Using debit card in EU

geographica

can I use my Irish debit card to withdraw cash without charge in the EU?

always thought it was meant to be the same as going to an atm at home?

Atlantic Dawn

In theory yes at any ATM owned by an actual mainstream bank. There's lots of standalone ATM's owned by private operators that may have a fixed charge to use them.

geographica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122418700#Comment_122418700

Yeh seems like BBVA, Caixa and Santander etc etc banks in Spain charge around €3 to withdraw your cash at atm, seems very anti EU, are our fellow Europeans charged the same here I wonder

don’t ever remember having to pay a fee in the past

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122418701#Comment_122418701

From last time I used BBVA or Santandar there was no charge but if you were using a UK card to withdraw there would be a charge. That may have changed, could be 6 months since I last withdrew.

geographica

PTSB, for eg, seem to think it’s standard practice for years that we get charged for withdrawals in the EU

That was news to me, always though withdrawing cash from atm in another EU country was the same as doing it “up the road”, (though not from those “private” machines that are in supermarkets etc)

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122418705#Comment_122418705

Yes I thought there was legislation in place but the private ATM's operate outside of this and must present the costs prior to you withdrawing.

When I'm heading away in the EU I usually bring 50% of what I expect to spend in cash, I've been stung twice where not a cent of my bank account was accessable for either the entire bank going down or Visa or MasterCard crashing for a whole weekend.

whomitconcerns

Lots of main bank ATMs in Spain were trying to charge me 10%. But there were certain banks not charging anything. Santander definitely wanted 10% first instance. Caixa I think was free but you can look it up

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058361143/using-debit-card-in-eu

It depends on your bank, and the charges you signed up to.

NIMAN

If I use my NI based Bank of Ireland bank card to pay for something in ROI, then Bank of Ireland charge me a fee for it. I think it's for converting between Sterling and Euro.

But if you were to use an ROI bank card in Europe, I suppose there is no currency conversion taking place, so perhaps no fee?

whomitconcerns

It doesn't matter, the main banks all charge anyway

geographica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122418760#Comment_122418760

Whereabouts, thanks

Economics101

Surely this thread should be about debit cards in the Eurozone, not the EU. Not a trivial point.

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058361143/using-debit-card-in-eu

Not exactly, the "fee" charged for EU cards must the same as that charged for Domestic cards, so in Spain (for example) if spanish cards are free, then Irish cards are free too. If they charge Spanish cards, then they can charge Irish cards too, but can exempt their own customers.

Also many ATM's now are non-bank ATMs, so charge a fee for everyone.

An interesting "feature" for some ATMS, they "encourage" foreign cards to take more money out, and (if outside the eurozone, screw you on FX Rates).

geographica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122419135#Comment_122419135

Yes fair point, EURozone not EU

geographica

And do main banks in Ireland charge people from say, Germany, to withdraw their cash here?

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122419415#Comment_122419415

thats a good question, from online sources it seems not, but I for one cant give an answer as I bring Euros with me from abroad to avoid needing to find out if or what the fee would be when withdrawing from an irish bank machine (and the odd time I did get cash in the past 15+ years I got cash back in a shop, for free)

Its the great thing about the Eurozone, you can take out cash from your own bank before travelling and use that, and if you dont spend it, just keep it and spend it on groceries or whatever when you get back home again.

If you really need more than a couple of 100 euro in cash nowadays when on holiday, thats a lot of stuff to be buying in cash. The only thing I can think of that would require heaps of actual hard cash would be hookers, strippers or drugs, and if youre burning cash on those things then a fiver of a fee is neither here nor there.

whomitconcerns

I used Unicaja and the l there was 0 charge, loads of machines in Málaga. I tried 3/4 others and it was 10% as mentioned. €7 for €70 pocket money is a huge amount imho munchin.

https://www.google.com/search?q=spanish+banks+with+no+atm+fees&oq=&gs_lcrp=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&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

GerardKeating

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122419415#Comment_122419415

They have to charge Germany, Spainisg, French etc at the same rates as Irish card holders, but they have some "wriggle" room, they can offer their own card holders a CAP (€6 a month for all your transactions for example) and have a high per click fee without "annoying" their own customers.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058361143/using-debit-card-in-eu

All of the banks charge for withdrawals.I believe the "honeymoon" for Irish dedbit card holders finished more than a year ago.But you can see how much the charge is before you accept the transaction.The charge varies between banks.It can be up to double the cheapest.So shop around when you see 2-4-5 bank branches togehter.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122419447#Comment_122419447

Nice.A man of the world

geographica

according to PTSB they don’t charge fellow eurozone customers to withdraw money in Ireland from their ATMs 🤷🏼‍♂️

Tenzor07

Never use cash in the Eurozone, pointless carrying paper and metal around, and in Northern European countries that don't use the Euro I'd still never withdraw cash…

Only really in non €uro Eastern European countries would I have cash, and maybe Southern Italy.. though in many places you'd be hard pushed to find a working ATM..

CelticRambler

Janey! Some of ye must indulge in very, very unoriginal mainstream travel if ye never need to use cash on your continental European travels. My daily/weekly/monthly stomping ground includes France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy, and I would never consider visiting any of them without a hefty wad of cash. As a rule, I carry about 200€ and 200CHF to cover short-notice needs, and even then, I might have to make an unplanned trip to an ATM or supermarket offering cash-back to top that up.

Two Saturdays ago in France, when something on my wish-list showed up at a festival buy-and-sell stand, I needed an extra 300€ to get within haggling distance of the advertised price; or a few months ago in Switzerland, where the only electronic payment option for accommodation was a Swiss app I didn't have and didn't want to download. Germany is renowned for still being a cash-is-king economy outside the major cities.

Perhaps it's because I have a decent continental bank (and Revolut), but I have never been charged for a cash withdrawal inside or outside the Eurozone in the last fifteen years.

beachhead

Agree with you CR. In France there can be "a difficulty" when they see a non French card.In the big cities a transaction usually pas difficile but in small towns/villages c'est difficile.Switzerland has been ok.But I would never travel anyway without cash especially in Italy with extra for the lifters.

tabby aspreme

Until recently visa debit was not accepted in most shops, restaurant's, etc in the Netherlands, it's improved a lot in the past few years but I still ask what payment is used before ordering a meal and always have cash.

JVince

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122421142#Comment_122421142

Banks charge a transaction fee for use of ATMs

Aib fee is 39c

The 39c applies in Ireland and throughout the eurozone.

Paying by contactless has no transaction fee.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122418879#Comment_122418879

No charge though if you withdraw cash from an RoI Bank of Ireland ATM with an NI BoI card. Same applies in reverse.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122421142#Comment_122421142

They don't. PTSB for instance have accounts with a flat quarterly fee and no transaction charges for Eurozone transactions.

manshay

Just had 6 days in Paris, used no cash.

Then 6 days in Poland, really didn't need cash and came home with €40 worth of zloty.

I visited 4 ATM's to find one without a fee, the non bank ATM's charge upto €5 for €50.

Hotblack Desiato

Other half used an Irish debit card the other day in the Canaries and got charged €3.95 on a €100 withdrawal. Talk about a rip-off.

Unclear whether the charge was made clear before committing to the transaction, or whether a much larger sum could have been withdrawn for the same (still excessive) fee. There is a very small number of ATMs here at bank branches but nearly all are at shops and so liable to gouge.

I took small notes with me for tips etc. but intend to make all spending by card, everywhere accepts it, it's a shame the tap limit is still only €50. Revolut is my "walking around money".

Cash isn't king, cash sucks.

BTW she was in CH with her mum last year, all spending was by card, didn't bring any CHF with her and never got CHF out of a machine at all so why she felt the need to do so in a Eurozone country beats me 😶

PixelCrafter

If you're using your card in the Eurozone, you'll be charged the same fees you're charged in Ireland.

The banks can't treat other Eurozone transactions as any different from domestic ones.

What you're charged is down to the bank, and also your choice of ATM.

A lot of banks charge anyone who isn't one of their customers a fee, or you may find there are national networks of banks with a particular ATM logo e.g. Servired, 4B and EURO6000 in Spain where they'll offer free or cheap ATM access to their own customers, but anyone just using a normal visa debit card outside the network gets whacked with a fee. It doesn't breech Eurozone rules as it's not a domestic vs Eurozone thing, rather it's just applied to anyone who isn't a customer of that bank.

The bigger issue you can have in a lot of countries these days is finding an ATM. Germany's probably one of the last bastions of the cash machine. They're becoming few and far between in Ireland, but they're as rare as hens teeth in some countries at this stage.

Gruser

This list has served me well over the years, last used it about a year ago when it was still up to date (I'm not sure how well it is maintained). Free atms when using revolut account:

https://community.revolut.com/t/the-ultimate-free-atm-list-travelling-by-country/61491

Hotblack Desiato

Can confirm there was definitely NO indication at all that a fee would be charged until after the transaction was complete.

Absolutely disgraceful.

geographica

What I find strange is that if the debit card is say Spanish they don't get charged here (with PTSB anyway), if say Spanish banks are charging us, shouldn't Irish banks be doing the same.

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122577680#Comment_122577680

again, spanish banks arent charging foreign cards a fee, they are charging non customers a fee whether thats a spanish person or irish or whatever.

Is that so hard to understand?

If irish banks want to charge non customers (so for example AIB charges Bank of ireland customers for using AIB machines) they are perfectly entitled to do so.

geographica

”is that so hard to understand?”

Did you really write that? Knob 🤣🤣