Saving on ATM/bank fees in Italy?

You're doing it the recommended way. The ATM will get you the best exchange rate you can get.

If you carry cash and convert to Euros at a bank, you will not get a cheaper rate and in fact will likely pay a higher rate.

Be aware that even though your bank has a $500/day limit on the card, the machines have their own limit, and may not give that much. But you could probably go to more than one machine the same day and eventually get your full $500, though that would end up costing you multiple transaction charges.

I use a Schwab checking account. Any ATM fees are reimbursed to your account and no foreign exchange fees are charged. Exchage rates seem to be what ever it is at the time you take out money. BTW in Italy with this card, I was able to take out 500E per day. There are other banks out there that also reimburse you any ATM fees.

Jon,
If you have time look at another bank. See http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

Italian banks don't charge for using the ATM (bancomat).

Jon, it is probably too late to develop other options. While the $5/3% is fairly standard with large banks, there are less expensive alternatives. I use US Bank and they just added the $5 transaction fee BUT our local credit union is 0/0 and $1/0 after 5 transactions/month. I can live with the $1 charge. One of these days I am going look at Capital One money market or something else since US Bank is our backup. Never had to use them as backup but would hate to pay those fees if we needed to.

Most likely the fees to directly exchange dollars in Europe will be higher than the banks is charging you. At the moment you are kind of stuck. It is part of the cost of traveling.

"we will be hit with a $20 fee plus whatever the local bank charges"

As far as I know, there are no local bank charges. The $20 should be all you pay.

These charges are minor compared to the overall prices over there, and the poor USD exchange rate!

Don't worry about it (I know...easy for ME to say).
Enjoy Italy!!!!

If you have time get a Capital One debit card. You will have to open a checking account but the debit card is free. It cost $1.50 per transaction with no other conversion fees....just $1.50

Jeff - don't you have to have an investment account with Schwab to get the checking account?

Good grief. I thought MY bank's ATM withdrawal charges were expensive at $1.50 charge each time I use a foreign ATM. I've never heard of a $20 fee.

Are you sure this is a debit card for your checking account? You said your card was "loaded"...that makes me think of those awful pre-loaded travel cards like AAA sells. If this is the kind of card you have then you need to get rid of it and just use a normal debit card attached to your checking account.

If you ARE talking about a normal debit card attached to your checking account then you need to find a different bank!

Tim,
It is a Debit card on a Wachovia account. It is not a prepay, it is part of the checking account. The $20 is based on a 3% + $5 fee for a $500 withdrawal. For another example, a $100 witdrawal it would be $8.

Are you sure your bank will charge you 3% for each ATM transaction? I just called my bank (Wells Fargo) and they charge 3% for purchases, but only a fee of
5$ pr. ATM transaction, they told me its up to the particular ATM what will be charged in addition. They also said I could ask for the transaction fees to be refunded after I return....& I will!

Does anyone know which ATM's we should be looking for?

We leave for Italy Wednesday... :)

Cait,

We leave on Thursday. :) They said the 3% was a Visa fee. And yes, they said for all ATM witdrawals. They did say that Debit card purchases from stores or restaurants do not get the $5 fee, just the 3%. I was on the phone with them for about 10 minutes to be sure. If you just asked what the bank charges, the answer is $5. I asked if there were any other charges and that is when they told me about he Visa fee.

W Fargo is notorious for being somewhat misleading from time to time. Never heard of WF refunding any fees. Most people do not know who the players are and how they inter act in a foreign transaction. I have posted this many times but here it is again.

The chief player is your card issuer - bank, credit union, etc., and NOT VISA or Mastercard. People tend to refer to VISA and Mastercard in very generic ways. They are just a branding company. Here is the order when you take money out of an ATM in EUROPE

The are NO ATM fee in Europe for using an ATM from major banks. There have been some report that a private ATM will charge a user's fee. However, I would avoid all private ATMs and only use major banks. In fact, I personally avoid all stand aloone ATMs and only use those attached to a bank during bank hours. There has been fraud issues in the US where stand alone ATMs were capturing personal date for the wrong reason. Have not heard of that in Europe.

When you access your account via an ATM you use a network -- Plus, Cirrus are most common in Europe. Starr is only available in North Am.

The network charges a fee of about .7 to 1% that is buried in the exchange rate that you see on your credit/debit statement. However, the exchange rate is based on the interbank rate for some time that day and it is best possible exchange that you can get.

A class action several years ago requires debit/credit companies to fully disclose all addition fees thus you will see on your statement addition fees.

From that point forward all fees are determine by the card issuer and not by some mysterious third party like VISA or Mastercard or the ATM owner. It doesn't hurt to call a bank a couple of times and inquire about the fee structure from different people.

Hi Jon,

I called WF bank again and asked them the pointed question 'any additional fees?... say from Visa?' the answer was No. its a 'bank card' so no additional fees. I will remember that conversation if I need to get some refunds when I get back!

Also It seems Italian ATM's do not charge any fees.

Magnificamente!
Cait

Ran out of space. Need to make a couple more points.

There have been confirmed reports of card reading devices attached to ATMs. Easy to defeat but you must be alert. Run your finger across the card slot to see if any threads, plastic sleeve, etc. are there. If so, run away. Make sure there are no plastic boxes, brochures holders, etc. attached to the ATM. If so, find another one. When entering you PIN shield it as much as you can. I always try to use an ATM that someone else has just used. If it worked for them it should work for me since the card reading devices makes the ATM inoperative.

The card reading devices is one reason I do not like stand alone machines. The exception might be ATMs in airports as I think it would be harder to rig a machine there than in some plaza or other out of the way place.

Now, having said as that, we have successful used ATMs all over Europe for the past ten years or more with absolute no problems. You chance of having problems is low but take some precautions anyway.

Re: card skimming. This snopes page has a good explanation and some useful pictures. http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/atmcamera.asp

Interesting (or not) the first time I heard of this was as a plot device in an episode of CSI:Vegas about 5 years ago.

Wells Fargo Has reimbursed fees for me & more than once. I think the problem is that people do not ask.
I recommend asking! (maybe with extra sugar on top as my mom would say)

A couple of corrections to Frank's post.
The networks don't bury fees in the exchange rate. I have given references for this but you can figure it out from all the posters that have used 0% cards like Capitol One and have reported checking the exchange rate and finding it very close to the interbank rate.
ATM skimmers don't necessarily interfer with the operation of the machine. See http://www.bankrate.com/finance/checking/skimming-the-cash-out-of-your-account-1.aspx

$5+3% Sounds like an awful lot to me. Even Bank of America was $5+1%, Chase is $2+1%, etc. It may be worth making another call and asking another person. I've gotten (in some cases, wildly) different answers from Chase/WaMu before, til someone finally gave me their actual fee schedule on paper IN a bank branch.

I just activated my Wachovia ATM card and I was told there is a $5 fee (international) per transaction, plus 3% Visa international fee. I was also told the ATMs there could charge a fee as well. I leave in less than a week so it is too late to get another card from another banking institution. The $18 fee is heck lot better than exchanging traveler's checks.

http://www.travelfinances.com/directory/index.php/wachovia-debit-card-atm-foreign-transaction-fees/