Stop Paying Killer ATM Fees

[steveinbsas]

Thanks for that...im gonna owe you alot of beer before its all said and done

Be careful, I might take yo up on that one.

(Then you will wish you were still paying ATM fees.)

 

[mendozanow]

Yes, it is.

Sorry you have to pay.

Or live so close to the edge that ATM fees have a serious impact on your standard of living.

Oh Steviepoo, what a bitch you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[steveinbsas]

I didn't get this posted before you bitchslapped me...(though I was writing it at the time).

So, BANELCO and LINK just run a charity for all the banks then?

No, Chuckie pays them for me. Compared to most of his accounts I might be considered a charity case.

Ok, , did not know life was so simple, thanks.

It is for Charles Schwab customers.

Seriously, I suspect that Charles Schwab just sucks up the foreign ATM charges and fees as part of their customer services, and makes their profit through other means.

Not from me.

Great for you guys.

It is. If you can't get a Schwab account, I'm sorry.

And I love it when you call me Steviepoo!

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Anyone else a brit here and found a way around the ATM fees? Am getting charged a 2% fee of the withdrawal value from my UK HSBC account and then an additional fee (almost 12 pesos) for the privilege of using a Banelco ATM here!

I have asked my bank about upgrading my account to Advance or Premier but they both charge me a monthly fee of £12.99 for the account and can only drop their fee, so don't think it's worth it.

I asked a customer service representative from my bank if I could get a fee waiver and he said he hasn't heard of such a thing and has worked at a few banks.

Any advice or anyone know of any ATM's that don't charge a fee?

HSBC in the UK tell me that if I were to upgrade my account to Premier then I could access money anywhere without fees however my experience in Argentina where the local HSBC machines actually rejected my HSBC (Maestro) and my son's HSBC (Visa) debit card doesn't fill me with confidence.

As far as I know, the only fee-free UK card is the Nationwide FlexAccount. I regularly use mine in the Santander Rio branch (Banelco) around the corner and the Banco Ciudad machine in the local Disco store and don't get charged either a fee from my account or the AR$11+ machine fee. My HSBC card will work in both those machines but would charge both HSBC and Banelco fees if I used it there.

 

[tangobob]

HSBC in the UK tell me that if I were to upgrade my account to Premier then I could access money anywhere without fees however my experience in Argentina where the local HSBC machines actually rejected my HSBC (Maestro) and my son's HSBC (Visa) debit card doesn't fill me with confidence.

As far as I know, the only fee-free UK card is the Nationwide FlexAccount. I regularly use mine in the Santander Rio branch (Banelco) around the corner and the Banco Ciudad machine in the local Disco store and don't get charged either a fee from my account or the AR$11+ machine fee. My HSBC card will work in both those machines but would charge both HSBC and Banelco fees if I used it there.

I have an HSBC premier account, and can verify that you do in fact not pay to use ATMs with your maestro card.

 

[Bailey Essrog]

After reading so much about expats' positive experiences with Charles Schwab, I decided to sign up for an account in preparation for my extended stay in Buenos Aires later this year. However, I chose to go with the High-Yield Investor Savings Account instead of the Checking Account because it offers a higher interest rate than the checking account (.75% versus .60% as of this posting) and you get most of the benefits that the checking account offers.

These include: a Visa debit card for unlimited ATM withdrawals, all ATM fees rebated anywhere in the world, and no foreign transaction fee (it's actually .01%, I'm told, which means you'd get charged a hundredth of a cent for every u$s 100 you withdraw, a negligible amount). The only drawback I see with the savings account is you can't write checks from it, and there is a cap of six non-ATM-withdrawal transfers a month as is the case with all U.S. savings accounts as dictated by federal law.

On another note, I also signed up for Schwab's Invest First Signature Visa credit card to meet all of my credit card usage needs abroad. The card gives 2% cash back on any and all purchases, but the main reason I got it is because there are zero foreign transaction or conversion fees, as far as I know. So, with my Schwab debit card and this credit card, I will incur virtually no extra fees for making purchases or withdrawing cash in Buenos Aires. Of course, I have yet to use any of my cards outside of the U.S., so we shall see if this works out as nicely in reality as it does in theory...

I can also vouch for Schwab's customer service, which has been superb so far even after making about two dozen calls for help understanding all of the terms and conditions and questioning about any fine print. They seem to be very friendly and informed so far in my experience.

For non-Schwab options, I have heard from a number of users that the E-Trade Max Rate Checking account also does not charge for ATM withdrawals overseas and refunds all ATM fees -- even though the Web site says the fees are reimbursed only in the U.S. I may actually consider opening an account with them as a fall-back to Schwab in case I encounter any problems...

It seems USAA may also be an option according to some of the previous posts in this thread... So there definitely are alternative options to meet your fee-free ATM/credit needs abroad, but Schwab seems fine for me. I'll report from the field sometime with either the thumbs up or thumbs down after real-world usage...

 

[Ingrid]

NO way around it for us...we get charged for ATM w/drawls....

Hola, Canadian here. I use Citibank, as per my earlier post. It's working out for me so far! I did move from a prominent canadian bank because they were killing me with charges.

 

[maracle]

I'm also here with the full line of Schwab accounts...very nice for avoiding fees. And their customer service is awesome. They're a full service brokerage and although they've adjusted quite a bit towards more low cost accounts, the people still are amazingly knowledgeable and helpful. And by helpful I don't just mean friendly, but empowered to do things for you.

For example. Shortly after arriving in January I lost my ATM card...probably I left it in an ATM, since I'm not used to the type that sucks in your card instead of just swiping it and keeping the card in hand. Anyway, I called them and they arranged for an emergency replacement through VISA 911 overnight, then fedexed me a permanent replacement. When I reported it missing they transfered me to an agent who gave me both her name and a direct telephone number, and I dealt with her specifically thoughout the process.

Another example, after opening my accounts a "new account concierge" called me to welcome me and again offered his name and direct phone number. His job is to answer questions about any account (brokerage, checking, credit) and help with all the transfers of funds, setting up linked bank account, direct deposit, etc.

It's the only bank I've ever seen that really treats customers as individuals. Highly recommended for americans.

 

[Ben&Bliss]

Another option for folks from the US is USAA Banking. Technically their banking was set up to serve members of the armed services and their families, who are often out of the country, thus they have really great options for international banking. You don't have to be in the service or have family that is in order to sign up with them. They charge zero ATM fees, and reimburse other banks fees up to $15 per month. https://www.usaa.com/

 

[bobg]

I hope you are right as I"ve made some recent withdrawals using my USAA debit card. BUT ... I just checked some online statements FROM A YEAR AGO and I was charged a foreign currency transaction fee. Strangely, the fee is not tied to any particular date(s). Instead near the bottom of the statement it says ...

FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES INCURRED THIS CYCLE 5.83


JUST A MONTH AGO I asked them some questions about ATM withdrawals here and received the following replies:

We regret that we are unable to advise if any ATMs in Argentina allow withdrawals in U.S. Dollars. To find a list of ATM locations, visit MasterCard.com.
Please note that MasterCard assesses the 1% foreign transaction fee whether the transaction is originally made in U.S. dollars or converted from a foreign currency.
​

... and a reply to another note ...

Thank you for your e-mail concerning your USAA account. Your USAA checking account features a monthly refund of up to $15 in ATM surcharge fees that other banks charge you. USAA does not charge you for the first 10 withdrawals from non-USAA ATMs per monthly statement cycle; however additional withdrawals are $2 each. You will see the ATM surcharge rebate on your monthly statement.

​

Bob

I knew this was going to be a problem before we moved here because of the exorbitant fees we've been bitch-slapped with on vacations. Therefore, I did a lot of research and we now use USAA (https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils...dBckt_2_071909_FreeChecking_BranchlessBanking). They do not charge any ATM fees and reimburse you for any ATM fees which you incur from foreign or domestic ATM machines (up to I believe U$S 35/month). Some of their services are limited to active or ex-military but most, like checking, are not. Hope this helps!!!