I’m going to Scotland (Edinburgh) in a couple of months and am thinking about using my ATM card rather than getting a lot of traveler’s checks or using a credit card. Is this feasible? My bank is a member of a couple of the big networks (Star and Cirrus). It’s been quite a while since I left the US, so I don’t know if ATM’s are as ubiquitous in the UK as they are here. Anyone know?
Dunno about most of the UK, but I’ve never had a problem finding a Cirrus machine in London or Edinburgh or Germany.
It wouldn’t hurt, if you have a Visa or Mastercard, to have a PIN to take a cash advance on that card at an ATM.
I couldn’t use my ATM card from NZ in Australian ATM machines even if they were the same bank. Credit cards are fine.
It usually works, but sometimes you will run into a machine that looks like it should work, it will have all the requisite labels, but it won’t give you any money. I assume that is because of the local bank’s decision.
However, I’ve gotten some German Marks out of an ATM in the little town of Ankum. However, I was stymied by a big bank in Copenhagen.
I was successful both times I tried it in Japan.
You get a very good exchange rate by getting money out this way.
Cirrus machines are pretty common.
The US embassy has a information no. +44 20 7499-9000.
Here’s a page with with branches of American banks in the UK. http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/acs/uk/bank.htm
An aside to Cher3- I’ve also been told, and have friends and family that swear by, charging anything and everything while away to save money.
Supposedly, the CC company will give you the best exchange rates when it comes time to penny up.
My roommate, who went there a few months ago, reports no problems using his U.S. ATM card at banks throughout Scotland (and the rest of the UK, for that matter).
FWIW, with the rise of electronic banking and international networks these days it seems a LOT easier to withdraw money from a foreign country’s ATM these days. I’ve gotten Turkish lira, Malaysian ringgits, and Vietnamese dong off of mine…and I belong to crappy little one-branch credit union in Arizona. If for some reason it didn’t work at one bank, inevitably there was another a few blocks away where it would.
Used my Cirrus card in several small towns in the Highlands, as well as Edinburgh. No problems…except this funny monopoly-like stuff came out of the machines…
They were issuing U.S. $20 dollar bills in Scotland?
If that’s monopoly money, I’m sure glad it’s recognized world-wide.
I forgot to mention, MasterCard’s website has a handy-dandy locator for Cirrus and related ATM cards.
You will have no problems with Cirrus in Britain, but they do make a minimum charge (here it’s £2.50 - about $3) a go so if you use it a lot, It will cost. But that’s better than carrying around a lot of cash.
Surely not? For a while this year, many banks did start charging for cash withdrawals using another bank’s card - but certainly not all of them, and even less now. When you start your transaction, you will be informed about any charges which will apply, or the ATM will praise the bank for not charging anything.
RussellM
I sometimes take out a lot of cash at once, saving on charges and put most of it in a safe place where I’m staying. It works if you are staying somewhere with a safe place.
Yes, the ATMs are more internationalized these days, although it used to be much more difficult to use foreign cards. The main disadvantage to the whole thing, however, is losing track of how much you have taken out, especially when changing currencies all the time.
I’m pretty sure neither the Bank of Scotland or the Royal Bank of Scotland (very confusing this) are charging fees for withdrawing with foreign bank cards. I use my Dutch bank card here all the time (Cirrus by the way, never failed me, unless I had no money in my bank account to start with :p) and it never cost me anything. It may be different for non EU contries though…
And I would advise against withdrawing too much money at once. Ever since I got robbed in Dublin only minutes after I withdrew 400 pounds I’m a bit careful with it. Funny that… 
My ABN AMRO account always gets debited for an extra NLG 5 when I use my Cirrus card abroad. But then, all Dutch banks do that. Even if you work for them
From my own experience, I know that my girlfriend (who lives in London) can get money without charge from some ATM’s with her HSBC card, but certainly not all of them. And that goes for me, too. I’ve never noticed the warning messages that Russel is referring to, though.
I always get my money from a Bank of Scotland ATM, because it’s around the corner from where my GF lives. They don’t charge extra.
This is a real pet peeve of mine.
Im in Finland but travel to Oslo quite frequently without a whole lot of notice. Usually I might be there for three days. In Finland I have accounts with Merita Nordbanken which is actually a Norweigian bank. So you would think that the same bank could accomodate me using my Finnish account while Im there. But no. A transfer will take three days.Fine I can use credit cards but I ma charged for the transaction and the currency concersion charge is high too. Peeves me more than a little.
Back in March I lost my luggage at the airport along with wallet and everything. The raddisson were good enough to put me up as a regular customer. I needed some cash though. I figured I could wire it from my account but no that wouldnt fly. So I figured I could get my wife to Western Union me some money but get this …cash wire transfers are illegal in Norway. There is no Western Union in the country…something to do with money laundering concerns.
I dont mind paying transfer charges but really inb this age of instant communication I cannot see why banks cannot allow the use of ATMs accross international borders. And why O why does it take 3 days for a transfer??
I was refering to using my card outside of my home country (Ireland) this always seems to result in a charge, but I’ve never seen a warning. I’ve used it in Canada, but not in the USA.
Hijack:
It is time we rise up and destroy (somehow) bankATM Charges.
Any ideas?
I’ve never had a problem using my U.S. ATM card in the U.K… nor in Netherlands, Poland, or France, for that matter. My ATM card is a dual purpose credit card (although I never us it as such), however.
There has always been a flat per-use charge, usually the equivalent of USD 2 to 3. So, I don’t use it for small withdrawals, I usually take out the equivalent of around USD 150 to 200 at a shot.
In terms of purchases, my experience has also been that the use of credit cards gives a much better exchange rate than what you could get at a local bank or currency exchange in the country. The savings can be noticable, around 5% for instance.
We could charter some trucks and park them around the cash despensing depots, making sure that no money truck can get in or out. Proved effective in the past…