Outside Europe: ATM withdrawal fees and paying by card (point of sale)

paulb06

Hi,

Can you advise what the cheapest option for me is here? 

I will be travelling to Southeast Asia/Hong Kong soon and don't want to be hammered with bank charges.

If I withdraw HK$3000 in an ATM abroad, am I going to be charged 3.5% of the euro equivalent? In this case based on today's rate HK$3000 is €345 so 3.5% of this is €12? 

And for a point of sale transaction in a restaurant for example, am I better to ask to pay in local currency or euro? I know the charge is 2% on that, but which am I better paying in?

Can you advise if there are any cheaper alternatives to the above? If not that's no problem I am just looking for the cheapest options. 

Thanks! 

Bank of Ireland: Alison

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi,

Can you advise what the cheapest option for me is here? 

I will be travelling to Southeast Asia/Hong Kong soon and don't want to be hammered with bank charges.

If I withdraw HK$3000 in an ATM abroad, am I going to be charged 3.5% of the euro equivalent? In this case based on today's rate HK$3000 is €345 so 3.5% of this is €12? 

And for a point of sale transaction in a restaurant for example, am I better to ask to pay in local currency or euro? I know the charge is 2% on that, but which am I better paying in?

Can you advise if there are any cheaper alternatives to the above? If not that's no problem I am just looking for the cheapest options. 

Thanks! 

Hi paulb06,

Thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.

Is it a Visa Debit Card you are using? The cross border charges you mention are correct, although would like to add with the ATM withdrawals, a min of E3.17 and max of E11.43 charge applies. The fx daily rate on these transactions will be decided by Visa and this can be checked here

Also, to mention, the daily limits abroad at the ATM are reduced, the withdrawal amounts are between E100 -E250 daily in Southeast Asia & Hong Kong. This limit does not affect your point of sale transactions.

We would not advise bringing large amounts of cash with you when travelling, although purchasing foreign exchange  is another option. We can advise the fx commission charge when purchasing foreign currency in Branch is 1% of the transaction value, with a min charge of E1.25 and max E6.35 

Also, we would recommend recording your travel plans on your account if you will be using your Visa Debit Card abroad. You can do this when logged in online, select our Online Service Desk facility and from the drop down the Ask A Question option. Please input dates and locations you will be using your card abroad.

We hope the information helps, if you have further questions please feel free to ask. 

Many Thanks
Alison

paulb06

Bank of Ireland: Alison wrote: »

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi,

Can you advise what the cheapest option for me is here? 

I will be travelling to Southeast Asia/Hong Kong soon and don't want to be hammered with bank charges.

If I withdraw HK$3000 in an ATM abroad, am I going to be charged 3.5% of the euro equivalent? In this case based on today's rate HK$3000 is €345 so 3.5% of this is €12? 

And for a point of sale transaction in a restaurant for example, am I better to ask to pay in local currency or euro? I know the charge is 2% on that, but which am I better paying in?

Can you advise if there are any cheaper alternatives to the above? If not that's no problem I am just looking for the cheapest options. 

Thanks! 

Hi paulb06,

Thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.

Is it a Visa Debit Card you are using? The cross border charges you mention are correct, although would like to add with the ATM withdrawals, a min of E3.17 and max of E11.43 charge applies. The fx daily rate on these transactions will be decided by Visa and this can be checked here

Also, to mention, the daily limits abroad at the ATM are reduced, the withdrawal amounts are between E100 -E250 daily in Southeast Asia & Hong Kong. This limit does not affect your point of sale transactions.

We would not advise bringing large amounts of cash with you when travelling, although purchasing foreign exchange  is another option. We can advise the fx commission charge when purchasing foreign currency in Branch is 1% of the transaction value, with a min charge of E1.25 and max E6.35 

Also, we would recommend recording your travel plans on your account if you will be using your Visa Debit Card abroad. You can do this when logged in online, select our Online Service Desk facility and from the drop down the Ask A Question option. Please input dates and locations you will be using your card abroad.

We hope the information helps, if you have further questions please feel free to ask. 

Many Thanks
Alison

Thanks for that, I didn't know there was an ATM withdrawal limit in SE Asia and HK, Is this set by Bank of Ireland? When you say between €100-€250 can you be more precise? Because if it's €100 a day and I am staying 2 weeks in Thailand, I may have to use the ATM say 10 times in that period which means minimum bank charges alone here would be €31.70 (minimum charge €3.17x10). If this is the case then it's a no brainer to buy cash before I go. 

If you can advise exactly what countries in SE Asia have this limit and how much etc that would help. 

When I am paying for something with my visa debit card by point of sale, should I ask to pay in the local currency or Euro and which is cheapest option? 

Bank of Ireland: Sarah

paulb06 wrote: »

Bank of Ireland: Alison wrote: »

paulb06 wrote: »

Hi,

Can you advise what the cheapest option for me is here? 

I will be travelling to Southeast Asia/Hong Kong soon and don't want to be hammered with bank charges.

If I withdraw HK$3000 in an ATM abroad, am I going to be charged 3.5% of the euro equivalent? In this case based on today's rate HK$3000 is €345 so 3.5% of this is €12? 

And for a point of sale transaction in a restaurant for example, am I better to ask to pay in local currency or euro? I know the charge is 2% on that, but which am I better paying in?

Can you advise if there are any cheaper alternatives to the above? If not that's no problem I am just looking for the cheapest options. 

Thanks! 

Hi paulb06,

Thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.

Is it a Visa Debit Card you are using? The cross border charges you mention are correct, although would like to add with the ATM withdrawals, a min of E3.17 and max of E11.43 charge applies. The fx daily rate on these transactions will be decided by Visa and this can be checked here

Also, to mention, the daily limits abroad at the ATM are reduced, the withdrawal amounts are between E100 -E250 daily in Southeast Asia & Hong Kong. This limit does not affect your point of sale transactions.

We would not advise bringing large amounts of cash with you when travelling, although purchasing foreign exchange  is another option. We can advise the fx commission charge when purchasing foreign currency in Branch is 1% of the transaction value, with a min charge of E1.25 and max E6.35 

Also, we would recommend recording your travel plans on your account if you will be using your Visa Debit Card abroad. You can do this when logged in online, select our Online Service Desk facility and from the drop down the Ask A Question option. Please input dates and locations you will be using your card abroad.

We hope the information helps, if you have further questions please feel free to ask. 

Many Thanks
Alison

Thanks for that, I didn't know there was an ATM withdrawal limit in SE Asia and HK, Is this set by Bank of Ireland? When you say between €100-€250 can you be more precise? Because if it's €100 a day and I am staying 2 weeks in Thailand, I may have to use the ATM say 10 times in that period which means minimum bank charges alone here would be €31.70 (minimum charge €3.17x10). If this is the case then it's a no brainer to buy cash before I go. 

If you can advise exactly what countries in SE Asia have this limit and how much etc that would help. 

When I am paying for something with my visa debit card by point of sale, should I ask to pay in the local currency or Euro and which is cheapest option? 

Hi paulb06, 

Thanks for your reply. 

As the foreign Banks may set their own limit at the ATM, we would be unable to give a more specific ATM limit. We would generally advise that countries in the South-East Asia region have the limit that Alison mentions above of €100-€250. 

We have a section on our website here that would apply for using your Visa Debit card abroad. Although we would be unable to give a definitive answer here about which currency to make the transaction in, some days it may be cheaper to pay in the local currency and some may be better for Euro transactions. The rate on the day is determined by Visa and is available on the Visa Europe website. 

Thanks,
Sarah