ATM withdrawal fees in Indonesia

This is the account I have with Capital One:
http://www.capitalone.com/directbanking/online-checking-accounts/interest-online-checking-account/

I've been overseas for more than 18 months straight now, and haven't run into any problems with it. However, I had the account for maybe 6 months before I came over here. My friend was attempting to do the same thing, but he was setting up the account right before he moved over here, and they ended up refusing to let him open an account with them. So, I'm not sure if it was the individual they were working with, or if he should have started the process much earlier, but he was denied. So, he went with Charles Schwab instead and hasn't had any problems. However, he hasn't been here a year yet. When you say that you can't have an account with them and be gone for more than 12 months, do you mean that that's the limit on their travel notification, and you'll just have to call them back every 12 months and let them know that you're still overseas? That's how it seems to work with Capital One, and I'm under the impression from my friend that Schwab is the same. You just have to call them and extend the notification before it expires. I think that's pretty normal for using ATM cards overseas. You should of course always have a back-up ATM card to use from another bank, in case your primary card gets stolen, skimmed, or eaten by a machine (or if you get locked out and it takes a while to gain access again).
FYI, you talk about Schwab crediting your account for ATM fees (as does Capital One), but since Indonesian ATMs don't charge any fees, you don't have to worry about that. And Schwab uses the same exchange rate from Bank Indonesia that I mentioned earlier, so they're not ripping you off on the conversion.

I didn't find anything on that Capital One website link which says that they don't charge "foreign transaction fees". It only says that they don't charge ATM fees.
ATM fees are not the same as "foreign transaction fees" which are assessed when a tourist withdraws money in foreign currency overseas.

Yes, I know what they are. I live overseas and withdraw by ATM all the time. I'm not making up that they don't charge anything.

Anyway, it's there on the website. Click the debit card tab.
"$0 foreign currency exchange fees by Capital One Bank for purchases and withdrawals made overseas."

Thank you, Luke.

Hi Luke,
Thanks for the great insights. I really appreciate it!

Regarding your question: When you say that you can't have an account with them and be gone for more than 12 months, do you mean that that's the limit on their travel notification, and you'll just have to call them back every 12 months and let them know that you're still overseas?

Schwab told me there are international banking rules that technically don't allow someone to have a U.S. account and live overseas for more than a year; you would then need to open an international bank account, which I've heard is a pain. However, as I keep reiterating to them, we are not living/moving overseas; rather, we are traveling for 18 months around Asia and the Middle East, so...not sure how they will handle it.

Yes, I am definitely going to notify them of our overseas plans (as well as credit card companies, etc.) and will make a note to renew that notice. The fear is that I've gotten so many different answers from Schwab Bank that I don't have much confidence we won't run into problems. And once we've left, I can't really do much other than fall back on my BofA account with that nasty $5/transaction fee + foreign currency exchange.

I does say this on Capital One's banking site in the small print:
† Fees assessed at any ATM within the United States and at some ATMs located outside the United States will be reimbursed within 5 business days, up to $25 per statement period.

That got me thinking that a max of $25 reimbursement per statement (i.e., month) isn't that great - that means I can only make 5 free withdrawals a month. Am I missing something?

Appreciate the heads-up of your buddy being denied, though - I wonder if we'd have the same problem since we'll just be applying for the credit card now and possibly adding the bank about 1 month prior to leaving the country. ???

Why can't you merely give them an address of a relative in the U.S.A. (as your residence and mailing address)?

"I does say this on Capital One's banking site in the small print:
† Fees assessed at any ATM within the United States and at some ATMs located outside the United States will be reimbursed within 5 business days, up to $25 per statement period.

That got me thinking that a max of $25 reimbursement per statement (i.e., month) isn't that great - that means I can only make 5 free withdrawals a month. Am I missing something?"

That's pretty typical of banks that reimburse ATM charges. I don't think you'll find a better deal than that. Remember, the ATM charge is not from your bank, but the other bank whose ATM you are using. It's different from the foreign transaction/exchange fee that is assessed by the debit card issuer. For instance, if you use your Capital One card on a PNC Bank's ATM, PNC charges you a fee for using their ATM, say, $2.50. So, Capital One will reimburse you that amount on your next statement. I think Schwab is the same.

I don't know where else you are travelling, but in Indonesia most, if not all, banks do not charge a fee for using their ATM, so it's not an issue here. So, I can withdraw from a BNI bank ATM a hundred times in a month, and BNI doesn't charge me anything. As a result, there is nothing for Capital One to reimburse me for. And, like I said, unlike with most U.S. banks, Capital One also doesn't charge a fee for foreign transactions. So, I can withdraw as many times a month as I like here, without penalty.

You might want to check out this Wikipedia article to see what ATM fees might look like in other countries (hopefully it's fairly accurate, but I don't know). At a quick glance, it seems like most Asian countries charge under a dollar for their ATM fees, although it seems Thailand charges a full $5. Ouch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATM_usage_fees

You can also compare fees for debit and credit cards from different banks here (again, I can't attest to it being 100% accurate, but it should give you an idea). http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

I've also never heard that about not being allowed to have a US bank account and being overseas for more than a year. That would complicate the lives of many US citizens overseas if that is true and if it were enforced!

Thanks everyone,
Schwab was pretty adamant that rules are changing recently and they are cracking down on Americans living overseas and keeping U.S. bank accounts. The main issue is, regardless of the address we give (we use my mom's in AZ when traveling), they will be seeing a number of ATM withdrawals from banks across Asia and possibly the Middle East, which sets off their automatic fraud crawlers to alert them and possibly freeze the account (at least, this is the gist of what they told me). If that happens, it will require a phone call to get it unfrozen.

Luke, Schwab has told me they have NO limits on foreign ATM reversals, so every month we should see any/all charges reversed by them.

I'm still puzzled by the fees charged by the foreign banks - from what I can tell, it sounds like it's built in to the withdrawal as their commission, which is understandable - cost of doing business.

In 2007 we got BofA to reverse all $5.00 non-BofA ATM fees plus the 1% transaction fee, and we saved about $600 over the course of our 14-month trip. They won't do that anymore, so we're moving to a bank that will.

MadeIndra, your insights are spot on and I, too, question what Schwab is telling me on not being "allowed" to be gone for more than 12 months, but perhaps the rules here really are changing. It wouldn't surprise me.

We'll be all over SE Asia, Nepal, India, central Asia, China, and possibly Jordan and Turkey. Looking forward to getting out of here, as right now I'm having second thoughts about uprooting my life and leaving. AHHH!

I'll let you know if I find out anything else. Please do the same on your end if you think of anything else. Cheers!

MadeIndra, thank you for enlightening me. Seems these banks aren't on the up and up (not that I suspected they would be). Interesting info you shared - thank you!

Technically we're not living overseas, rather, traveling for 18 months, but since so few people do what we're doing in the U.S., most vendors we talk to don't really know how to accommodate us (or aren't willing to). It creates some interesting scenarios.

Curious to know where you live and if you're American? We might just be following in the expat footsteps one of these days.

Cheers!
DLM

Sent you a PM in reply to your question.