Clarity free withdrawals?

Quartermass

Clarity is the cheapest way for me to get my hands on dollars when I'm in the US, but it'd be nice not to pay ATM withdrawal fees.

Does anyone know of a bank or network or other way of finding ATMs that don't charge a fee?

It happened once to me in New York, but never again after that and in Vegas and Florida I always had to pay, but sadly I can't remember the name of the bank.

YorkshireBoy

Forum search tool (top right of screen), searching for...

"Clarity ATM fee USA"

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/69007196#Comment_69007196

...shows a couple of options.

Quartermass

Yeah, I'd tried a search first.

Alas I tried the Bank of America and was charged, the other one TD Bank does not have any ATMs within 50 miles of my place in Florida.

eDicky

If you depart from a UK airport which has Moneycorp multi currency ATMs you can withdraw cash dollars with your Clarity card at the Mastercard rate with no fees.

No other ATMs give this possibility.

Just make sure to select "WITHOUT CONVERSION" when the screen giving the choice appears, to avoid falling for the horrendous Moneycorp exchange rate.

gingercordial

eDicky wrote: »

If you depart from a UK airport which has Moneycorp multi currency ATMs you can withdraw cash dollars with your Clarity card at the Mastercard rate with no fees.

No other ATMs give this possibility.

Just make sure to select "WITHOUT CONVERSION" when the screen giving the choice appears, to avoid falling for the horrendous Moneycorp exchange rate.

I don't know about other airports but Moneycorp are no longer in Heathrow; they left in March 2015 and transferred all their staff and ATMs to Travelex. Travelex ATMs do NOT give the option to withdraw foreign currency without conversion.

Shame because I used the Clarity/Moneycorp trick a lot on my travels for free withdrawals on my way out of the UK, and I was very disappointed when the machines disappeared from Heathrow.

callum9999

If I know I'm going to want cash within the next week or so I tend to just start trying random ATMs I walk past. I have far more luck finding one that way that trying to track down a specific fee-free network ATM.

America seems to have lots of small credit unions etc. that run ATMs which are sometimes fee-free - the last one I remember using was a Boeing credit union ATM I walked past on a random street in Seattle. Not particularly helpful for Florida though! (I vaguely remember finding an ATM in Miami with no fees but don't remember what it was called)

PeacefulWaters

McDonalds often have 99c ATMs inside. Not free, but nearly.

DesG

Quartermass wrote: »

Yeah, I'd tried a search first.

Alas I tried the Bank of America and was charged, the other one TD Bank does not have any ATMs within 50 miles of my place in Florida.

I have beeen told these guys have free withdrawal ATM's, I'll be there next week and will feedback.

https://www.wawa.com/StoreLocator.aspx

Cheers, Des.

glider3560

callum9999 wrote: »

If I know I'm going to want cash within the next week or so I tend to just start trying random ATMs I walk past. I have far more luck finding one that way that trying to track down a specific fee-free network ATM.

America seems to have lots of small credit unions etc. that run ATMs which are sometimes fee-free - the last one I remember using was a Boeing credit union ATM I walked past on a random street in Seattle. Not particularly helpful for Florida though! (I vaguely remember finding an ATM in Miami with no fees but don't remember what it was called)

Definitely agree about credit unions.

My colleague used a Caltech Employee Credit Union ATM in Pasadena and claims to have not been charged. Nothing appeared on the screen during the transaction.

I've also used a University Credit Union ATM at UCLA in Westwood and was charged less than $2. Not ideal, but at a campus based university, I had limited options. Still cheaper than getting the cash from a bureau de change in the UK.

Unfortunately, Moneycorp ATMs at Stansted (which I use regularly) don't dispense USD.