My plan for my trip to Italy: Get some Euros at our local bank before we go. If we need more, use an ATM and withdraw some. At the end of the trip, if we have a bunch of Euros left over, deposit them in an ATM to my account. I checked with my bank - a little concern called Chase - and they said I can’t do that. If I can withdraw funds from my account at an ATM in Rome, and get the money in Euros, why can’t I also deposit funds into my account by that same ATM? As far as I can see, the real impediment is that my bank won’t be able to make a profit on exchanging funds if I turn the Euros back into dollars via an electronic deposit. If I can withdraw money - from my own account here - from an ATM in Europe, why can’t I make a deposit?
Do Italian ATMs accept cash deposits? It’s not usual here in the UK. If the machinery to do it doesn’t exist, that would explain why you can’t.
As far as I can see, the real impediment is that my bank won’t be able to make a profit on exchanging funds if I turn the Euros back into dollars via an electronic deposit.
Why do you believe that it’s YOU “turning Euros back into dollars?”
Even if you could deposit Euros as cash at a European ATM, what would happen is that the bank would look at the amount of Euros you deposited and then they would figure the exchange rate (at that time) and fees and then they would credit your account the amount of dollars they decide is appropriate. Exchange rates change continuously. Whatever “direction” you go, it’s going to be figured as a stand alone transaction every time.
I haven’t ever used an ATM overseas, nor do I bank at a national chain like Chase, but here in the US it is common for banks to only ever allow deposits to be made at you local branch’s ATMs. You can withdraw from any ATM anywhere (for a fee of course) but you can only deposit to ones owned by your bank.
It may simply be this, and not anything to do with the exchange rates.
I’m even ok with that interpretation, but why can I take money out of my account but not add money into it via a random ATM?
I was told by Citibank about 15 years ago that they could not act like a bank in several ways in countries they are not licensed to operate in. I have no idea why, but apparently getting cash from your account is legal due to interbank agreements, but those agreements cannot apply to things like making deposits or arranging your next mortgage payment.
Simple answer, because theres almost zero demand for doing this. People don’t generally want to or need to deposit money when travelling overseas. Change your leftover euros back to US dollars at an exchange counter and deposit them when you get home.
It seems like a simple deposit/withdrawal deal, but that isn’t what’s actually happening.
When you take money out of a European ATM, what’s really happening is that the bank is selling you those Euros. They decide the exchange rate and fees and they decide how many dollars you’re going to pay. You haven’t made a withdrawal, you’ve made a purchase.
A “deposit” is the same deal in reverse. They buy your Euros and they decide the rate and fees and how many dollars they’re going to pay. It’s not a deposit, it’s a sale.
The whole buying and selling foreign currencies deal is inherently and significantly more complicated for the bank than a simple deposit/withdrawal, especially when they’re working with clearing houses and such and not directly in their own network.
If you decide to bring your Euros home and actually make a trip to the bank to exchange them here in the US, you’ll get hosed. Do like coremelt suggests. Even the less than optimum deals at airport exchange counters will beat the deal you will get in the US.
Yeah, it only really became practical to do deposits at foreign ATMs (in the sense of owned by another bank) when ATMs started coming with bill readers that could instantly verify the deposit. On the older style ATMs with deposit envelopes, when the bank credits some or all of the deposit instantly they’re essentially trusting you since they have no way of verifying the deposit until they physically collect the envelopes. The bank is fine doing that with someone who’s an account holder at their bank, but things can get messy if someone with an account at another bank stiffs them. Let alone if it’s an account holder in a bank in another country.
Same here in Norway. ATMs don’t accept deposits. Italy may be different of course.
I have never seen an ATM that accepts deposits… In the UK, some banks have installed separate machines that accept cheques and notes, but they are inside the bank not out on the street.
When you travel in Europe you really don’t need that much cash anyway as almost everywhere accepts plastic. A hundred or so for bus fares and coffee would be pretty much all you would need for a couple of weeks. Credit cards usually get better exchange rates too so long as you do NOT allow the retailer to do the exchange first. You want the bill in Euros not converted to dollars at some rip-off rate.
I never noticed a cash deposit option in German ATMs but on reading this thread I googled and it seems a number of the newer ATMs offer a cash deposit option for customers of the bank operating the ATM. Also some dedicated cash-deposit machines, also exclusively for the bank’s own customers, seem to operate in some of the larger self-service lounges of banks. (There is a separate facility for businesses; they fill a metal container with their excess cash at close of business and deposit it into a secured outside slot into an armoured container at their bank branch, to be counted and credited next bank business day.)
Cash deposit via ATM seems to be a thing in the US, I wonder why. When I get cash from someone (say repayment of a small debt) I put it into my wallet to spend.
Because going to the bank during the roughly six hours a week it’s open sucks and is inconvenient, and being able to do something 24/7 without even getting out of your car is better and more convenient. Having separate machines just for depositing cash is what seems strange to me.
Sometimes people have a lot of cash (like hundreds of dollars), and want to do things other than shop with it. Or they don’t use cash much.
I expressed myself badly. There seems to be high demand for cash deposit facilities (for non-businesses) in the US, and I wonder why.
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an ATM in the USA that could accept a deposit of cash, whether in an envelope or as loose bills. I suppose they exist, but I can’t imagine why.
Huh? Every bank-attached ATM I’ve ever used in the USA could accept enveloped deposits (checks and cash for later counting), if not instantly-read non-enveloped ones.
Same in Canada - you can only deposit to, say, the TD Bank at TD Bank ATM’s.
(There are two types of ATM’s. The ones owned by the banks, and usually attached to a branch of that bank, will do cash withdrawals and also accept deposit envelopes for that bank’s customers. All others cards - the “make a deposit” option won’t even show on the screen. The other type of ATM is a stand-alone machine often operated by a third part and charging higher fees, that only dispenses cash. These are typically found in stores and other convenience locations)
When you are withdrawing money from an ATM it’s much like cashing a cheque. Any bank might accept it with proper authorization. As for depositing a cheque - or cash - or anything, almost no banks will offer that service for some other random bank’s accounts.
What GreasyJack said. The system was originally set up to accept deposits and payments to accounts actually in the host bank, and it just stayed that way because it’s a bigger hassle to move money from loose cash in your hands to an account in an out-of-town bank than it is the other way around. md2000’s comparison to check depositing vs. cashing is apt.
In the US recently you do find a rise in withdrawal-only bank-branded ATMs, because frankly even for them it’s an additional complication to pick up deposits and sort them out, and people are habituated to travel to a proper branch-connected ATM if they need to make a weekend or after-hours deposit or payment (which was part of their original function).
And meanwhile, at the regular bank nowadays my teller has me swipe my card and punch in my PIN anyway in order to do an in-person transaction – obviously makes for a more efficient way of recording it and verifying my account status.
For one thing, tipped employees probably don’t want to carry around hundreds of dollars in small bills all the time.
Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all have ATMs that accept cash or checks for deposit. I think they are the same model machine. The bills or checks are put in slots (a different one for cash than for checks) not in an envelope. They’re scanned immediately and the amount is read. I’ve found that they can read even hand-written checks and correctly determine the deposit amount. (If the machine is wrong about the amount, you can correct it and them presumably someone will double-check the amount you claimed. Also, you don’t need to bother signing the check.)
As to why they exist, presumably the banks feel this is a convenience that their customers will appreciate. I know I do.