Beware - Visa Only "allowed" 50 Euro from ATM in Germany

Yes and those moules were awful weren't they you poor thing !


"David Horne" a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : ...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use the ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My VISA is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough :-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was practically
free) when they had excellent rates, they're far cheaper than my regular
bank (RBS)- and I've found them very reliable, using them in various
European countries, USA and as far afield as India and Peru. The euro
card is particularly good value for me- the exchange rate has around
1.5-2% commission, and there's a ¤1.50 charge for cash withdrawals (I
take large amounts, e.g. 450 euro in Ghent over the weekend.) However,
when you use the card as a debit card for purchases in euro (or dollars)
when they are the local currency there is no charge. They are pre-paid
cards, so that's where much of the money is made I imagine (you get no
interest)- and they are very quick to charge, takes a few seconds
online, and the money is available in minutes.

David

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use the ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My VISA is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough :-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was practically
free)

I have a nationwide card (and current account - which I use)

I was pretty peed off when they changed the arrangements for foreign
transactions.

As someone who is currently "unwaged" I have little hope of swapping to
another card - unless I lie on the form :-(

tim

tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use the ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My VISA is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough :-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was practically
free)

I have a nationwide card (and current account - which I use)

I was pretty peed off when they changed the arrangements for foreign
transactions.

As someone who is currently "unwaged" I have little hope of swapping to
another card - unless I lie on the form :-(

Fairfx.com is prepaid, so you don't need a salary, or a credit score. I
got mine without charge as I started off with a large enough deposit. It
takes minutes to get one online, and the card arrives in a couple of
days.

I guarantee you it's cheaper than Nationwide as their charges currently
stand.

Also, they post details of transactions almost immediately... even when
still being processed. I had to recharge mine yesterday while in Ghent-
even on the ipod (the Ibis had free wifi) it took a a couple of minutes
to recharge it and the money was immediately available, despite being
warned it can take 2 hours.

Note to travellers, there are few ATMs in the historic centre of Ghent,
hence why the available ones have long lines...

David

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use the
ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My VISA
is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough :-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was practically
free)

I have a nationwide card (and current account - which I use)

I was pretty peed off when they changed the arrangements for foreign
transactions.

As someone who is currently "unwaged" I have little hope of swapping to
another card - unless I lie on the form :-(

Fairfx.com is prepaid, so you don't need a salary, or a credit score. I
got mine without charge as I started off with a large enough deposit. It
takes minutes to get one online, and the card arrives in a couple of
days.

I guarantee you it's cheaper than Nationwide as their charges currently
stand.

On Tuesday I drew out 250 Euro, which was debited from my account on
Thursday:

This cost 200.02 + 5 pounds in charges. = 207.02.

The Fairfax exchange rate on Friday was 1.2130 so 250 Euro = 206.10 plus 1.5
in charges = 207.60.

tim

tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use the
ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My VISA
is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough :-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was practically
free)

I have a nationwide card (and current account - which I use)

I was pretty peed off when they changed the arrangements for foreign
transactions.

As someone who is currently "unwaged" I have little hope of swapping to
another card - unless I lie on the form :-(

Fairfx.com is prepaid, so you don't need a salary, or a credit score. I
got mine without charge as I started off with a large enough deposit. It
takes minutes to get one online, and the card arrives in a couple of
days.

I guarantee you it's cheaper than Nationwide as their charges currently
stand.

On Tuesday I drew out 250 Euro, which was debited from my account on
Thursday:

This cost 200.02 + 5 pounds in charges. = 207.02.

The Fairfax exchange rate on Friday was 1.2130 so 250 Euro = 206.10 plus 1.5
in charges = 207.60.

Your figures don't seem right, I think you were charged 205.02. But yes,
fairfx wouldn't have saved you, though the rate I got for taking out 450
euro (rate was 1.22 when I charged) was about the same.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
tim.... wrote:

"Erilar" wrote in message
...
"tim...." wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I
had
[]
Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim

Sounds local. In late April i encountered a similar problem in
Kelheim:
the hotel's card machine was not working, so since I had to use
the
ATM
and
had a week to go, I just asked it for 400 Euro. No problem. My
VISA
is
a
debit card. Could that be the difference?

I only get cash on a debit card - the fees on that are high enough
:-(

Tangentially, what bank are you using? I have fairfx euro, sterling
and
dollar cards- while not as cheap as Nationwide (which was
practically
free)

I have a nationwide card (and current account - which I use)

I was pretty peed off when they changed the arrangements for foreign
transactions.

As someone who is currently "unwaged" I have little hope of swapping
to
another card - unless I lie on the form :-(

Fairfx.com is prepaid, so you don't need a salary, or a credit score. I
got mine without charge as I started off with a large enough deposit.
It
takes minutes to get one online, and the card arrives in a couple of
days.

I guarantee you it's cheaper than Nationwide as their charges currently
stand.

On Tuesday I drew out 250 Euro, which was debited from my account on
Thursday:

This cost 200.02 + 5 pounds in charges. = 207.02.

The Fairfax exchange rate on Friday was 1.2130 so 250 Euro = 206.10 plus
1.5
in charges = 207.60.

Your figures don't seem right, I think you were charged 205.02.

Oops!

But yes,
fairfx wouldn't have saved you, though the rate I got for taking out 450
euro (rate was 1.22 when I charged) was about the same.

ISTM that the Fairfax rate has the 2% "Visa" fee incorporated into its
exchange rate just like my credit card has.

But the NW debit card separates it out as a separate item

tim

tim.... wrote:

"David Horne" wrote in message
...
[]
But yes,
fairfx wouldn't have saved you, though the rate I got for taking out 450
euro (rate was 1.22 when I charged) was about the same.

ISTM that the Fairfax rate has the 2% "Visa" fee incorporated into its
exchange rate just like my credit card has.

But the NW debit card separates it out as a separate item

I suppose the only 'advantage' is that if you want to gamble on currency
rates, you can preload the card...

But that works both ways.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

On 05/31/2012 12:56 PM, tim.... wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
mistakenly booked a hotel that didn't accept cards and had spent all of my
stash of Euro on an unexpected (unavoidable emergency) purchase I needed to
get some Euro in a hurry.

So went to the ATM and the bloody thing would only give me 50 Euro. Thought
that it was because it was out of cash so I tried the one next to it with
the same result.

Then I noticed a sticker on it stating that "VISA" were restricting
withdrawals to 50E.

What's that all about?

And what flipping use is 50 Euro a time. I'd be going to the machine every
day with that restriction. Something which I really hate doing. Not to
mention getting the charged minimum fee on my card for such a trivial amount
(yes Visa, 50 Euro is a trivial amount!)

Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim




As far as I can make out, the problem is an on-going dispute between the
Sparkassen (savings banks) and co-op banks on one side and Visa on the
other about who pays the cost of the transactions. At one point the
savings banks did not accept Visa cards from other banks at all, but
since a high court ruling last year they are now obliged to do so. The
Sparkassen are presumably still dragging their feet by making life for
Visa customers as difficult as possible while still complying with the law.

"Tom P" wrote in message
...
On 05/31/2012 12:56 PM, tim.... wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
mistakenly booked a hotel that didn't accept cards and had spent all of
my
stash of Euro on an unexpected (unavoidable emergency) purchase I needed
to
get some Euro in a hurry.

So went to the ATM and the bloody thing would only give me 50 Euro.
Thought
that it was because it was out of cash so I tried the one next to it with
the same result.

Then I noticed a sticker on it stating that "VISA" were restricting
withdrawals to 50E.

What's that all about?

And what flipping use is 50 Euro a time. I'd be going to the machine
every
day with that restriction. Something which I really hate doing. Not to
mention getting the charged minimum fee on my card for such a trivial
amount
(yes Visa, 50 Euro is a trivial amount!)

Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim




As far as I can make out, the problem is an on-going dispute between the
Sparkassen (savings banks) and co-op banks on one side and Visa on the
other about who pays the cost of the transactions. At one point the
savings banks did not accept Visa cards from other banks at all, but since
a high court ruling last year they are now obliged to do so. The
Sparkassen are presumably still dragging their feet by making life for
Visa customers as difficult as possible while still complying with the
law.

OH.

I did drive around for half an hour looking for an alternative bank, and all
I found was three more of the same

(and before anyone asks: Brandenburg (an der Havel))

On 06/06/2012 06:44 PM, tim.... wrote:
"Tom wrote in message
...
On 05/31/2012 12:56 PM, tim.... wrote:
Was travelling back through Germany two days ago and because I had
mistakenly booked a hotel that didn't accept cards and had spent all of
my
stash of Euro on an unexpected (unavoidable emergency) purchase I needed
to
get some Euro in a hurry.

So went to the ATM and the bloody thing would only give me 50 Euro.
Thought
that it was because it was out of cash so I tried the one next to it with
the same result.

Then I noticed a sticker on it stating that "VISA" were restricting
withdrawals to 50E.

What's that all about?

And what flipping use is 50 Euro a time. I'd be going to the machine
every
day with that restriction. Something which I really hate doing. Not to
mention getting the charged minimum fee on my card for such a trivial
amount
(yes Visa, 50 Euro is a trivial amount!)

Is it just this particular bank (Sparkassa) or a general rule?

tim




As far as I can make out, the problem is an on-going dispute between the
Sparkassen (savings banks) and co-op banks on one side and Visa on the
other about who pays the cost of the transactions. At one point the
savings banks did not accept Visa cards from other banks at all, but since
a high court ruling last year they are now obliged to do so. The
Sparkassen are presumably still dragging their feet by making life for
Visa customers as difficult as possible while still complying with the
law.

OH.

I did drive around for half an hour looking for an alternative bank, and all
I found was three more of the same

(and before anyone asks: Brandenburg (an der Havel))


Mapquest shows three all a few blocks apart within walking distance -
Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Citibank.