Global ATM Alliance

Mastercard is widely accepted in Western Europe. The quote below is from Scotiabank's website:

"Scotiabank's membership in the Global ATM Alliance means you pay no surcharges or access fees when you withdraw cash at certain member bank ATMs around the world."

What you need to find out is how widespread those 'certain member bank ATMS' are in Europe and I can't help you there, I'm afraid.

ola, senor: aty first you should have told more: that you are mexicano, f.e.
nr 2 makes NO sense at all for you, the tipical gringo=americano thinks the whole world has US standards, this is NOT so.
YOUR bank sets the charges, the only thing they say is that NO other charges should be incurred sdet by the bank that gives you the local moneda. There are NO free cred-cards, checks, or any banking service anywhere in this world: YOUR bank will simply use a higher exhange rate or whatever they can think of. it is NONSENSE to ask this here: the mexicana client assciociation (if such a thing exists, here in Europe any country has) will have comparisons of what bamk will be best. and Master is VERY widely taken ANYwhere in Europe, just as is VISA. it simply does not matter: in fact master is ofen named MAESTRO in Europe and also runs a direct payment service.

Thank you all three for your information! Oh I am sorry, I should have clearly stated that I am from Mexico, but the info qwovadis provided is still useful, at least for a comparison. Unfortunately, here in mexico there is no equivalet to the Capital One Visa in the US or Wizard in Oz.

Bmta, haha I am not a señor, in any case, I am a señora :P. I of course tried to look this information up, the problem is that with the unregulated banking system in Mexico, there is almost none information avaliable (yes, I went to the bank yesterday and the guys didn't have a clue about global ATM alliance), there is unfortunately no such thing [that I know of] as the "mexicana client association".

Anyways, I am glad to hear that Maestro is widely accepted :D. Thanks!

Cannot vouch for special deals that Americans may enjoy when converting funds o'seas but I find it very hard to believe that their banks really provide the service for nothing. I used to get quite frustrated concluding that all banks and currency exchange agents will charge fees every time you draw funds overseas even when you put your credit card into credit or use a debit card or a card accessing your own savings - but of course, banks are not charities - cards must be a phenomenal earner for them! Perhaps the important thing is to speak with someone knowledgeable in your bank to make sure that the card you take will be widely accepted, that you will understand the deal you are offered and that you are guaranteed the lowest possible fees. Last o'seas visit (four weeks) cost me something like four or five dollars total "fees" plus whatever they made on the exchange rates. I've resolved to quit worrying - you can't beat the banks.
BTW, something you probably already know - don't let your credit card out of sight at any time - there are lots of crooks just waiting to use your card illegally - the first you'll know about it is when your bank queries you and you find heaps of transactions on your card that you didn't make!

Hey, digger... thanks for your information. Yeah, I will certainly both have an eye on my card all the time and stop worrying about converting fees, I guess that if I keep worrying I'll get half of the fun and all of the charges!

Bear in mind that whatever the fees they are likely to be cheaper than the costs involved in changing cash and travellers cheques.

Thanks for the casual ageism, mcbecerril. How about "If it's too difficult to understand, you're too young"? Not that I'd ever say such a thing in seriousness, but it's the equivalent of your sig line.

Haha.. these days it is too loud even for me, and I'm just 22 :/.

For clarity.

Banks make money on ATM use in 2 ways. A transaction fee of X per transaction. If your bank has a transaction fee the best you can do is withdraw the maximum daily amount allowed to reduce the number of transactions.

The second way they make money is on the exchange rate they use. Exchange rates are compared in terms of the Interbank Rate which is the rate at which banks exchange between themselves. Almost all banks pass on the 1% fee that Visa and Mastercard charge to the banks for use of their system. Most banks then also add on a percentage for themselves. The total % charged can be as high as 4.75%. This is far more important than the transaction fee.

Finding the best possible bank in any given country is not a 5 minute exercise but it is WORTH THE EFFORT if you are going to be exchanging any signifigant amount of money. Someone going on a sun and fun holiday for 2 weeks, who is likely to exchange a relatively small amount of money might not feel it was worthwhile doing the research to find the best deal but someone going on an extended trip or multiple short trips would really be smart to do the work and get the right account.

Consider this. If you exchange $1000 with a 3% (average fee) exchange cost, you would in fact be giving your bank $30 for the privilege of using the card. Not unreasonable. But if you were exchanging $10,000 over a period of time, you would be giving them $300 for that same privilege. Reasonable? Could you find better ways to spend that money while travelling?

Some banks like Nationwide in the UK charge no transaction fees, no exchange fees and eat the 1% that Visa charges them. The person using their account therefore has $300 more to spend on their trip than you do in the example above.

So unless this is the only trip you ever plan to make and it is going to be only a couple of weeks in duration mcbecerril, I would start worrying about it. Anyone that gives a bank money they don't have to is not exactly the brightest bulb in the room.

Digger888, if you were paying 3% on exchange on your 4 week trip, how much did it cost you? " I've resolved to quit worrying - you can't beat the banks." Wrong, you can beat most of them any day with a little effort.

I travel every year. I spend a minimum of $12,000 per year doing so. Given the sample 3%, that means by using the right bank I have $360 per year more to spend. Over 10 years that is $3600. Since retiring 18 years ago, that is $6480. The point being that the numbers add up to signifigant amounts over time obviously.

You may not feel at 22 that it is a big deal for you mcbecciril but the habits you form now in regards to how you go about organizing your banking and how much attention you pay to the details, are the habits you will probably stick with in the future. Why not start with good banking habits. Learning how to save 1% is one of the reasons why I retired at 43 while others continue to slave on even today. Get smart about money mcbecciril.