Money

You won't be charged an ATM fee from the banks here. It'll be from your bank. I have something like $8 in fees on my BofA account when I use it (which is seldom). I use a Cap1 card most of the time and once in awhile for a cash withdrawal but pay it off right away. As far as I know Chase doesn't have a branch here and charges a foriegn transaction fee. I think the daily limit will depend on your card/bank. My Citi card is 350 euro a week, my BofA card $200 a week. You should double check with your banks before you leave. Hope this helps. Buon Viaggo!!

Jon, I'll try to provide a few answers to your questions (in the same order as your post): > I don't have any information on fees for U.S. Banks. Many others on the HelpLine mention Capital One but you'll have to check with them for details. You might also try Credit Unions. > It's not likely that U.S. Banks will have "branches in Italy". It's more likely that they will have "partner banks" in Italy. There will be logos on the back of ATM cards that show the affiliations (ie: Cirrus, Maestro). > The fees will likely be a percentage of the amount withdrawn. Check with the Bank when you've decided on a card. > Yes, there are limits on daily withdrawals. I'd suggest contacting your Bank to have those increased prior to your trip, since exchange will be reflected in the amount. * NOTE - European Banks may have different limits, and those will always take priority. > NO, I tend to use Cash more often. Many smaller restaurants and Hotels in Italy DO NOT accept credit cards. I tend to stay in Hotels listed in the Guidebook that do accept credit cards, and that's one of the few things I use CC's for. A couple of important points to mention - when you set-up your accounts for travel, note that travel funds must usually be in a chequing account with a four-number PIN. Also, it's a REALLY good idea to take a "backup" ATM card, in case of problems with the primary card. I believe that's important, as I've had that happen! You may find it helpful to have a look at the "Money" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door (~Page 164). Cheers!

You can set up a money market account through Capital One that won't charge you any fees at all. You get an ATM card to use at the ATMs in Italy. You even earn a little interest.

You just have to check around for low, no fee debit cards. Some on line banks, many credit unions, Schwab, etc. have no fees or min fees. Worse case is about 3% fee which is still cheaper than exchange bureaus or anywhere in the US. A lot of place in Europe will provide a discount for cash so we tend to go almost exclusively cash. Rarely charge anything except maybe during the past day or two when we are managing the Euro so that we bring home a hundred or so.

Check with your bank if they have a "relationship" with an Italian bank that wont cost you anything for withdrawal's. My Bank of America debit card worked for free in "sister" atms. I found several atms near my hotel and marked them on a map prior to going to Rome. Make sure you notify your bank that you are traveling so they don't put a hold on your acount for "unusual" activity. Also, you can request a change to your daily atm withdrawal. As mentioned above, make sure your atm password is only 4 numbers. Keypads usually do not not have letters so you'll be in trouble trying to figure out your password and most are limited to only 4 digits. I ordered $100 worth of Euro from my bank before my trip. Enough to get me thru the first day. I made a wd at the airport in Rome and one more during my trip.
If your bank does charge a fee, make 1 or 2 large wd's rather than $40 every time you pass an atm.

I too had never used an ATM until my trip to Italy. I found Capital One had the best deal - no fee (some us banks do charge them) and no foreign exchange fee. The machine you use will charge a small fee, but that's out of your control. I had no problems - they have english and are easy to use. sue

The bank owned European ATM will NOT charge you a fee. All fees charged to you are assessed by the card issuer which is generally your bank.

I have been using a DEBIT card tied to a CHECKING ACCOUNT at my local credit union using a FOUR digit pin number (be sure to know it in numbers NOT letters) every summer in Europe with no problems. I do not take any European currency with me from the US - again never had a problem with that. I take a credit card only for a back up and perhaps to pay for a hotel if we can not find a B&B where we always pay cash. We pay cash for things rather than use a credit card as some places no longer take US credit cards - like small mom & pop eateries or small stores. My CU charges a 1% fee and I am happy with that. Happy travels.

Jon, ATMs (bancomats) are the easiest and cheapest way to get euro. Check with your bank to verify your limit is high enough to cover the amount you want, if not, ask them to raise the limit. On joint accounts sometimes the limit is per card not account so two cards could each take out the limit on the same account. Open another account to increase the amount you can withdraw. It is also a good idea for a backup. Look for the best deal for this new travel account. See http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange You want a low(or Zero) foreign transaction fee and a low or zero charge for out of network fees. Italian banks will not charge you for using their bancomats. On the back of your ATM or debit card you need a Visa - Plus or MasterCard - Cirrus symbol.
The Italian bank ATM may have a transaction limit (the amount you can pull out at one time), usually between 250 and 500 euro, but you can perform multiple transactions until you reach your bank's daily limit.

To all who have posted, many thanks. I have been in the process of setting up a money market account with Capital One. They will send me an ATM card that has no transaction fees on their end. It seems from what folks are writing as long as you use an ATM at an Italian Bank, there should be no fees on the Italian banks end as well. As back up I will also take my Bank of america debit card. B of A tells me that as long as I use BNL Di Italia a partner bank there are no fees. When I go to look on the internet for BNL Di Italia I can't find any ATM locations, just a lot of sutff about a tenis match. additionally there is BNL di parablas, I believe a French bank, not the same or have they merged? hard to tell. Does anyone know if BNL di Italia is a common bank in most major Italian cities? Thanks to all, Jon

BNL (Banca Nazionale del Lavoro) is huge in Italy. BNL is part of BNP Paribas, which is part of the Global ATM Alliance. (They sponsor the Italian Open tennis tournament next month, hence all the tennis hits.) You'll be fine. Have a great time. FWIW, here's their website: http://www.bnl.it/wps/portal, but surprise, it's in Italian. Also, you know it's called a "bancomat" in Italy, not an ATM, right? If you ask someone where an ATM is, they might not understand you.

I just got off the phone with Bank of America - their sister bank in Italy is BNL d'Italia and in Germany it is Deutsch Bank. Those banks won't charge you an ATM fee, but you will pay a 1% fee for ATM withdrawals and a 3% fee on purchases by BofA. If you use a Barclay's Bank in Europe, you'll pay a $5 fee per transaction. BofA said you CAN get Euros from them ahead of time and today their exchange rate is 1.33...seems to be the same as I'm seeing elsewhere, so you won't lose anything by having them in hand when you leave. Additionally, we have a joint account and our daily ATM withdrawal limit is $700, daily purchases limit is $3500. Within 30 days of departure, they can raise that ATM limit to $1500 (didn't ask about purchase limit because we won't spend near that amount per day!) I haven't called Capital One yet, but I will, since we also have accounts with them.

Just as a sidenote on the debit card issue...make sure you have a backup in case your card gets eaten by a machine as mine did in Florence last year right across the street from the Duomo! It was a Sunday, so I couldn't get it back from the bank. I was on a cruise, so I had to leave it and go back to the ship. It cost me $100 to call my bank from the ship to get the card cancelled and transfer money to my son's ATM card for the rest of the trip! Lesson learned...use your card during banking hours so if anything goes wrong, you can retrieve it!