atm balance

The best way to do it is to just call the 1-800 number for your bank and put in your account number. You should be able to get the balance, last few transactions, etc.

I thought those 800 numbers dodn't work from Europe?

Bill---I've never figured out how to do this either, so I just keep a running record of withdrawals, with my best estimate of the converted amounts.

Sign-up for the Internet banking service from your institution. With the service you check balances, and transfer money between your checking and savings accounts from any computer connected to the net.

I have a customer service line in my credit union from which I can hear my account balances and transfer money between accounts at any time. I have called it many times from Europe. I also have accounts that have online access to do the same thing. with the Euro at $1.47 or so now, you have to keep on top of this!

I agree w/Michael's post...online banking is amazing and it was a lifesaver last summer when we spent over a month in France & Italy. I could access my account from any computer, many hotels have them in their lobbies, or at an internet cafe. Not only can you check your balance, what's come in and what hasn't, transfer money from savings to checking, but you can also pay bills. I was just blown away by how easy and convenient it was. Saved me a lot of stress keeping track of it all.

Question to Michael and Susan - here at home I do online banking and keep my eye on my accounts almost daily. But when in a hotel, would it be safe to use a computer for these purposes? Wouldn't the computer "remember" my information? I don't worry to do it from my relatives' computers, but part of the time I will be in hotels and I am not sure if it is safe. I won't take my laptop with me.

My credit union has a very simple banking site. The only thing allows you to do is check the balances in my accounts and transfer money between them. So in the unlikely event that someone did get a hold of my password, the worst they could do to me is transfer money between my checking and savings account. Annoying but nothing to loose sleep over. Having said that, I know of other banks that have more complex sites that also allow you to access retirement accounts, IRAs, stock funds and mutual funds. In this case I would be a little bit more cautious and not use a public terminal unless it were an emergency. But using a personal laptop would be fine.

Hi Natasha, When I use a computer that's not my own, it asks for my social security # and a password and then asks if I want this computer to "remember" it. I always click no. Bank websites have very high security but of course, anything is always possible. Even here at home, it's possible someone could hack in. I just don't worry about the "what ifs" in life, there are too many. But I certainly understand, and respect, anyone who is not comfortable using online banking. For me, it is wonderful. On the other hand, if you call in, as people have suggested, you don't really know your balance because you don't know what has come in and what hasn't. Yes, you can take the time to go through each and every transaction but that is time consuming. Whatever people are most comfortable with is what they should do. For me, and it's totally individual, online banking is the best.

to add to what Susan and Michael said, it's not like phones are 100% secure either. In my parents' house, which is in a very suburban area where the houses are not particularly close to each other - we could hear conversations on the cordless phone all the time (the technology is better now, but still...). As Susan said, there are no guarantees. and as Michael said, usually you can't actually DO much on the banking sites. Even on Bank of America's site, there's not a whole lot you can do and you need to keep entering your password and whatnot. The best thing to do is make sure you not only manually log out of each secure site (to clear any cookies that may have been planted on the public computer) but also close the browser before you log off at the internet cafe... again, no guarantees, but it will be as good as anything else :)