Credit Card or ATM

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:13:50 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Aug 18, 9:17 pm, "Sharkbait" wrote:
Sorry,

The the card would be used solely in Vietnam. Thanks.

rg
I don't know how comprehensive the list is, but if you go to
http://www.portalino.it/banks/_vn.htm you will see that three of the
banks in Vietnam are Citibank, HSBC and ING. All three have US
operations. Citi and HSBC have branches near where I live, and I
believe that ING is a bank-by-mail operation. You can surely get fee-
free withdrawals if you get your ATM cards from these banks and only
use their ATMs.

You shouldn't make that assumption. Just because a bank has a branch
in another country doesn't mean they give their customers free ATM
withdrawals there.

On the other hand, some banks don't charge for overseas withdrawals
even from other banks. I have an account with a bank in the UK that
allows free cash withdrawals anywhere in the world, and they give the
wholesale rate of exchange as well.

You just have to shop around to find the best deal on which ATM or
credit card to use internationally.

Chris

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:54:30 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Aug 19, 4:22*am, Alfred Molon wrote:


I don't know about your bank, but since my bank charges a fixed fee of 4
Euro (=USD 6) per withdrawal,

Myself, I would shred such a card this minute. My Visa debit charges
either 0.75 US $ or 1% per transaction, whichever is greater. My Visa
credit, same bank, charges 1%.

So would I, but maybe Alfred doesn't have much choice. I assume he's
using a German bank, and in some countries all the banks there make
similar charges, so there's nothing to be gained from using another
bank.

Chris

Sharkbait wrote:

Perhaps the question is old by now but will I generally be better off using
my VISA or AMEX card or my Bank of America ATM card (withdrawing cash daily
as required)? In the past, I have carried large US dollar notes and
exchanging locally for the best rate. I am trying to carry as little cash
as possible but will be carrying travelers checks as well. Thanks in
advance.

These are matters you resolve by talking to the organisations that issue
your cards. It's the issuing bank that sets the charge made for ATM
withdrawals overseas, and the total fee may be made up of a percentage
for the credit clearance system (Visa, etc.) and another for the issuing
bank (but they will tell you the total). One UK card of mine charges a
whopping £5 for each transaction, while there are other UK banks that
charge nothing at all. One Hong Kong issued card I have charges a mere
HK$20 at affiliated banks, and HK$30 at others.

The websites of the credit clearance system used (Visa, Maestro, Plus,
etc), although rarely entirely up to date, will tell you the general
availability of ATMs accepting your card in whatever country you are
visiting.

Peter N-H
http://www.datasinica.com

On Aug 19, 12:11 pm, Chris Blunt wrote:
You shouldn't make that assumption. Just because a bank has a branch
in another country doesn't mean they give their customers free ATM
withdrawals there.
Do you have any experience to the contrary? I would be surprised if a
branch of my bank in another country treated me the same as any other
foreign customer. As I stated in earlier posts, I know form personal
and direct experience that you can get the wholesale rate at Citi with
their card and from the BofA partner banks. The obvious disadvantage
with this strategy is that it limits the number of available ATMs. I
can mitigate this by doing some of my withdrawals using my "fee-free"
card; it seems to incur the 1% network fee, but this is hidden in the
exchange rate. You should always ask your bank about their schedule
of fees so you do not have any unpleasant surprises.

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:46:37 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Aug 19, 12:11 pm, Chris Blunt wrote:
You shouldn't make that assumption. Just because a bank has a branch
in another country doesn't mean they give their customers free ATM
withdrawals there.
Do you have any experience to the contrary? I would be surprised if a
branch of my bank in another country treated me the same as any other
foreign customer.

I have an account with HSBC in the UK, and although they claim that
cash withdrawals from HSBC ATM machines overseas are free, there is
actually a hidden charge of 2.75% built into the exchange rate
conversion.

I also have an account with Nationwide in the UK, and if I use their
ATM card overseas I can withdraw cash with no charges and no exchange
rate loading at any bank I want.

So even though I'm a HSBC customer, I'm better off using another
bank's ATM card in their machines when traveling overseas than I am
using an HSBC card.

Chris

"Chris Blunt" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:46:37 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Aug 19, 12:11 pm, Chris Blunt wrote:
You shouldn't make that assumption. Just because a bank has a branch
in another country doesn't mean they give their customers free ATM
withdrawals there.
Do you have any experience to the contrary? I would be surprised if a
branch of my bank in another country treated me the same as any other
foreign customer.

I have an account with HSBC in the UK, and although they claim that
cash withdrawals from HSBC ATM machines overseas are free, there is
actually a hidden charge of 2.75% built into the exchange rate
conversion.

I also have an account with Nationwide in the UK, and if I use their
ATM card overseas I can withdraw cash with no charges and no exchange
rate loading at any bank I want.

So even though I'm a HSBC customer, I'm better off using another
bank's ATM card in their machines when traveling overseas than I am
using an HSBC card.


Indeed. HSBC sells itself as the "world's local bank" but each country
operates as a separate entity. Being an HSBC Hong Kong customer gives you no
privileges with, say, HSBC India.

The only reasons I use HSBC is that (a) it was my last full-time employer's
bank and I'm too lazy to change (b) I don't have a permanent home and Hong
Kong is a convenient place to park money.

It's an expensive bank to be with. In their favour, they were fairly
responsive when my ATM card was hacked a couple of years back.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore

On Aug 19, 11:54*am, Alfred Molon wrote:
In article de588a2d-b91e-4c0a-9c20-
, *says...

On Aug 19, 4:22*am, Alfred Molon wrote:

I don't know about your bank, but since my bank charges a fixed fee of 4
Euro (=USD 6) per withdrawal,

Myself, I would shred such a card this minute. My Visa debit charges
either 0.75 US $ or 1% per transaction, whichever is greater. My Visa
credit, same bank, charges 1%.

Unfortunately all banks here in Germany charge this fee for ATM
withdrawals. There is no way to avoid it. You would have to emigrate.
--

Alfred Molonhttp://www.molon.de- Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

My bank card refunds all ATM fees. Thus regardless of what other
banks charge, I pay no fee.

"PeterL" kirjoitti
...

Alfred Molonhttp://www.molon.de- Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

My bank card refunds all ATM fees. Thus regardless of what other
banks charge, I pay no fee.

As banks are not charitable organizations they will charge you by other
"banking products".

On Aug 20, 8:38*pm, Markku Grönroos wrote:
As banks are not charitable organizations they will charge you by other
"banking products".

*******How would a racist pig like you know that Goonyroos?????

Sharkbait wrote:
Perhaps the question is old by now but will I generally be better off using
my VISA or AMEX card or my Bank of America ATM card (withdrawing cash daily
as required)? In the past, I have carried large US dollar notes and
exchanging locally for the best rate. I am trying to carry as little cash
as possible but will be carrying travelers checks as well. Thanks in
advance.

Which country? Which Visa?

In some Asian countries, notably Japan and Korea, the number of ATMs
that work with U.S. cards is pretty small, Japan more so than Korea.
OTOH in Taiwan, nearly every ATM works. China is fine in big cities.

Since BOA doesn't refund out of network ATM fees like some banks do,
you'll be paying a fee for each transaction, so daily transactions will
be costly.

For Visa, it depends on who issued the Visa card. Some issuers don't
charge any fee over and above the 1% that Visa charges for foreign
exchange. Some issuers add an extra 2% for essentially doing nothing
(these include BOA, Citi, and Chase.

Capital 1 charges no extra fee, and rumor has it that they also absorb
the Visa/MC 1% fee. USAA charges no extra fee but they don't absorb the
1% charged by Visa/MC. Amex charges 2% I believe.

Amex isn't as widely accepted in Asia as Visa. Of course large hotels
will take it, but smaller businesses may not (just as is the case in the
U.S. where the small businesses feel the pain of the higher Amex
merchant fees more than the higher margin large businesses).

As always, be very careful that the merchants don't try to do dynamic
currency conversion (DCC) on credit card purchases. This has become an
even worse deal than it was in the past (if that's possible) because
Visa and MC now charge their 1% fee on all transactions outside the
U.S., regardless of the currency of the transaction (it isn't clear if
the issuing banks also tack on their own 2% to DCC transactions).

If you have time, open an account at a bank that refunds out of network
ATM fees worldwide, and get a Capital 1 Visa card.