ATM/Credit card fees - help

I don't have the capitalOne option as I am leaving for 3 months to France this Wed (but I will get it next time)-

I was hoping someone would know a good solution for lowering/eliminating foreign fees for ATM and credit cards with my existing cards/accounts.

Thanks!

Bank of America waives their fee if you use BNP Paribas. I used the ATM in Avignon at this bank..it is right on the corner by the TI. In England, you can use Barclay's Bank without an extra fee.

Capital One does not charge currency conversion fees for foreign transactions. I got one just for the purpose of going to Europe this summer and have used it a few times already online to purchase rail tickets in Europe. All my charges were in Euros and there were no conversion fees on my statements. Hope this helps!

You are right, Capital One has no additional fee for credit card purchases abroad. My local credit union ATM card charges no additional fees for accessing cash abroad, so you might want to shop around for a bank/credit union that does the same in your area. Otherwise, yes, you will be charged by your bank as well when you get cash from an ATM.

To answer your last question, Capital One is the way to avoid the 2-3% on purchases. You might want to look into opening a Charles Schwab checking account to avoid the ATM withdrawal fees, since they reimburse you if you are charged.

Your local bank is the one that levies the 2-3% foreign exchange fee. They pay 6/10% to the network (Cirrus, Plus, et al) to pay the European bank and then collect from them, in $ or Euro. If they have a foreign exchange operation, they pay the network in Euro and add 2-3% exchange for themselves. If they are a small bank without an exchange operation, they pay the network an additional 4/10% for foreign currency exchange (1% total) and pass that on to you.

So, look for a small bank with no foreign exchange operation. Check with them as to what rate they charge. Make them print it out for you from their intranet.

I once looked up a bank on the Internet and saw that they charged 3% for foreign exchange on their atm cards, but when I went into the bank and asked, two people swore that they did not charge anything - until I made them look it up. And, make them state what all charges are. Some banks might claim they have no "fees", but charge you an "exchange rate"; they just don't CALL it a fee.

As Ronald Reagan would say, "Trust but verify".

So far we have not seen on this board a true "no cost" foreign transaction involving credit card or ATM use, not proof of it anyway. It seems to good to be true that you can use your ATM or credit card in Europe and not pay a fee of some type. What we're seeing is a lot of evidence that banks and credit card companies are in this to make a profit, that you pay somebody somewhere someway.

If you're stuck with certain cards, then you're obviously stuck with their fees. Whether your bank charges you extra is up to your bank...check with them. The only thing I can suggest within these limitations is to take out larger amounts of cash at each ATM transaction to lower those fees (and hide it away in a safe location.)

Unfortunately, you can't use Discover in Europe (right from Discover's own website).