Mastercard vs Visa for overseas withdrawals

benjus

I've just been away to South America (Argentina and Uruguay). I took my Metro Bank card (Mastercard debit) for the free overseas withdrawals and my old Nationwide FlexAccount card (Visa debit) as backup.

I found that all ATMs I tried in Argentina and Uruguay imposed a charge of their own (about £2.50 regardless of the amount withdrawn) when I used the Metro Bank card. However, when I tried the Nationwide card (in a BANELCO ATM in Argentina), no charge was added. My girlfriend, who has a Visa debit card, was not charged either.

Has anyone else come across this? In which countries? Is it a Visa / Mastercard thing, or something to do with the specific bank?

Even with the ATM charge, using the Metro Bank card is still cheaper than the Nationwide card in most cases, but it's not such a clear-cut distinction.

zagfles

It's probably an ATM specific thing. I doubt they'd charge for MasterCard but not VISA or vv.

benjus

The ATM that charged and the one that didn't were both part of the same ATM network (BANELCO). Also, every ATM I used with my Mastercard charged me, and every ATM that my girlfriend or I used with our Visa cards didn't charge us.

dzug1

It's very difficult to generalise on this sort of thing. The international ATM network is becoming more fragmented as it expands and what applies in one place may differ elsewhere.

There was a thread a few weeks back about Germany - the conclusion of which is that if you had a Mastercard you wouldn't be charged and was a bit open if you had a Visa.