When was the last time your bank deposited ATM fees into your account? If you bank with PNC you probably already know that PNC refunds all ATM fees incurred when withdrawing cash from another bank’s machine. While this is a nice benefit when I am at home and a PNC ATM is not nearby, it amounted to no more than a $3-5 refund each month. However, last month PNC refunded $69 in international ATM fees to our account. This excellent customer service is in stark contrast to our extremely frustrating experience of banking with TD Bank, as Amy documented here.
ATM fees can be a major monthly expense that is largely unavoidable when traveling for extended periods. You simply cannot safely carry enough cash to avoid having to use foreign ATMs regularly. There are two drawbacks that come with nearly all foreign ATMs. First is the withdrawal limits. In many countries the amount of local currency you can withdraw in a single transaction is relatively small. For example, in Vietnam many ATMs have a 2,000,000 Dong ($107) limit per transaction. The reason this withdrawal limit is a problem is the second drawback: transaction fees. The fees associated with withdrawing that $107 are $3.50, or 3.2% of the transaction. And when viewed as a single transaction that does not seem to be such an onerous fee, but compound that by the fact that nearly all of our transactions while traveling are done in cash[1]. Over the course of a year this would effectively make our trip 3-4% more expensive. ATM fees are not something I am willing to spend our hard earned money on.
Here are my banking tips for international travelers:
- Get a Capital One MasterCard to avoid international transaction fees
- Ensure you have a trusted family member or friend sign your bank’s POA (Power of Attorney) form, versus relying a general form POA.
- Finally, open a PNC checking account for the cash you’ll need to withdraw from foreign ATMs, avoiding substantial transaction fees.
Did I miss any other invaluable tips? If so, be sure to let me know in the comments below.
[1] When credit cards are able to be used for transactions there is often a surcharge of 3-4% added to the price to cover the amount the credit card companies take out when they reimburse the merchants.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
you said dong
Wow, that’s awesome! Our Charles Schwab ATM also refunds fees but it is a total pain in the neck to deposit money into it (basically they haven’t figured out that the entire world is now using this really cool tool called the Internet). Maybe we’ll look into PNC if they have a branch in Georgia/Alabama.
I use a checking account linked to a Fidelity brokerage account and they also reimburse the ATM fees, but only if the fees are a separate line item. In Thailand they were merrily reimbursed, but in Malaysia the fee got added on to the total so it couldn’t get reimbursed, although I don’t believe it was very much in Malaysia, so not as big an issue.