Hi all, I bank with a bank that wants to charge me a fee of five dollars per transaction in paris whenever i use my debit card, regardless of the amount. meaning that if i purchase something for 1.00 USD, they total will be 6.00. Has anyone ran into this issue? or has a bank that does not charge this amount? Thank you
Posted by
Orlando
104 posts
Get a BOA account and find an BNP ATM without Chip and pin. Thats what I did, no extra fees for anything! Then just make sure you put enough cash in and that you have back up credit cards, thats what I didn't do. BOA only exchanged the euro I withdrew, nothing else. And the exchange rates were AMAZING. I was truely shocked when returning to see they didn't even do a penny extra. Good luck.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Find a different bank! I use cards from two local credit unions. I never make purchases with them while abroad, but i use them in ATMs. One card passes on the 1% conversion fee, and that is all. The other one charges absolutely nothing (they absorb the fee). I also have an account with Ally Bank (online). They also charge the 1%, with no per-transaction fee. If you are charged a fee by any ATM anywhere, they refund the fee. You can do a lot better than $5/transaction!
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
The easy answer is to not use your debit card for purchases in Europe. Most experts don't recommend it for safety reasons anyway. Use it only for ATM cash withdrawls from your checking account (or get an ATM-only card). Use your credit card for purchases. Your credit card will probably charge you a 1-3% transaction fee, so try to use cash unless you have a no-fee card.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
177 posts
do not use your debit card in Europe, you may be phished and ran into frauds which would eventually leads to a giant mess and headache. The chances of that are pretty high. I am going to say 70%+ chance (especially if you go to eastern europe) base on my experiences and encounters. Credit Union credit cards charges about 1% visa/mastercard fee, some leave it as that, some charge you an additional 1% bank fee. Most other financial institutions charges 1% visa/master fee plus 2% bank fee. Amex charges 2.6-2.7% total foreign transition fees on most of their cards except some expensive ones. CapitalOne charges 0% on most of their cards. Now you may think darn it, CapitalOne it is like I was years ago, but here is the truth from my personal experience: I own a CapitalOne venture card and an Amex. When I travel, CapitalOne does not charge me anything, but their exchange rate is usually 2.1-2.8% higher than regular. In most cases My Amex with their 2.6% transaction fee end up to be cheaper than my CapitalOne. But unfortunately not many places Except Amex, so I still use the Visa CapitalOne more. either way, my conclusion is: don't use a debit card.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1825 posts
If you have a month before you leave...... Capitol One Online Banking. Set it up, transfer your money into it. Free debit card, $600 daily limit. Withdraw with no fees when you travel. Notify financial institutions before you travel out of the country. Make sure you have four digit pin #'s