Hello,

Does anyone know what the ATM charge is in Spain? I do not mean the charge from my home bank but from the Spanish ATM. Do they have a charge? For instance, I have Washington Mutual (debit/visa) and when I take money out of a ATM from another bank, I get charged from Washington Mutual and from the bank that I took money from.
Also, for a cash advances using my debit/visa card from a bank in Spain, what is the charge from the Spanish bank? Thanks

I've never seen an ATM in Spain which said (as many do here in the USA when you use an "out-of-network" ATM machine) "You will be charged an additional 2 € to use this transaction".

As for the transaction fee from your bank, (I know, you're not asking about this, but it's worth mentioning again) that all depends on the bank, but I find it's usually quite minimal. Many USA credit union check/debit cards do not charge a transaction fee at all when withdrawing cash abroad. Again, it just depend on the bank.. contact them for details. (don't you just hate THAT for an answer? ) Same goes with making purchases with credit cards. Sorry, I don't know how much the bank would charge for a cash advance. I've done it, but it was a long time ago.

There are a number of ATM and Credit Card usage-related threads here on the message board. You might use the SEARCH link above and hopefully they'll turn up.

Trust me, if you have a check/debit card with the Visa/MasterCard symbol on it and it's on the Cirrus or PLUS banking system (about 99% of them are - look at the back of your card) then you'll be able to withdraw money from ATMs and won't have to enter any bank for a cash advance. Just be sure you know your NUMERICAL 4-digit pin. Also, most all ATMs in the cities carry a multiple-language menus.

Saludos, MadridMan

Same here--I've never encountered a fee at european ATM's, and always have gotten a very good exchange rate. To re-emphasize the above message, do memorize the numeric pin code, not letters that spell a word. ATM's there typically do not have letters on the buttons.

MM,
If you are correct, what gain does it give the ATM owner to let you use their ATM?
Thanks

Spanish banks are going to be enforced to show the fees they will charge when using a card from a different bank. I guess it will take them some months to deploy this in all their ATMs (remember that Spain has one of the biggest ATMs networks in Europe).

When I went to England, my bank manager told me the fee I got charged for using a foreign ATM depends on the bank. That is, it depends on your bank, not on the Spanish one to decide how much they charge you to use your card in Spain (obviously part of that fee will go to the Spanish bank).

Antonio,

I do not think my bank operates likr that. When I use an ATM other than the one connected to my bank, my bank charges me $1.50. Also, there is another fee that comes from the other bank, which pops up when you try to take money out. This amount dependes on the other bank. For instance, First Union charges me $2.00 to use their ATM. Then my bank charges me $1.50.

If I take money out overseas, my bank will charge my $3.00. Also, I might be subject to charges from the owner of the ATM overseas. I think this is how it works.

Before I left for Spain this year I verifed (thru e-mail contacts)with my credit union that there would be no charge when using ATM's at banks in europe. However, when I later saw my statement on-line, there was a line item $1.50 charge by my CU per transaction. When I pointed this out to the CU, they apologized & removed the charge(s).
The european bank owning the ATM machine makes it's money in the conversion rate used. Conversion rates vary continuously during the day.
Comparing the actual conversion rate used by bank ATM's to the average interbank conversion rates (at http://www.oanda.com ) showed a 0.8% mark-up in Spain (BBVA Bank ATM)& a 1.4% markup in Italy (Deutsche Bank ATM). Both banks are on the Cirrus system.

Uhm, I guess American and European/Spanish banks fees work differently. What I said above is what my Spanish bank said it would happen when getting money in the UK. Perhaps it would have been different if I had got money in an American ATM. I guess regulations are completely different.

Maybe you can ask your bank manager to see if you will be charged the same no matter what ATM / network you use in Spain. The main ones are Servired, 4B and Red 6000.

Antonio,
You said the Spanish banks will be enforced to show all the charges on the receipt. However, will this happen by November of this year?

JDR,
Thanks...I did not know that is how the banks/ATMs make there money.