What is the best USA ATM card for italy?

The ATM has to be tied to your checking account. Are you really willing to change banks simply to avoid some fees for a 2 week vacation? Try this instead, when you notify your bank of your upcoming trip, ask to have the daily withdrawl limit increased. Then in Europe, withdraw near to the maximum each time to limit per-transaction fees.

I was looking to open a new account with a couple thousand at whatever bank I need .

You need to call around. Generally credit unions have very low to few fees. Capital One has a debit card with no fees so call them. Schwab had a fee card for their clients but may have been dropped or changed recently. Make some calls or search for an interbank.

Looking elsewhere, it seems that Ally may be a good deal. Anyone know?

AAA has a visa travel money card that works just like a visa, you an use it for purchases and withdrawls from ATMs. the fees are lower than most credit cards and are about the same as drawing from your checking acct without the risk. you just pre-load the $$ amount you want on it and if you have any left over use it for purchases when you come home. you can also re-load it b/c it is valid for 3 years, but don't let it sit without use for 3 months, there is an inactivity fee. you set up a pin # before you leave the US to use at ATM and you can get multiple cards for the same acct. The cost of the card is around 4.00 for members and not much more than that for non-members. Just a suggestion, they are fairly popular.

The fees on the AAA prepaid card run about 8% which is double most debit cards with fees and since nearly free debit cards are available, the AAA card is bad deal.

Just spoke with Ally Bank Rep - great to know they are 24/7/365!
He said Ally will reimburse ANY bank fees at an ATM. An other than the 1% charge from Mastercard, there is no conversion fee (2% in other cases) . This sounds good to me.

After reading previous posts regarding the same topic, I checked the fee for foreign ATM withdrawals at our primary bank and it's 3%. Checked the credit union I belong to and it's 1-3%. So I followed the advice and opened a Capital One Checking account with an ATM card. For me it's worth opening up another account and transferring enough cash before the trip to cover ATM withdrawals to save $150+. By not using our primary checking account in Italy, I also avoid potential bad things that would occur if the card was stolen and used as a credit card (protected from fraudulent use)....but not before cleaning out available balance and the connected overdraft protection line of credit, not to mention how it could mess up on line bill payments set up in advance while I'm traveling. Captial One offers: -$0 foreign currency exchange fees by Capital One Bank for purchases and withdrawals made overseas. 1.01% APY interest No fees, no minimum balance They don't charge ATM fees and we even reimburse other bank's ATM fees up to $10 per month*
I opened up the account online, sent check for an initial deposit, and received the debit cards about a week later.

Thanks Karen, sounds great ! May be very similiar to the Ally Bank debit card I called about. I will look to this also.

We did a variation on the Capital One Saga two years ago. The Capital One Visa card had low fees, but if you got a "cash advance" there were fees (3% I think) for that. So, I prepaid the card. We put a few thousand on our Capital One Visa so we had a credit balance. Then, when we took money out in Europe, there was no cash advance fees. I think I learned that from the Frugal Traveler at NYtimes. Check with Capital One before doing this.

Ted, You're talking about the Capital One Visa credit card. Karen is talking about a checking account with a debit card. You can't take a cash advance from a debit card, you only withdraw what's available in the account.

In 10 years of using ATM cards at bank ATMs in Europe, I have never had a fee from any European bank. I think it might be prohibited by the Network. I think reimbursing European bank fees is a hollow offer. Any small bank without a foreign currency operation will pass on to you the 1% Network (Visa, MC, et al) charge. Major banks, with foreign currency ops, pay the Network in Euro, etc, so they can then charge you 3% for the conversion. Look for a local bank.

Credit unions can be a good way to go! I have a Visa debit card through mine.

Try your local credit union, ours has NO fees and we use it every time we hop the pond.

I tried to open a Capital One checking account, but you have to be a resident of one of the half dozen or so states in which they have branches. So I opened a money market account - turns out I get a much better return than with my "regular" bank. I did the whole thing online.

I made some calls yesterday in preparation for our trip next month. I called the credit card company for my Alaska Airlines VISA (the main one we use at home), and they (BOA) told me that there would be a 3% foreign transaction fee on every purchase we made in Italy if we were to use that card. Ouch! We'll take this one along only as a backup. Fortunately, we have a Capital One VISA, as well as a Money Market account that we set up for our last trip to Italy, in 2008. I called Capital One just to make sure nothing had changed. They confirmed that they do not charge any foreign transaction fees or any other fees on either the VISA card, or the Money Market (for using ATMs). They did say that the ATM we choose to use might apply a charge. We do plan to use cash for most things.

Just did Capital One for both ATM/checking and Mastercard. The checking has no monthly fee. The Mastercard has no annual fee. Neither has any foreign conversion fee. I believe Capital One charges $2 per ATM transaction, plus any fee from the ATM. They reimburse up to $10 a month in ATM fees. Compared to my Bank of America checking account ($5 per ATM transaction, plus 1% conversion fee) and my Chase OnePass Visa (3% conversion fee), it is worth the 30 minutes it took to set it all up in a local branch. I will empty and close the checking account when I get back. I will keep the credit card as a back-up to my primary OnePass mileage card.

I have an ATM Rebate Checking with First Republic Bank in California. They refund all fees associated with ATM surcharges etc and don't pass on the VISA conversion fee or anything, it's completely free! I've had great luck using it and they are super nice to boot. I know they have other branches, you should check them out.

Compass Bank. NO fees anywhere in the world and low conversion rate. We chose this bank over Wells Fargo 8 years ago and have been very happy. We maintain our checking account there, and only use the ATM when we travel over seas. Other than that, we take our no fee Capital One credit card for all other needs, hotels, train fares, etc.

If you have a High Yield Money Market account set up with them, Capital One does not charge for ATM use through that account. The ATM owner might charge, but there is no ATM charge by Cap One. I was just looking over my CapOne stmt from our last trip to Italy and there no ATM charges at all. I believe that's because the CapOne ATM card is part of the PLUS network, and we used only ATMs that displayed that logo. Remember, that Capital One has different types of accounts and that the cards for each may vary.

I have never been charged ATM fees in Italy. BTW Capital One just sent me a new ATM card and the accompanying letter said the daily maximum is $600 (used to be $500). Sometimes you can get a discount on your hotel if you pay cash. Ask when you check in, sometimes the discount is if you pay in advance.