stolen and account was cleaned out, it would really screw up finances and bill paying back home while traveling.