Help with ATM in London

Thanks for all the help I did inform all banks and cc that we would be in England for this time period. We went to at least 8-10 ATM before finally one gave us 500 pounds. We tried 200 and 100 also at the same machines. Ironically we tried to use the same card then for a 21 pound purchase at the ticket station for travel cards and the message said we had gone over our daily limit?.?.. MOST OF THE ATMS SAID SORRY TRANSACTION WAS NOT ABLE TO BE COMPLETED. We thought we had the bases covered with calling the banks and each of the three of us bringing different cards. Hopefully they will work again tomorrow.

If you're anywhere near the Olympic venues, it's got to have a Visa logo or it's dead according to what I've read. Move off a ways and see what happens if this is the case.

One does have the visa logo- and we are out a ways.....any other ideas? First time we have not brought signicant American dollars with us! To exchange in an emergency-I guess cash advance on credit card-

Have you called the bank?

Talked to one twice and they said problem resolved -not.... Boa here says they have no access to US accounts- other bank is not coming through on phone- just used all in France and Spain two months ago

Maybe a stupid idea, but what happens if you go to a bank that has no BoA affiliation?

First, did you notify your bank that you would be traveling to the UK? Second, have you tried more than one ATM?

I would suggest trying different ATMs.

One other thing - go online as soon as you can & check your accounts. There's been a post or two in the past about ATM withdrawals being posted to the person's account even though the ATM dispensed no cash. If your card(s) will not work at any ATM, it's most likely a security block by your own card issuer. Call the 800 number on the back of your card to straighten this out.

We had a similar problem with our Wells Fargo card in Spain about 10 years ago. The card had worked fine in Portugal the week before. After 3 calls to them and 3 assurances that there was no problem, we gave up. Fortunately, we were traveling with friends. We charged restaurant and hotel bills, and they gave us cash for their share. Any friends with you? If not, my advice is to use your cc for cash advances, and pay it off as soon as you return home. At least that will stop the per day interest charges. I would then try to get B of A to reimburse the charges. BTW, when we returned home, we went to our local branch to see if anyone could explain why we had a problem. The manager spent a lot of time on her computer and couldn't really figure out the cause.

Have you tried lower amounts? If your bank knows the only problem I've run into are daily limits. Especially with the conversion rate of the Pound you might be hitting withdrawal rate limits after conversion in the US. Remember that 300 sterling is right around $500US so that can be an issue. (I actually finally dropped Wells Fargo as a bank after being stuck only being able to withdraw <200 euros a time in Italy and paying fees every time.) I've never tried to cash a check at a foreign bank but in this day and age they should be able to verify funds immediately without a three day hold or anything. Good luck,
=Tod PS If you have an AMEX you could certainly turn to them for help in a situation like this at one of their offices.

From what you've described it sounds like the problem is with the B of A or as I call them the evil empire. Hope things workout better for you tomorrow.

I suspect the problem was on the local bank side. 500 GBP is a lot to request in one transaction and some banks will limit a single transaction to a smaller amount (I know of at least one UK bank that has a limit of 300 GBP). If you first tried 500 and then tried a smaller amount, it is possible that your card was locked out because of the first attempt. You might want to start with a smaller amount if you need cash again.

It doesn't surprise me that, after a 500 pound withdrawal, you couldn't spend 21 pounds more. That is a LOT of money. Generally, my local credit union's limit is $600 when I'm traveling, but that is dollars, not pounds. You probably were exceeding your own bank's limit by asking for so much.

Can you just pay for your purchases with the cards instead of getting cash with them? I know not all places accept american swipe cards, but most places do. The only places I have had issues is in pubs.