Stop Paying Killer ATM Fees

[ElQueso]

The CitiBank down here is not actually the same corporation as the CitiBank in the US, as I understand it. It has to do with the banking laws of Argentina. I understand that no bank here that has the same name of any US bank (at least - HSBC I think is the same way, and I don't believe is a US bank) can be considered as a branch for such purposes because of the banking laws. Therefore, the ATMs are actually not part of the CitiBank ATM network that is the States.

I bank at a small regional bank in the US called Trustmark. $1.50 for each transaction and currency conversions always at the market rate, not even at the buy or sell rates. And I love the CitiBank ATMs here because they are the only ones at which I can get my ATM card's full daily limit when I need it, for paying things like rent. But since my bank is cool (unlike CitiBank in the US), I don't get charged the sames fees CitiBank users get charged!

I get charged nothing at all for any foreign purchase.

I have a Bank of America card that is outrageously expensive to use here. $5 fee, something like 3% international usage fee, and a worse conversion rate than the typical buy/sell currency rates. I never use it unless I have an emergency - and since I live here, I only use it to pay a few small bills I still have in the States, otherwise I would have gotten rid of it.

I also have a Schwab account which seems good, although I just recently opened it and don't have my ATM card yet, so I haven't tried it out.

There are banks out there that work well internationally - you just have to find them and screw the big banks that are out to get your money every way they can.

 

[Ingrid]

Before I moved here, I did some research on the ATM fees and after talking to various people and did my research, I've found out that if you have a Citibank account and take out money from the Citibank's ATM machines, you won't get charged. I have talked to various banks before I made the decision to give Citibank a shot.

When I was at the Citibank back home, they couldn't give me a straight answer on the ATM fees either but at the time, I just had to risk it since my old bank costed me an arm and a leg in international ATM withdrawal fees.

Long story short, Citibank is working great for me! They definitely DO NOT charge me any extra if I use Citibank-owned ATM machines. However, not all the Citibank branches have their own machines and using the Banelco ones in their branches won't help, they will charge you. (actually before the Banelco and Link systems changed their policy of charging foreign cards, my Citibank card let me get cash without any fees from Banelco machinese too but that was before July 2009)

Anyway, from my experience talking to banks back home, they don't seem to have any ideas of what's going on down here in South America. What they tell you probably will either be not useful or wrong. So I'd highly recommend people who are in doubt, ask those who are here and can speak from experience.

 

[citygirl]

Ingrid - You don't have to pay the 11.96 fee but it does count as a non-Citibank transaction. If your account has a limit on the number of transactions you can make at a non-Citibank ATM, you will wind up having to pay fees, even if you use a Citbank ATM.

They also will charge you a "Foreign Fee" to withdraw money from a Citi ATM here with a Citi NA account.

 

[ghost]

Just get the Charles Schwab card and forget about fees.............period. Here, there or anywhere.

 

[steveinbsas]

Forget about citi and all of the rest.

A Charles Schwab account is simply the best.

(What more do you need to know?)

 

[devc]

Hey guys, I'm bringing this back to life to see if any Canadian's have beneficial knowledge on the topic??

Schwab is US only AFAIK.

 

[Neil]

Hey guys, I'm bringing this back to life to see if any Canadian's have beneficial knowledge on the topic??

Schwab is US only AFAIK.

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

 

[tangobob]

Even though, HSBC is different here, I do not pay charges to withdraw on my debit card. I used to pay when with Natwest, but not any longer.

 

[White Chocolate]

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!!!