Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

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MikeG62
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Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by MikeG62 »

Long time Ally customer, with interest checking account among online savings and no penalty CD's.

DW and I will be traveling to Canada (Quebec City) next month. From what I understand, if I use my Ally debt card for ATM withdrawals in a foreign country, the FTF will not exceed 1% (as long as I use an ATM that is part of the Allpoint ATM network). Turns out there is an Allpoint ATM one block from our hotel. So I'm good there.

My question is about the reasonableness of the exchange rates Ally uses in converting foreign currency amounts back to USD's.

Does anyone have any experience using their Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States and can comment on the foreign exchange rates obtained. Obviously I am fine paying the 1% FTF, but I don't want to get burned by getting unfavorable foreign exchange rates on the transaction.

Thanks,
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Sidney »

Can't comment on Ally. I rarely have needed much cash in Canadian cities so you may find it just doesn't matter much. Last time I was in Vancouver for 4 days I withdrew $50 and didn't end up using it all. The only thing I used cash for was for tips at the hotel.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (debit card).
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by MikeG62 »

Sidney,

Thanks, I suspect you are right, but feel better safe than sorry. I am only talking about a couple of hundred CAD anyway. If I find myself with excess CAD on the last day I can always put it toward the hotel room cost when I settle up the bill.

LadyGeek,

Thanks for moving this post to where it belongs. Appreciate it.

Mike
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otinkyad
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by otinkyad »

I don't know anything about Ally, but generally speaking, ATM withdrawals from major banks have very good exchange rates, similar to credit cards (always charge in the local currency, not USD!), and much better than cash exchanges. I will also second the no cash point. Unlike other destinations, like Europe or Japan, we had no issues using credit cards in Canada. Most of our cash went to the maid at the hotel until we starting flushing unused cash on the last day.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by BeneIRA »

MikeG62 wrote:Long time Ally customer, with interest checking account among online savings and no penalty CD's.

DW and I will be traveling to Canada (Quebec City) next month. From what I understand, if I use my Ally debt card for ATM withdrawals in a foreign country, the FTF will not exceed 1% (as long as I use an ATM that is part of the Allpoint ATM network). Turns out there is an Allpoint ATM one block from our hotel. So I'm good there.

My question is about the reasonableness of the exchange rates Ally uses in converting foreign currency amounts back to USD's.

Does anyone have any experience using their Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States and can comment on the foreign exchange rates obtained. Obviously I am fine paying the 1% FTF, but I don't want to get burned by getting unfavorable foreign exchange rates on the transaction.

Thanks,
Ironically, I was just there for Canada's 150th Anniversary an I used my Ally Debit card to take cash out of an atm. I took out $40 for our 3.5 day stay in Quebec and I regretted it. Every single place I went to took credit cards except for one. I ended up scrambling on our last day to use up my cash. If you have a Visa or MasterCard, I would take out $20, $40 maximum unless you really think you'll need it for some reason. Canada is basically like the U.S. in terms of credit card acceptance rate. I am assuming you'll be heading to Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans?

As far as your question goes, they cap it at 1% for the foreign transaction fee and Ally's rates are favorable. My $40 CAD withdrawal became $33.54. Here is a tip that I learned while traveling in Canada last year. Ally does ATM reimbursement in Canada, so they will refund a couple of dollars. In my case, they refunded a bit over $2.00. I guess they can't distinguish between US and Canadian ATMs. Oh well, great news for me. That means my withdrawal of $40 CAD became $31.35. That means $0.78 USD to $1 CAD. That's not the greatest exchange rate in the world since at the time, it was $0.70 USD to $1 CAD, but on the whole, I am satisfied.

Make sure to secure message Ally that you will be traveling so they don't reject your ATM card there. Hope that helped. Best of luck.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by MikeG62 »

BeneIRA wrote:...Ironically, I was just there for Canada's 150th Anniversary an I used my Ally Debit card to take cash out of an atm. I took out $40 for our 3.5 day stay in Quebec and I regretted it. Every single place I went to took credit cards except for one. I ended up scrambling on our last day to use up my cash. If you have a Visa or MasterCard, I would take out $20, $40 maximum unless you really think you'll need it for some reason. Canada is basically like the U.S. in terms of credit card acceptance rate. I am assuming you'll be heading to Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans?

As far as your question goes, they cap it at 1% for the foreign transaction fee and Ally's rates are favorable. My $40 CAD withdrawal became $33.54. Here is a tip that I learned while traveling in Canada last year. Ally does ATM reimbursement in Canada, so they will refund a couple of dollars. In my case, they refunded a bit over $2.00. I guess they can't distinguish between US and Canadian ATMs. Oh well, great news for me. That means my withdrawal of $40 CAD became $31.35. That means $0.78 USD to $1 CAD. That's not the greatest exchange rate in the world since at the time, it was $0.70 USD to $1 CAD, but on the whole, I am satisfied.

Make sure to secure message Ally that you will be traveling so they don't reject your ATM card there. Hope that helped. Best of luck.
More good advice BeneIRA. Yes, we will be visiting both of those places among others. Appreciate your making the suggestions.

I agree, nearly all spending will go on CC's. However, there may be some cab fares here and there, money for tipping, and some modest OOP's while we are out and about that would be easier to just pay with cash. If I find myself with CAD's left on the last day, I can use it when settling up the hotel bill.

Good suggestion too on contacting Ally so the card is not rejected when I go to withdraw the cash. I'll do that for sure.

The 10% haircut on the exchange rate is a bit surprising as I would have expected an exchange rate much closer to the market rate (as I think is usually the case when paying with a CC). It is absolutely trivial dollars in the grand scheme of things, but good to know (especially for future reference, as the DW and I plan to take 6-8 trips per year now that we are both retired).
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by student »

The only cash you need is for tipping at hotels and you can use US dollars. There are enough tourists that this will not be unusual.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by mageedge »

We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Watty »

Many people, including myself, have stronge feelings about not ever using debit cards because any problems can be harder to resolve with a credit card and there have been a number of threads about this. I have a plain ATM card instead of a debit card because of this.

This is especially true when you are traveling. If a credit card get compromised when you are on a trip you can just get it canceled and start the process of getting the bad transactions resolved. In the worst case if they don't get resolved until you get back that is not a big deal. If a debit card is compromised then you could be spending hours in your hotel room getting it resolved and figuring out what it takes to get your money back.

You should also check to see if your debit card protections are the same when you out outside of the US.

If you do use your debit card while travelling you should be especially cautious about only using ATMs that are in a secure location like the lobby of a bank and try to watch out for skimming devices.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by MikeG62 »

Watty wrote:Many people, including myself, have stronge feelings about not ever using debit cards because any problems can be harder to resolve with a credit card and there have been a number of threads about this. I have a plain ATM card instead of a debit card because of this.

This is especially true when you are traveling. If a credit card get compromised when you are on a trip you can just get it canceled and start the process of getting the bad transactions resolved. In the worst case if they don't get resolved until you get back that is not a big deal. If a debit card is compromised then you could be spending hours in your hotel room getting it resolved and figuring out what it takes to get your money back.

You should also check to see if your debit card protections are the same when you out outside of the US.

If you do use your debit card while travelling you should be especially cautious about only using ATMs that are in a secure location like the lobby of a bank and try to watch out for skimming devices.
Totally agree. I have actually never used a debit card in my life for a purchase - only for cash withdrawals from an ATM. I use CC's for almost all spending, other than small OOP's or situations where it can't be done (taxi's) or does not make sense.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Pranav »

mageedge wrote:We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.
Were there any foreign transaction fee or currency conversion fee, etc.? Did Ally reimburse all ATM fees or some? Do you have any other information that would be helpful? Thanks.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by mageedge »

Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.


Were there any foreign transaction fee or currency conversion fee, etc.? Did Ally reimburse all ATM fees or some? Do you have any other information that would be helpful? Thanks.


Sorry - I should have confirmed the Ally 1% foreign transaction fee was charged (Schwab charges no FTF). Not every Indian ATM charged a fee however those that did were fully reimbursed by Ally - and Schwab of course - about $8 in total from 4 transactions per card.

As others have mentioned I only use debit card abroad for ATM withdrawals, and a no FTF credit card for purchases.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Watty »

One thing that has not been mentioned was that you should call your debit card company to let them that you will be using it out of the country so that it does not trigger a fraud alert.
MikeG62 wrote: Totally agree. I have actually never used a debit card in my life for a purchase - only for cash withdrawals from an ATM. I use CC's for almost all spending, other than small OOP's or situations where it can't be done (taxi's) or does not make sense.
You could still have a problem if your wallet or purse was lost. You would not want to do it just before a trip but you might want to call to see if you can get an ATM card instead.

My bank tried sending me a debit card instead of an ATM card when my old ATM card expired. When I called to cancel it and get an ATM card they said that they no longer issed ATM cards, just debit cards. I told them if that was the case then I would be closing my account and moving my money to a bank that would issue an ATM card. The response was that my new ATM card would be received within a week. :annoyed
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by whodidntante »

student wrote:The only cash you need is for tipping at hotels and you can use US dollars. There are enough tourists that this will not be unusual.
That depends on what the OP plans to do in Canada.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by whodidntante »

Fidelity cash management reimburses ATM fees and gives a favorable exchange rate. I suspect it is not the spot rate, but it is good.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Pranav »

mageedge wrote:
Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.


Were there any foreign transaction fee or currency conversion fee, etc.? Did Ally reimburse all ATM fees or some? Do you have any other information that would be helpful? Thanks.


Sorry - I should have confirmed the Ally 1% foreign transaction fee was charged (Schwab charges no FTF). Not every Indian ATM charged a fee however those that did were fully reimbursed by Ally - and Schwab of course - about $8 in total from 4 transactions per card.

As others have mentioned I only use debit card abroad for ATM withdrawals, and a no FTF credit card for purchases.
Thanks for the additional information. I am interested to find out what would be a good credit card to use abroad that has NO foreign transaction fee, No currency conversion fee, NO annual fee and, has proper currency conversion rate.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by need403bhelp »

Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:
Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.


Were there any foreign transaction fee or currency conversion fee, etc.? Did Ally reimburse all ATM fees or some? Do you have any other information that would be helpful? Thanks.


Sorry - I should have confirmed the Ally 1% foreign transaction fee was charged (Schwab charges no FTF). Not every Indian ATM charged a fee however those that did were fully reimbursed by Ally - and Schwab of course - about $8 in total from 4 transactions per card.

As others have mentioned I only use debit card abroad for ATM withdrawals, and a no FTF credit card for purchases.
Thanks for the additional information. I am interested to find out what would be a good credit card to use abroad that has NO foreign transaction fee, No currency conversion fee, NO annual fee and, has proper currency conversion rate.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by mageedge »

Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:
Pranav wrote:
mageedge wrote:We were in India in December and used both Schwab and Ally ATM cards. At the time ATM withdrawals were limited to 2000 rupees a day (c.$33) and so I used both cards together when we found an available ATM. Did this on around 10 separate occasions. Our experience was that the exchange rate on the withdrawals was very close to the published daily exchange rate on the rupee for both cards - and about the same as credit card purchases made on the same day.
Pleasantly surprised when Ally reimbursed Indian ATM fees.
Also, as an aside, found rates between Schwab Visa and Ally Mastercard varied a little - with a 60/40 edge to Mastercard - but the variation was less than half a percent.


Were there any foreign transaction fee or currency conversion fee, etc.? Did Ally reimburse all ATM fees or some? Do you have any other information that would be helpful? Thanks.


Sorry - I should have confirmed the Ally 1% foreign transaction fee was charged (Schwab charges no FTF). Not every Indian ATM charged a fee however those that did were fully reimbursed by Ally - and Schwab of course - about $8 in total from 4 transactions per card.

As others have mentioned I only use debit card abroad for ATM withdrawals, and a no FTF credit card for purchases.
Thanks for the additional information. I am interested to find out what would be a good credit card to use abroad that has NO foreign transaction fee, No currency conversion fee, NO annual fee and, has proper currency conversion rate.

There are numerous threads on this topic with lots of debate about fee vs. no fee cards and points vs. cash cards. General feeling, as I read it, for your preferences is the Capital One Quicksilver is the simplest - straight 1.5% cash, no foreign transaction/conversion fee. mastercard network. This was the first "overseas travel" card that I got and it always had a good exchange rate.
The other $0 annual fee, no FTF card worth noting is the Bank of America Travel Rewards visa. 1.5% back in the form of points for travel credit on the card, so more restricted than Quicksilver. However, if you are in the Bank of America rewards program the card reward effectively becomes 2.625% because of the rewards program top tier 75% bonus.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by infotrader »

Fidelity cash management is the best. I think there is similar product from Schwab.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by MikeG62 »

whodidntante wrote:Fidelity cash management reimburses ATM fees and gives a favorable exchange rate. I suspect it is not the spot rate, but it is good.
I had thought about Fidelity, but do not want any ATM/Debit card tied to an account with as much assets in it as I have at Fidelity. I want to keep that accounted as "walled off" as possible.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Lynette »

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Last edited by Lynette on Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by mageedge »

infotrader wrote:Fidelity cash management is the best. I think there is similar product from Schwab.
I'd agree this is one of the best no annual fee cash back cards (at 2%) however it does charge a 1% foreign transaction fee so there are better options for purely overseas use.
But, if you want the simplicity of a single credit card for everything - domestic and foreign - with most expenditures being domestic, then the Fidelity card would probably be the way to go.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by SrGrumpy »

MikeG62 wrote:
BeneIRA wrote:... That means $0.78 USD to $1 CAD. That's not the greatest exchange rate in the world since at the time, it was $0.70 USD to $1 CAD, but on the whole, I am satisfied.
The 10% haircut on the exchange rate is a bit surprising as I would have expected an exchange rate much closer to the market rate (as I think is usually the case when paying with a CC).
I'm a little surprised, as well. Of course no one gets the wholesale rate that we see on xe.com, but 10% seems a lot. As you note, though, it is hardly life-changing. Still - interesting.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States - Update Following Trip

Post by MikeG62 »

Posting an update following our trip to Quebec.

Withdrew 200CAD at the airport (Scotiabank ATM) and after running out of CAD during our one week trip withdrew another 80CAD at a bank ATM in Old Quebec City (not far from the Chateau Frontenac). Used BofA debit card for the first withdrawal and my Ally debit card for the second one. In hindsight, I should have used the Ally debit card for both as BofA did charge a 3% transaction fee on the Scotiabank withdrawal. Ally charged no fee other than the $2 ATM fee, which I was promptly reimbursed for.

CAD's were used for the following purposes:

Taxi from the Airport (could have used CC, but choose to pay in cash)
Tips for Couples Massage at Hotel
Tip for tour guide (arranged private tour of city one day)
Tip for Maid's at Hotel
Tips for Bellmen at Hotel
Cost of tickets (6 CAD each way for two riders) to ride Furnicular between the upper and lower city (we rode many times while there) - there was no option to pay with a CC (at least as far as I saw)
Small misc purchases (coffee's, pastries, etc...)

I would advise anyone going to Quebec to get CAD as you will find it hard to get by without CAD (unless you don't plan on tipping or riding the furnicular).

Exchange rate on ATM withdrawals was pretty much the spot rate of the day. Same as I was getting on my CC transactions.

Also, you will want to notify your bank you are traveling overseas so they do not decline the ATM transaction.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by Naismith »

For debit cards, we use CapitalOne360 (no FTF), Schwab (no FTF), and Ally (1% FTF).

Our real-life experience in the past 5 years (Iceland, China, Ecuador, Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Greece) is that the actual cost of using the Ally card is pretty much the same as the others. Schwab supposedly reimburses foreign ATM fees, but sometimes those are not itemized, so no reimbursement. The Ally card has been very reliable, including point-of-purchase kiosks for petrol or train tickets.

I would never travel with just one card, but the Ally card is usually one of the choices.

My only complaint is that they do not make notification of international travel easy--there is no dialogue on the website.

And I agree that for Quebec, little cash is needed.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by random_walker »

Goods/services are usually priced lower if you pay directly in the local currency.
For example, a snorkeling trip in Cancun is US $25 per person or only MXP 300 if paid in Mexican pesos directly.
Given the number of scams in credit/debit card readers overseas, many wise travelers deal only in cash and don't want to expose their credit/debit card accounts to the pirates at all.

One good solution is purchasing foreign currency directly from Wells Fargo locations in the US.
This service is for account holders only. There is no service charge.
This could be handy as you won't have to search for a safe ATM overseas as soon as you arrive.
If you don't have a Wells-Fargo account, look for a friend who does :-)

Wells Fargo does advertise their exchange rate online and it seems off by ~6%.
Their rate is better than other vendors like TravelEx, AAA, BoA etc.
For example the market rate today is US $100 = MXP 1924.
Wells Fargo will give you MXP 1809 which is about 6% less.

If you still need to use an ATM overseas, then it is good to know which ones are the best.
Clearly those that only charge a flat ATM fee but no other fees would be ideal.
It's difficult to make a fair comparison of foreign ATM usage costs when some banks don't advertise their exchange rate daily.

1. Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF):
It seems that any bank that does not charge a foreign transaction fee is good.
There are many large and small banks have zero FTF e.g. Costco Citibank Visa Card, CapitalOne Cards.
I know some credit unions also have zero FTF (e.g. Star One CU).

2. The exchange rate they apply to the transaction is the big unknown and a source of profit for the bank.
Many banks do not advertise their daily exchange rates.
I'm not sure what's the range of haircut taken by banks in this respect.
Which bank gives you the best exchange rate?

3. Which banks reimburse the foreign ATM fee (charged by the ATM owner for using a non-network ATM)?
If this was a small flat fee (say $1 to $5) then it may not matter for large transactions i.e. $200+.
But what is the prevailing range of ATM-use fee overseas for popular vacation locales such as Mexico, UK?
It seems that only a small handful of banks will reimburse you foreign ATM fees.
Last edited by random_walker on Wed Feb 13, 2019 4:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by random_walker »

According the the Ally Bank FAQ site:
https://www.ally.com/help/bank/atms-withdrawals.html

Whether you use an Allpoint® ATM or other ATM overseas, we charge a standard foreign transaction fee of up to 1% of the transaction amount for the currency conversion and/or cross border transaction. If you use a non-Allpoint ATM overseas, there may be an additional surcharge by the ATM owner.

There's no charge to use any Allpoint ATM in the U.S., plus we reimburse up to $10 at the end of each statement cycle for fees charged at other ATMs nationwide.

My Questions:
1. How many countries have Allpoint ATMs?
Are these fairly common in popular destinations such as Mexico, Europe, India, China etc.?
You can check the Allpoint ATM locations here: http://www.allpointnetwork.com/locator.aspx

I checked for Cancun (Mexico) and found exactly 2 locations in the entire Yucatan peninsula.
So, tough luck if you don't happen to be in downtown Cancun. The rest of the region has none.

2. What is the ATM Owner fee range?
Flat fees are preferable to a % cut. With a flat fee we can just make a few large transactions and be done.
Last edited by random_walker on Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ally debit card for ATM withdrawals outside the United States

Post by arf30 »

From my ATM experience internationally:

Ally: 1% FTF, did not refund ATM fee
Fidelity CMA: no FTF, refunded ATM fee next business day
Schwab: no FTF, refunded ATM fee at end of the month
TD Bank Premier: no FTF, refunded ATM fee at end of month (but I had to call them to get the refund)
Chase: ouch :annoyed
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