Hi All,
This advice has been given many times - that the Citibank Plus Debit Card attracts no fees when used to withdraw money overseas.
Does this apply only to Citibank ATMs? Problem with this is there aren't that many Citibank ATMs in European cities.
E.g. using http://www.findmyciti.com/ to locate them, it shows one location in London, and none in Vienna.
I rang, and they said non-Citibank ATMs may still charge fees.
And they dont have "partner" banks they can provide which guarantee fee-free withdrawals (unlike in Australia, where Westpac ATMs can be used).
(1) Are there non-Citibank ATMs to use this card at, which will avoid fees in European cities, such as London, Paris, Vienna and so on?
(2) Will European ATMs always show the fees which will be charged if the withdrawal proceed, so one can find another ATM?
Hope someone can shed light on this.
Many thanks in advance.
Hi bluesky, just to be clear, there are two parties that could charge a fee for a single ATM transaction - the card issuers and the ATM owner.
The Citibank card attracts no fees from Citibank to withdraw cash from ANY ATM around the world. Not just Citibank ATMs. Most other card issuers will charge you a fee. ING Direct used to be a flat $2.50 when I used it. HSBC is something like $5 + 1% of the amount (i.e. $1,000 withdrawal = $15 fee). So it's a huge selling point for the Citibank Plus product.
Whether ATMs will charge you a fee depends where you're going. When I was in the US, every single ATM I found (Citibank or not) charged a fee. Sometimes it ranged from $2.50 - $4. This will be charged whether you use a Citibank card or an HSBC card or a CBA card etc. etc. (you get my drift). I haven't been to Europe for a few years now and can't recall if they charge fees for international cards. But they'll likely charge the fee no matter what card you use.
In summary - your Citibank card is probably your best bet to use no matter where you go. In terms of avoiding any fees whatsoever, you'll have to do your research on the countries you visit and whether there are any ATMs there that will accept international ATM cards without a fee.
Another point to note is that you can also get the 28 degrees or Bankwest Platinum credit cards that will enable you to transact without any forex conversion fees. With one of those and the Citibank Plus, you're pretty well set up to minimise fees while travelling.
(Sorry, can't answer your question 2 because I don't know. My experience is that invariably, ATMs will show you a fee before you get charged and this is true in the US and the Asian countries I've visited. However, can't say that this will definitely be true in every country in Europe so thought I'd better not answer).
Hope that helps.