Getting The Best Exchange Rate Abroad
By Wendy Perrin
I was just reading the New York Times travel section and saw a column about exchange rates that states, "You can get cash in local currency at an ATM at the official rate minus about 1 percent, depending on your bank."
Alas, not at most banks I know of! J.P. Morgan Chase charges $3 for each overseas ATM withdrawal plus 3.5 percent of the amount withdrawn. MBNA charges 3 percent of the amount. Wells Fargo charges $5 per withdrawal, as does Bank of America at all but six overseas banks. Citibank and HSBC charge 1 percent, but if you withdraw from a non-Citi or non-HSBC bank, there's a $1.50 fee.
Fortunately, small local banks tend not to levy the hefty ATM fees that the big banks impose. Commerce Bank (which serves the mid-Atlantic region), for instance, waives all ATM surcharges worldwide. So, if you travel abroad frequently, get an ATM card from a bank that charges nothing for overseas withdrawals. Alternatively, ask your regular bank if you can avoid ATM surcharges by switching to a premier or business account.
If you think paying by credit card is the answer, read this.
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Maybe the alternative is to have an account with a bank with operations in the USA and say Europe and other countries such as HSBC.
In that case do you get charged these fees if you only use their branches?
I know they operate in many countries and parts of the world.
Serge
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Posted by: SergetheConcierge | September 05, 2006 at 10:33 PM
To add to my previous comment on Fees and Use of ATM cards abroad, I found out yesterday that newcomer TD Banknorth does not charge fees for use either in the US or Abroad.
I wrote about it today on 'Serge the Concierge'
Here is the link
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com/2006/09/tired_of_atm_fe.html
Have a good week-end
Serge
Biz:
http://www.njconcierges.com
Blog:
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
Posted by: SergetheConcierge | September 08, 2006 at 07:04 PM
Hi Wendy
Here I am again. (This is fun.) I called my "personal banker" at JP Morgan/Chase and threatened to move all my accounts to Citibank. He assured me that as of Sept 15 they will not be charging the 3.5 percent. (Many complaints from customers.) They WILL still charge the $3 but, if you take out $300, that's the same total as Citibank.
Cheers,
Barbara (no name)
Posted by: BGPRnyc | September 10, 2006 at 08:11 PM
Bank of America says that they don't charge any fees if you get money out of an ATM run by a bank that they have a reciprocal agreement with. In the UK this is Barclays. I'm going to the UK this October, and I wonder if they charge that 3% foreign transaction fee though? I don't trust 'em!
Posted by: tracker1312 | March 23, 2007 at 02:49 PM