Laser Card in Australia = useless!

Stinicker

So today I spent through the last of my cash I brought with me on my 33 day RTW trip. Having used my laser card multiple times throughout Europe and the United States I went to three different Aussie ATM's (Westpac, ANZ and Commonwealth bank and it was rejected by all three!)

So after much consternations and multiple skype calls to the idiots in 365online banking I was getting nowhere. Eventually I rang my mum back home and got her to go to my branch who advised her to tell me to ring the idiots I already had rang.

Eventually on the 9th call to the 365 banking I was told the excuse of how the Aussie ATM's have a Foregin Exchange restriction in place which limits the amount the ATM will dispence to €100 worth of dollars per day. I think this is horses crap and is just a stunt by our banks to force people to make multiple transactions at the maximum rate of €11.60 per transaction.

I always take 1,000 Euro and 1,000 US Dollars when I go abroad (Just in case! ) so obviously was not stuck for money. However were I broke studenty backpacker type this would be a major issue.

To get access to my money at home I had to transfer money into my Mastercard which now sees it with a loading of over its credit limit. (€1,000 credit limit + €1,000 loading = €2,000 available) however I was to withdraw from the credit limit they really roast you in fees. Also if I had something on credit (say the flight over for instance) I would have to transfer that much also to avoid the high charges for withdrawing from my credit limit.

I also must now wait 24 hours before the electronic funds transfer takes place before my €1,000 I transferred actually shows up in my credit card. Also the €1,000 I transferred to my credit card is also at risk were I to be scammed or the card stolen as the bank only covers their €1,000 credit limit and not any loadings.

So a laser card is worthless for anything online and its Cirrus Maestro facility is now worthless outside the EU.

This could cause major upsets for those on shoestring budgets and I think needs to be stickified here.

Funkstard

My Laser card worked absolutely fine over there on all ATM's. I'm with Ulster Bank.

Rebel Boy

I'm with AIB. Used my Laser in Crete and in England. Haven't used it outside the E.U. Hope it works in Australia cause I'm going there in November.

mandrake04

Could you not have got a pre-pay Visa or Master card? You just throw all you money on it before you go and then use it anywhere.

Mackman

My laser card works fine. Im with AIB.

Dave!

I'm with AIB and my Laser card works fine at ATMs

eringobragh

BOI Laser works fine with ANZ here in Sydney

Xavi6

Hi OP

Eventually on the 9th call to the 365 banking I was told the excuse of how the Aussie ATM's have a Foregin Exchange restriction in place which limits the amount the ATM will dispence to €100 worth of dollars per day. I think this is horses crap and is just a stunt by our banks to force people to make multiple transactions at the maximum rate of €11.60 per transaction.

This is incorrect as far as Bankwest are concerned. I have confirmed with our Help Desk that overseas customers are subject to the same guidelines as Australian ones - you can withdraw up to $1000 per card per day.

It must be a problem from Ireland as I'm almost sure every bank is the same here.

old_aussie

Sounds like what we refer to in IT as a picnic

m*pp*t

I had exactly the same issue with Bank of Ireland in early 2009. And they were pretty useless on the phone alright. Took ages for them to get around to telling me that for some reason while out of the EU my withdrawal limit had been changed to 100 euro a day. And I'm sure I was using it for more than that in India and SE Asia without a problem. BOI implied to me on the phone that it was a temporary measure but by the sounds of it it's still in force. And I've a feeling the same limit was in place on my Mastercard as well (cos that's usually what I'l use to withdraw cash). Fupping muppets....

Stinicker

Xavi6 wrote: »

Hi OP



This is incorrect as far as Bankwest are concerned. I have confirmed with our Help Desk that overseas customers are subject to the same guidelines as Australian ones - you can withdraw up to $1000 per card per day.

It must be a problem from Ireland as I'm almost sure every bank is the same here.

Thanks for that Xavi, you know more about banking than the idiots in BOI back home. I also spoke to Commonwealth Bank today and they told me they have a AU$2,000 foreign exchange limit.

To add insult to injury they blocked my credit card today (Friday) which forced me to cannibalise my Euro currency emergency reserve fund.

So after numerous calls back and forth, it has emerged that the laser card is practically useless with a €100/€200 depending on who you talk to daily withdrawal limit and the have my Mastercard credit card restricted to €300 a day which saw me restricted to a AU$350 withdrawal, which I was eventually able to withdraw in an ANZ ATM Machine.

m*pp*t wrote:

I had exactly the same issue with Bank of Ireland in early 2009. And they were pretty useless on the phone alright. Took ages for them to get around to telling me that for some reason while out of the EU my withdrawal limit had been changed to 100 euro a day. And I'm sure I was using it for more than that in India and SE Asia without a problem. BOI implied to me on the phone that it was a temporary measure but by the sounds of it it's still in force. And I've a feeling the same limit was in place on my Mastercard as well (cos that's usually what I'l use to withdraw cash). Fupping muppets....

Yep still the same;

Laser = €100/€200 withdrawal daily
Mastercard = €300 withdrawal daily

They then tried to blame the whole thing on Mastercard and the Australian banks when Mastercard have no such limit and the Aussie Banks allow you upto AU$2,000/day. It is simply a Bank of Ireland self imposed limit to screw the consumer with their ripoff overseas charges forcing people to make more transactions to get their money.

Bank of Ireland have lost me as a customer over this and had I not had my Euros today I was well and truly screwed.

Xavi6

Just a thought - could you open a transaction account with an Australia, transfer a bulk amount from BOI as a once off by Telegraphic Transfer, and then get an Australian ATM card? Would save you a fortune in fees if you're so restricted.

Or will you not be here long enough?

Stinicker

Xavi6 wrote: »

Just a thought - could you open a transaction account with an Australia, transfer a bulk amount from BOI as a once off by Telegraphic Transfer, and then get an Australian ATM card? Would save you a fortune in fees if you're so restricted.

Or will you not be here long enough?

Nah, I'm here on holiday so won't be an option! Anyone on a WHV here should do it though.

mel.b

I'm with NIB and have used my Laser card numerous times on trips home to OZ. Max withdrawal from an ATM I think was either $800 or $1000 per day.

I tried to use it in a supermarket in OZ and couldn't (but wasn't really expecting to be able to). I also used it to pay for a hotel in New Zealand with no trouble.

paxtrodamus

Stinicker wrote: »

So today I spent through the last of my cash I brought with me on my 33 day RTW trip. Having used my laser card multiple times throughout Europe and the United States I went to three different Aussie ATM's (Westpac, ANZ and Commonwealth bank and it was rejected by all three!)

So after much consternations and multiple skype calls to the idiots in 365online banking I was getting nowhere. Eventually I rang my mum back home and got her to go to my branch who advised her to tell me to ring the idiots I already had rang.

Eventually on the 9th call to the 365 banking I was told the excuse of how the Aussie ATM's have a Foregin Exchange restriction in place which limits the amount the ATM will dispence to €100 worth of dollars per day. I think this is horses crap and is just a stunt by our banks to force people to make multiple transactions at the maximum rate of €11.60 per transaction.

I always take 1,000 Euro and 1,000 US Dollars when I go abroad (Just in case! ) so obviously was not stuck for money. However were I broke studenty backpacker type this would be a major issue.

To get access to my money at home I had to transfer money into my Mastercard which now sees it with a loading of over its credit limit. (€1,000 credit limit + €1,000 loading = €2,000 available) however I was to withdraw from the credit limit they really roast you in fees. Also if I had something on credit (say the flight over for instance) I would have to transfer that much also to avoid the high charges for withdrawing from my credit limit.

I also must now wait 24 hours before the electronic funds transfer takes place before my €1,000 I transferred actually shows up in my credit card. Also the €1,000 I transferred to my credit card is also at risk were I to be scammed or the card stolen as the bank only covers their €1,000 credit limit and not any loadings.

So a laser card is worthless for anything online and its Cirrus Maestro facility is now worthless outside the EU.

This could cause major upsets for those on shoestring budgets and I think needs to be stickified here.

I'm an American liviing here in Ireland and found out about the BoI maximum daily limit the hard way. When I went back to visit my parents back in June 2010 I tried to use my Laser to withdraw a few hundred dollars. I remembered when I signed up for the account being told something about a 600 euro per day limit on Laser withdrawals. So it just didn't compute when the ATMs kept rejecting. I drove around town to 7 different bank ATMs in the blazing Texas heat :mad:. I went inside and talked to a bank agent. She didn't understand either. She made some phone calls and found out that their ATMs allow $600 per day. I went to my Bank of America branch and they made some phone calls and said that their ATM allow $800 per day but if your a customer you can set your limit to anything you want. The default is $800 per day but you can call a toll free number or do it in person at the bank in just a few minutes. By that time I figured out it was BoI :mad:. I went home and called them on Skype and went ballistic on them for a good 20 minutes. They set the daily maximum at 200 euro and they set that for all their customers across the board "for your protection". I told the BoI agent I don't want their protection. I asked if they could raise my limit. They said no its a bank policy for all customers and apologized. I said don't bother, take your apology and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. They quote a maximum withdrawal fee limit of 11.43 euro in their fee schedule. At their 3.5% charge plus ATM fees (about $2 or $3 in the US generally), you would have to withdraw 326 euro to take advantage of this maximum. However the limit is set at 200 euro. If they allowed 600 euro as they do domestically (I think), you could really get a benefit from the 11.43 euro maximum fee. Deceptive a-holes.

Stinicker

paxtrodamus wrote: »

I'm an American liviing here in Ireland and found out about the BoI maximum daily limit the hard way. When I went back to visit my parents back in June 2010 I tried to use my Laser to withdraw a few hundred dollars. I remembered when I signed up for the account being told something about a 600 euro per day limit on Laser withdrawals. So it just didn't compute when the ATMs kept rejecting. I drove around town to 7 different bank ATMs in the blazing Texas heat :mad:. I went inside and talked to a bank agent. She didn't understand either. She made some phone calls and found out that their ATMs allow $600 per day. I went to my Bank of America branch and they made some phone calls and said that their ATM allow $800 per day but if your a customer you can set your limit to anything you want. The default is $800 per day but you can call a toll free number or do it in person at the bank in just a few minutes. By that time I figured out it was BoI :mad:. I went home and called them on Skype and went ballistic on them for a good 20 minutes. They set the daily maximum at 200 euro and they set that for all their customers across the board "for your protection". I told the BoI agent I don't want their protection. I asked if they could raise my limit. They said no its a bank policy for all customers and apologized. I said don't bother, take your apology and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. They quote a maximum withdrawal fee limit of 11.43 euro in their fee schedule. At their 3.5% charge plus ATM fees (about $2 or $3 in the US generally), you would have to withdraw 326 euro to take advantage of this maximum. However the limit is set at 200 euro. If they allowed 600 euro as they do domestically (I think), you could really get a benefit from the 11.43 euro maximum fee. Deceptive a-holes.

Indeed Paxtrodamus, they are quite irritable to deal with. Welcome to boards btw!

Anyway when I was out there my Laser card was totally useless and I could not get a penny with it, They had my credit card restricted to €300/daily and my maximum withdrawal I could make on it was AUD$350. They pretend it is for your security but like you say it is so they can screw us in transaction fees.

Look at the response I got upon complaining about the restriction placed on my credit card.

dennismc

just wondering do u reckon the normal boi card would work in the atms in nz?

hussey

dennismc wrote: »

just wondering do u reckon the normal boi card would work in the atms in nz?

Yes

dennismc

cheers man that def do they work in all atms what about tsb any clue?

Mackman

dennismc wrote: »

cheers man that def do they work in all atms what about tsb any clue?

Ring the bank and ask, they'll be able to tell you for sure.

Zambia

Stick it in the wall and see? *

*bring some cash just in case

Coeus

dennismc wrote: »

cheers man that def do they work in all atms what about tsb any clue?

I have a Permanent TSB Laser card which recently (early December) stopped working here in Ireland. I rang them up to ask them why it wasn't working and they told me that they were not using the Laser system anymore and to use the Visa Debit card they had sent me out...

Ozeire

Stinicker wrote: »

So today I spent through the last of my cash I brought with me on my 33 day RTW trip. Having used my laser card multiple times throughout Europe and the United States I went to three different Aussie ATM's (Westpac, ANZ and Commonwealth bank and it was rejected by all three!)

So after much consternations and multiple skype calls to the idiots in 365online banking I was getting nowhere. Eventually I rang my mum back home and got her to go to my branch who advised her to tell me to ring the idiots I already had rang.

Eventually on the 9th call to the 365 banking I was told the excuse of how the Aussie ATM's have a Foregin Exchange restriction in place which limits the amount the ATM will dispence to €100 worth of dollars per day. I think this is horses crap and is just a stunt by our banks to force people to make multiple transactions at the maximum rate of €11.60 per transaction.

I always take 1,000 Euro and 1,000 US Dollars when I go abroad (Just in case! ) so obviously was not stuck for money. However were I broke studenty backpacker type this would be a major issue.

To get access to my money at home I had to transfer money into my Mastercard which now sees it with a loading of over its credit limit. (€1,000 credit limit + €1,000 loading = €2,000 available) however I was to withdraw from the credit limit they really roast you in fees. Also if I had something on credit (say the flight over for instance) I would have to transfer that much also to avoid the high charges for withdrawing from my credit limit.

I also must now wait 24 hours before the electronic funds transfer takes place before my €1,000 I transferred actually shows up in my credit card. Also the €1,000 I transferred to my credit card is also at risk were I to be scammed or the card stolen as the bank only covers their €1,000 credit limit and not any loadings.

So a laser card is worthless for anything online and its Cirrus Maestro facility is now worthless outside the EU.

This could cause major upsets for those on shoestring budgets and I think needs to be stickified here.

Have been back and forth to OZ lots of times in the last few years the last being the begining of the year and my wife is over there now and our BOI laser card is working fine .

Yes you can only take $1000 i think a day out from any atm daily but I also think if you go into the bank you can take out more .

No problem with laser card as long as it has Maestro or Cirrus on it and most Laser cards do now .

dennismc

thats grand cheers lads ,ye im still waiting on my tsb visa debit card :mad: