24
Feb
I hate ATM fees. It is less a concern over the money and more a matter of principle. ATM fees are especially prevalent and can be very high when traveling abroad. Even with a no international transaction fee credit card, I find inherit risk in using my credit card abroad in certain situations. As a result, I will often forgo the points and use cash abroad where it makes sense.
The Global ATM Alliance
The Global ATM Alliance is a great friend for obtaining cash abroad and avoiding those nasty ATM fees. As a Bank of America debit card holder, I have access to each of the Alliance member bank’s ATM network in the country listed below with absolutely no fees.
The following banks are members of the Global ATM Alliance.
- Bank of America (United States)
- Barclays (United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Pakistan, Gibraltar, Ghana, Kenya, and other countries in Africa)
- BNP Paribas (France)
- Deutsche Bank (Germany, Poland, Belgium, India, Spain, Portugal and Italy)
- Scotiabank (Canada, Caribbean, Peru, Chile and Mexico)
- Westpac(Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands)
- Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu)
- Westpac New Zealand Limited (New Zealand)
- Westpac Bank – PNG – Limited (Papua New Guinea)
- Westpac Bank Samoa Limited (Samoa)
- Westpac Bank of Tonga (Tonga)
- ABSA (South Africa)
- UkrSibbank (Ukraine)
I don’t see a formal Global ATM Alliance website but wikipedia does a good a job here explaining all the terms and conditions. This is valid only for the country listed, so for instance, you would be charged no fee for using a BNP Paribas ATM in France but you would be charged for using one of their ATM’s in Belgium.
In the last two years, I can confirm using my Bank of America debit card at alliance banks in Canada (ScotiaBank), South Africa (ABSA), and Germany (Deutsche Bank). When traveling with friends or family, I always offer to take out all the cash for the group so I can spare them those extra fees. Being an over-analyst, I calculated all transactions and found I was always charged the daily exchange rate and no additional fees. I will definitely be using my Bank of America debit card for upcoming trips to Chile and Peru.
The Bottom Line
Next time you are traveling internationally with someone who has access to a Bank of America (or other Global ATM Alliance Bank) debit card, be sure to check out the Global ATM Alliance to see if you and your travel group could be saving some extra money!
carwag25 said,
Love the post… this was something I didn’t know and will have to keep in mind for my next international trip!
Kelvin said,
One thing to note is that the free ATM does not apply to Barclays worldwide, as I found out after using Barclays in Russia for a few weeks. So, while free in the countries listed, it is not for other countries that have branches of Barclays.
Parag said,
I use to have a B of A card just for this, but then I discovered Charles Schwab free checking. No transaction fees and no atms fees worldwide. Can’t beat it!
Owen said,
I also used the BoA card for a few trips, but they hit you with the exchange rate fees… I switched to a Fidelity SmartCash account, no ATM fees anywhere, and no ForEx fees – I just pay the actual exchange rate the day of the withdraw.
Steelsnow said,
@ Parag +1 – have had the Schwab ATM card for years now, and it is a great traveling tool. They refund any ATM fees back into my account from any bank ATM it works at, which has been everyone I have tried. One other huge plus… Some ATMs can be in sketchy locations, or in poorly lit (and easily manipulated) settings – being able to walk down the street to the next bank and not having to worry whose ATM it is – really really nice.
David said,
Too bad they are not useful for Asia…
MichaelP said,
I have used CapitalOne bank, no exchanged fee, atm fee reimbursed up to $15/month and CapitalOne miles for every transactions.
Great post, other bloggers have ignored this type of info.
Nate said,
Note, Bank of America still rips you off with a 1% foreign transaction fee on withdrawals from within the Global ATM alliance. Many other banks (like Capital One) don’t.
from the BofA website:
“In addition, an International Transaction Fee may be charged for ATM card and debit card transactions made for ATM cash withdrawals in currency other than U.S. dollars, regardless. The International Transaction Fee will be 1% of the U.S. dollar amount for each converted ATM cash withdrawal. This International Transaction Fee will appear as a separate item on your banking statement for each international transaction.”
Best source for all of this info is:
http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange
alex said,
@Steelsnow – You make an excellent point regarding safety. Safety is most certainly an issue in some locations. I had first hand experience with this in Johannesburg which I will discuss in an upcoming trip report.
alex said,
@Nate – As mentioned above, each of my 10+ transactions over the last 2 years were scrutinized and no 1% fee was charged. BOA uses the ambiguous term ‘may’ in the details which could mean a lot of different things.
Peter S said,
@David
China Construction Bank is also part of the aliance. It is everywhere in China, from big cities to small villages. I personally have used BOA debit cards to withdraw cash from Scotia Bank and China Construction Bank and there is no separate 1% fee. Also the exchange rate is the daily publish rate, so I don’t think the 1% fee is hiden in there.
Nate said,
I stand corrected. Thank you.
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