My only checking account is with Discover and based on my research there aren’t really many ATMS that will I be able to take cash out with while in Europe.
I have credit cards with Capital one, Citi, American Express and Chase.
Of those any recommendation of which bank I should get debit card for? I’m only going to need it to withdraw cash at an ATM in Europe
How about your local credit union..keep it simple.
This has been asked and answered here. A lot. Along with finding a good credit union, the standard suggestions include opening up an online checking account with CapitalOne, or an online checking account -which requires a brokerage account that does not require any money kept in it, go figure -with Schwab. Both of these will issue ATM cards that will work anywhere, with no foreign transaction nor ATM fees and conversions that are at interbank rate with friction (i.e. netwrk surcharge of .15-.4 of 1 percent. Hard to beat. The CapOne card, at least ours, is ATM only, while our Schwab is a debit card and can be used for purchases--in particular automated ones. The CapOne has $600/per day limit, our Schwab $1,000. And these are joint accounts so that we each have a card with a different name/number -which means we can pull double that amount if need be. Customer service has been great with both, which you should be aware of since you already have a CapOne credit card.
I've heard that prepaid cards work. Maybe someone here would know for
sure.
No, they won't even be accepted in Europe. And they are a very expensive option to boot.
Many banks make tons of money from foreign exchange fees every time someone uses a bank ATM or credit card. I would recommend a credit union instead of a bank, they are not-for-profit (although each one is different so you have to examine closely). Look at their ATM network to see if it's sufficient. I use my credit union ATM overseas and pay 1% of each withdrawal. I am not limited to any number of withdrawals, it's always 1% of whatever amount I take out.
I've not used a prepaid card myself but I have only heard complaints about them. The one from AAA has been discussed at our local Rick Steves meet-up and I've seen a number of threads on Trip Advisor where people thought they were covered with the pre-paid card but could not draw their money out of it. I'd steer clear.
I like the suggestion for a local credit union the best. IF you have a brokerage account with a money market function you may also be able to get a debit card on that. I take a debit card from my local credit union and also take my debit card from my Edward Jones account. I'm pretty risk averse, travel solo and have had my credit union card be rejected so I carry two to make sure I've got a viable card at all times. The CU glitch took a phone call from my brother to the CU manager to get straightened out then it worked.
editing to add: Agnes was cross-posting so I'll add that yes, my CU charges 1% as well. My brokerage account withdrawals also charge 1% so either is fine with me.
Fees vary so you need to check carefully. My credit union gives seven free withdrawals each month. After seven it is $1/withdraw. The most important issue with any debit card is that it is accepted by either network - Cirrus or Plus. Credit unions also use a variety of other networks. Star is common in the US for credit unions but not in Europe.
Discover is useless outside the US, unfortunately since they claim otherwise.
Capital One has an account they call 360. It is a checking account with an ATM/Debit card. It is useable everywhere you want to use it in the world. There is ZERO fees or exchange markups for the debit card (similar to most of their credit cards) as well as zero fees for the account. You pay what Google shows is the rate for the day your transactions post. You open and maintain the account online, so no branch visits are required. The account has no minimum balance requirement nor minimum amount to open. As long as the balance is more than zero, the account also will not be closed on you. This means you can use this as a travel account only funding it the amount you expect to spend and can leave it near zero otherwise. You move money in and out of the account online from an existing account at another bank (using the ACH system (like direct deposit), so no fees from the other bank are charged as well). I have had one of these account for 15 years and cannot be happier with it.
If you choose to go the credit union option, make sure you ask and get clear answers on exactly where you can use your debit card and what the fees will be. Many smaller credit unions do not enable foreign transactions on their cards. This is because the major networks (Visa, MasterCard) charge monthly membership fee to the credit union if they choose to participate even when no international transactions from their customers happen during a given month.
There are two different types of prepaid cards that come in play for use here: the ones you purchase pre loaded with a set amount and spend until the funds are gone and you throw it away, and the Travel Pre paid cards which are sold by companies such as AAA. Neither one works well. The first, sometimes called Gift Cards, will not work outside the US. This is to combat illegal money transfers. The second come with so many fees you will wonder where all your money went if you use one. My feelings toward both are to just stay as far away from them as possible.
I’ve been using capital one for years and have been very pleased with their service and lack fees for ATM withdrawals, fee free checking account, no FX fees on overseas transactions. I highly recommend them.
I love my Schwab account.
or an online checking account -which requires a brokerage account that
does not require any money kept in it, go figure -with Schwab.
Some of us get enticed into using the brokerage account after we discover how customer friendly and low cost Schwab is.
Some of us get enticed into using the brokerage account after we discover how customer friendly and low cost Schwab is.
And the opposite is true. Some of us with brokerage accounts with Schwab get enticed to use their checking account when we realize how traveler friendly it is!
No ATM fees by Schwab. ATM fees by other banks, if any, rebated worldwide. Automatically. I've used it successfully, so far, in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. And in the US, as my first trial. Yes, fees rebated here, too.
I agree with Mark...our Capital One 360 account has been seamless, both in Europe and Mexico..as well as in the US. We simply transfer funds from our other bank account as needed. Many Walgreens have ATMs inside that are part of the 360 network, so that can be helpful traveling in the US. And zero fees! We take our brick and mortar bank’s debit card as a backup, but it’s never been necessary to use it.
I'll join in and add some praise for Charles Schwab - no ATM or foreign transaction fees. Great card!
I’ve used my Charles Schwab checking account /debit card for this for several years. Extremely satisfied. No atm fees. No foreign transaction fees. Side benefit is that it keeps my travel money apart from regular budget.
Another vote for Schwab. Great customer service and they have always returned any ATM fees I've been charged.
For years I have used online only Ally Bank. An ATM card is available with a Money Market account or a checking account. I use the money market account that is linked to my savings account. I can instantly transfer funds from the savings , which has the highest interest to the money market which has a lower rate, just before travelling. Ally does not charge any transaction fees, has great customer service and is super easy to use. I have never had any issues travelling all over Europe. You do have to inform them by phone in advance of your travel .
No ATM fees by Schwab. ATM fees by other banks, if any, rebated
worldwide. Automatically. I've used it successfully, so far, in
Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. And in the US, as my
first trial. Yes, fees rebated here, too.
And free checks! Not that I use them much.
Yes... the rebated ATM fees in US are great, too. I try not to abuse it, since I still have a checking account with a local bank. :)
I got the capital one 360 and charles schwab, both had promotions for $25 and $100 each.
Discovery is pretty useless as a debit card in Europe, but in some countries the ATM coverage is quite wide; for example in the UK pretty much all the independent ATMs take it so that is at least half the total.
I took the Credit Union route. But it has to be noted that many substantial credit unions have old-fashioned or (opinion) obsolete rules, like required transaction volumes, ATM frequency of use rules, or limited ACH options. It’s like banking in 1980.
We do the credit union route too. Ours is a billion dollar business and was originally chartered for military folks who just might need to be using their ATM/debit cards while on a business trip to Greenland or Uzbekistan or Diego Garcia so finding an ATM in their network in mainland Europe is no big deal at all.
Not absolutely certain what Tim is addressing but our credit union account for a debit works just fine. It is our go to card for cash when we travel. A credit union is not a full service bank so they don't have to have fee structure to cover all the services they don't offer. Our credit union debit card has never let us down but our full service, US Bank, back-up debit card has.
There can be glitches from time to time with any card. My credit union ATM card is still my primary such card, but two years out of five I arrived in Europe to find that it didn't work. I was able to get things straightened out within 24 hours in both cases, but there's nothing like the sinking sensation you get when you stick your ATM card in a machine and no money comes out on Day 1. If you don't have cell-phone service, it's not necessarily easy to resolve such issues, either.
It's a really, really good idea (as previously mentioned) to have a back-up account at another institution.
One other thing: Do not every decide it's a good idea to have the same PIN for your ATM card and a credit card. Thank heavens I never went that way, because I have on occasion mistakenly shoved a credit card in an ATM and only realized my mistake 10 or 15 seconds after the machine balked at the (ATM-card) PIN I entered. I would not have been happy with the credit-card cash-advance fees if those withdrawals had gone through.
I have always encoded my pins on the cards just to keep that from happening. Also I tend to forget the pin if it is card that is used infrequent. For example -- we didn't use the credit union debit local. We prefer to use our bank card locally for cash since there are frequent ATMs in the area while our Credit Union only has one ATM. And never use the pins on the credit cards. So need to keep everything straight.
"I have always encoded my pins on the cards just to keep that from happening. Also I tend to forget the pin if it is card that is used infrequent."
Oh my gosh...YES to this! And just not when traveling....went to get $$ out of my CU's ATM recently having not used a debit card in months. Could NOT remember the blasted # until I was on the way home. I have it on a little cheat sheet I keep in my money belt when I travel but I don't exactly need extra measures to keep things safe when out and around in Northern Idaho, lol!!
Mexitokyo, since you've gotten 2 debit cards now, I'd suggest you use them once a month or so until we are able to travel again.
I use my credit union ATM and VISA and both work great. Just a reminder to call your financial institution before you go to let them know where and when you’ll be traveling.
I'd also suggest using a credit union card if possible. You'll have to shop around to determine which one provides the best deal in terms of service fees, etc. I normally use the same Debit / ATM Chip & PIN card that I use at home, and it works well in Europe.
A couple of other points to mention......
While the OP's quandary may be solved, another question if you are going the credit union route, is to ask if there are any restrictions on use in specific Countries. Different card issuers (the middle man between Mastercard/Visa and the Credit Union) have different Security requirements, and a few years ago at least, a number were blocking transactions from Spain. Do expect that on the list will be some countries (Cuba, Iran, etc.), but some of the smaller issuers try and manage fraud by country.
That is one advantage of a Capital360 or Schwab card, they are big enough to have good customer service, handle fraud at the transaction level, generous daily withdrawals. Never have had an issue with my Schwab card...others traveling with me inexplicably have had problems with their CU issued cards (Though, I guess other than the daily limit, have not with my CU card)
My last comment also brings up another important strategy, if you are a serious traveler, have two different ATM accounts for redundancy, and the same for Credit cards. Most banks do issue a husband and wife, for example, cards with different numbers, which is good, but two different banks would be better.
I have a checking account with Capital One, including a debit card. One of the reasons I got it was so I could use it while traveling internationally. They do not charge any foreign transaction fees - which many debit and credit cards do charge - which is just a scam to take more money from you.
I used to get cash before my trip through a local bank, but now I just go to an ATM once I'm in the country and get the cash I need that way. I use ATM's that are attached to banks. Some stores, etc. will also allow you to get cash back on a sale, as is the usual case at home - so you can get cash that way as well.
Another tip, sometimes you'll be asked if you want to do the transaction in the country's currency or in US dollars: always pick the local currency! The other choice is just another clever scam to charge you yet another 'transaction fee'!
