ATM usage fees

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hello,

Are there any no-fee ATMs in Switzerland where I can use my bank card to access funds from my US account? I understand that my own bank will charge me transaction fees but will the Swiss bank, whose ATM I use, charge me fees too? If so, can anyone tell me how much these fees are?

Thanks

Samhita

2
Every bank has it's own different charges....

https://www.postfinance.ch/en/priv/p...ash/offer.html

3
Swiss ATMs (and most ATMs in Europe, for that matter) do not charge usage fees. The only fee you'll pay is the one imposed by your US bank.

4
When using a US (or any foreign) card in a Swiss ATM, you should look out for something called DCC "dynamic currency conversion".

In a nutshell the ATM will offer you to charge the CHFs that you want to withdraw in CHF or in the currency of your card (in this case USD).

Example: You ask for CHF 100, the ATM will say:

5
Thank you so much for the helpful information! I have read other places to avoid DCC so thanks for confirming that.

6
Thanks, that's good news!

7
My bank in the UK charges 3% for foreign fee transactions, so before I moved here it was almost always better to choose GBP over CHF at the counter. It is not always better to go for the local currency, it all depends on personal circumstance.

My bank here charges 1.50% as well, so I looked hard for a solution for this. In this case, the local vs foreign choice is not as straightforward but still something to consider.

8
The only time I bothered to take a "screenshot" of DCC occurring, was using an ATM in the UK (Barclays) with a German €-based credit card (dkb.de).

The markup Barclays wanted was 5.5%:

GBP 200 would have cost me €251.89 with Barclays, while my bank charged €238.54:

€13.35 difference for hitting one button over the other.

Of course it still depends on which bank/card you use - but if you get a rate worse than DCC on an ATM, I guess you must be with the wrong bank!

9
Bumped into this thread while I am searching about ATM usage in Australia/New Zealand with Postfinance card. Anyone knows if there is a charge of it (with a Visa-sign ATM - if the card works there at all?). Usually with the Postfinance Set I could withdraw money in a good rate in many European countries....

Thanks.

10
I have found that the postfinance card work with the 'plus' system, which is not widespread in Australia, and you might not be able yo use it at restaurants or shops.

We just did a tour week trip to Australia and used a visa credit card, MasterCard linked to the postfinance account, cash, money we had transferred to our local sutra kian bank account, and a Akbar card which has maestro.

Maestro and cirrus are much more common in Australia than 'plus'. I also had a couple of times our Swiss chipped MasterCard was rejected at stores, and I used an Aussie one or cash instead...

11
I've also found that, pretty much no matter who does the conversion, either local or "your" bank, you're generally going to get screwed on the FX conversion rates, so it's best to just pay them once via taking out chunks of cash or travellers checks (Does anyone even use those anymore?)

On top of that, my bank charges me a "convenience surcharge" fee for "helpfully" doing the FX conversion rates. Would be nice if XE had a credit/bank card.. hey, now THERE'S an idea.....

12
I have a feeling this thread turned its topic completely?

It started from "how do I use my foreign card in Switzerland" and turned into "how do I use my Swiss card abroad".

The latter has been discussed extensively, lately >>here<< and >>here<< .

Specifically for Australia I would use the German detour via dkb.de and currencyfair.com

If you are in OZ a lot, HSBC (and maybe others, too?) open(s) local AUD current accounts with free VISA-debit card free of charge. In this case transfer your funds with currencyfair to your new OZ-based account, and use your AUDs locally, obviously without any surcharge.

Rgds, Christian

13
Well, basically I only have the Postfinance card with "Plus". Almost everwhere in Europe I could find an ATM for that. Even ATM in some Asian countries too.

So specifically, does anyone know if I can find one ATM that accepts Postfinance card in Melbourne airport or the city centre? My credit card from Migros is not of much use as the charge will be high.

14
Thanks, but as said I just need to figure out a way to have Australian dollars. So basically there are 3 options:

1) Change in CH

2) Use USD or EUR to change in Australia

3) Use an ATM that accepts Postfinance card and withdraw from there.

So based on experience the third option is usually the best....anyone can comment for Australia / New Zealand?