Suggested bank card for ATM withdrawals

I have a credit union Visa ATM card, which I have used all over Europe without incurring transaction fees or percentage fees. But you need to be sure to use bank ATMsin Europe, not private ones, as those charge fees for everyone.

Since you already have a Capital One Visa Card, why not just open an account there. Same no foreign currency transaction fees or ATM fees, as long as the ATM owner itself does not charge fees, which most in Europe do not.

I agree with Sam. Open a checking account with CapitalOne Bank. Very easy to do on line, great service, no transaction fees, no FX fees. Remember that to work at most ATM's the card must be linked to a checking account, not a savings account. You have plenty of time to open the account and get your debit card.

Also the Schwab Hi Yield Investor Checking. This does require that you also open a Schwab Brokerage Account, but you do not have to have anything on deposit with the brokerage Account..

The Schwab Checking offers a couple of benefits that CapOne does not (we have both): Their card is a pin-and-chip debit card, so you can use it at kiosks, etc (CapOne's is just an ATM card depending on account type); their daily limit for withdrawals is $1`,000 rather than $600; they will refund other banks' ATM charges. Both Schwab and CapOne will give you two different cards if you have a joint account, which doubles your daily limit as the limit applies per card, both have great customer service, and both let you make electronic deposits from your local bank.

Remember that to work at most ATM's the card must be linked to a checking account, not a savings account.

That's misleading. I've been using my ATM card in Europe (not a debit card, just a plain-old ATM card) for years in numerous countries, and I've never had trouble getting money out of my savings account.

But, I don't have a checking account with that credit union - just a savings account. I think I wouldn't be able to choose "checking or savings" like I can in the US at an ATM. It's more accurate to say, "If you have more than one account at your bank, make sure the ATM card is linked to the checking account, not the savings account." If you have only a savings account, you shouldn't have any trouble getting money from an ATM in Europe.

I can recommend an Andrews Frederal Credit Union ATM card. You don't have to live near a branch to join - I've never been to one. You do have to be eligible to join some credit unions (like Andrews); if you don't qualify, you can simply join the American Consumer Council ($5 one-time) to qualify. Anyway - no fees for the Andrews ATM, and 0% currency conversion fee. You can also get a chip and PIN visa card with no foreign transaction fees from Andrews (I used to have one). Some people call their Visa card a "conditional chip and PIN" because it still asks for a signature when there's a human involved in the transaction - but at machines you can use your PIN. Having a chip and PIN card is handy to be able to buy train tickets from machines in Italy (my chip and signature credit card that has worked in many other machines in Europe did not work in the Italian ticket machines, but my chip and PIN credit card did).

Thanks, everyone! I will look into a Capital One Checking acct. tomorrow!! If that doesn't work out, then I will see about Charles Schwab.

Specifically, look at the Capital One 360 account which has no fees for nearly everything you would ever do at bank. Some of the other Capital One accounts do have ATM fees. Choose wisely.

Also, the plain old ATM (not Visa or MasterCard affiliated Debit Cards) won't work for very much longer. After 2020, the agreements allowing the use of those cards are expiring.

I am at the bank trying to open a checking acct at Capital One. I thought I'd go to brick and mortar in case I have questions. They said that in order to have no fee, I must use an "all point" ATM. There seem to be none of these in Italy. What am I missing here?

I just looked up "all point"......they appear to only be in the USA.

The only "no fee" debit account that Capital One offers is Capital One 360. It is an "online" only checking account accessible via the internet. If you open it, you will receive a Debit card with a Mastercard logo. You need to read the fine print and learn how deposits can be made, but the 360 account is paperless.

Sorry forgot to mention that the 360 account is opened and maintained online. And you do everything online only with this account. I have had my account with them since almost before the internet existed and have never had issues with moving money or managing my accounts.

The All Point no fee use is their ATM network in the US. Most banks have their own ATMs for customers to use, Capital One 360 partnered with the All Point network to allow the 360 customers to use those since the 360 account is online without actual branches. These ATMs are located in various places including stores like Target and Walgreens. You will have a difficult time finding a bank that does not charge a usage fee at their ATMs in the US to those who don't have an account with that bank so it is nice that they have this arrangement.

If you get the Andrews Federal Credit Union ATM card, you can use it in the US for free at any ATM at a credit union that is part of the "Co-Op" network - which seems to be most credit union ATMs. (Once you join a credit union, you realize there are credit unions everywhere so plentiful ATMs to use.) Further, if you find a local credit union that does shared branching, you can go in and make a deposit at that local credit union to your Andrews account, even if you aren't a member there.

And most ATMs (at least those owned by banks) in Europe don't charge any fee - I've never been charged a few to use an ATM in Europe. The Andrews ATM card won't charge a fee for use, either.

You would have to create the Andrews account online the first time, unless you live near a branch near DC; like most (all?) credit union accounts, you will probably need to fund a savings account with $5 to get it open. I honestly forget how I did that originally, but I know I funded my whole account online with a transfer from another financial institution.

I use Charles Schwab for my bank and their ATM policy is the best you will find anywhere.
Not only do they have no foreign transaction fees, they have no ATM use fees and will actually rebate to your account any fees you pay to the ATM machine owner when taking out money domestically or abroad.

You don't have too much time left to get one open and running though so would have to move fast.
They require you to apply and put $1 into their free brokerage account to setup the checking account.
Checks are unlimited and mailed to you free as well, you can deposit checks with their app via your phone, their policies are quite incredible though comes at a little inconvenience at times with no having a physical branch.

One thing though to contradict a point Larry made, overseas the Schwab card works like any US bank credit card for a credit transaction (it defaults to signature even though there is a pin and a chip you have no way of it defaulting to Pin first like the European cards do and some European machines are setup)
Most ticket kiosks machines are updated now so will be fine with a US card but
For example go to a gas station unmanned and the gas pump will not accept the Schwab card just like it won't accept a US Chase card or a US Capital One card. I have tried in multiple countries in Europe where my credit card failed to use the Schwab card and had the same result.
it is no different in that respect, it will work at any ATM though which is what you were asking about.

Has any one has any issues using an Ally checking account atm card in Italy?

If it has a Visa or MasterCard logo, it should be fine, as those will be the clearing network.

WOW! Capital One 360 was super easy to open! Took all of 5 minutes. Linked it with my home bank checking account and got my debit card 2 days later!!
Thanks all!!

Charles Schwab Bank (High Yield Investor Checking) - has been our bank for years, and we've used their debit cards all over the world, and never paid a cent in ATM fees. Their big advantage is the refund of the ATM operator fees, from literally any ATM in the world, even from very expensive ATMs. We drew Euro cash from a casino-floor ATM in Malta once, with something like a 12 Euro fee, and even that was refunded at the end of the month by Schwab.

The only confusing thing about the Schwab account is that you are required to open a corresponding brokerage (i.e. investing) account. However, this is free, and you are never required to fund it with anything, or ever use it. It will just sit alongside your Checking account as a "Brokerage" account with $0 balance. That said, it was useful to us once, in the very unique situation of trying to get a damage deposit refund on a British apartment, years ago, after moving back to the US. Without any British bank account, it was difficult to receive the funds, but Schwab was helpful enough to set up a deposit to some kind of corresponding account they held at Barclay's bank, and were able to transfer the funds back into our Schwab brokerage account, via some kind of currency trade, very easily - and all for FREE, in about 2 hours. It was incredible service.

Schwab is an online-only bank, but that hasn't been a problem for us in nearly 8 years of using them. Their phone customer service is excellent and professional, they provide free postage-paid deposit envelopes, free checks (if you need them), and a mobile app to make camera deposits of checks. As said above, they allow free cash withdrawls from any ATM in the world. Really the only personal banking thing you can't do is deposit a stack of currency (the workaround here is to buy money orders with cash and mail those in, which I've only had to do once, ever).

Love working with Schwab checking account -- and if there's a Charles Schwab office near you, you can actually have a face-to-face experience if that's your preference.

The Schwab recommendations are spot on and three weeks in Italy went without the hint of a glitch. I'm also one who likes to do business face-to-face when necessary.

I had Capital One a few years ago - rude and absolutely terrible customer service. Their commercials still aggravate me.

I have a long history of dumping on the banks, so I consider no bank a friend of mine. However, I've had my Capital One accounts for almost fifteen years. Never once have I encountered rude or terrible customer service. In fact, with several situations that required international banking assistance, including an ATM in Poggibonsi that ate my card, Capital One performed quite nicely.