DCC and commission Spain

eDicky

There is an EU regulation stating that a resident of any EU country can have a basic bank account in another, but it doesn't seem to be strictly adhered to, particularly in the UK. In the Netherlands, another example, they seem to require a local council registration number which is not easy for a nonresident, etc.

DCC appears to be particularly prevalent in Spain, and I doubt that there's any definite regulation preventing ATM withdrawal fees on foreign cards, which the Spanish banks have begun levying. I don't think Spanish cardholders are being charged. Perhaps UK cardholders are already considered a 'special case' and being targeted. But sorry, this is mostly speculation without info from other nationalities. Particular Spanish bank ATM charges, which vary from zero to 5€, have begun being listed on another thread.

Nebulous2

ricky_v wrote: »

Assuming there's an EU law which states that a Spanish ATM cannot charge more for a "foreign" card from another EU country (I don't think there is, I could be wrong though), for all we know the mad 5 Euro fees might be levied on Spanish credit cards, or other spanish cards which don't bank with the ATM operator, which would make the fee legal.

There is quite a lot of complicated EU law which forbids discriminating against EU citizens. Levying a charge on holders of UK cards would appear to do that.

Your second point is what I said at post 7. This may be a charge on all credit card withdrawals. Not one targeted at holidaymakers.

chattychappy

Nebulous2 wrote: »

There is quite a lot of complicated EU law which forbids discriminating against EU citizens.

Quite true.

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Levying a charge on holders of UK cards would appear to do that.

Probably... If the charge is targetted at foreign cards rather than foreign cardholders, then perhaps the real discrimination element is in the way it is still difficult for one EU citizen to obtain banking facilities in another EU country.

Anyway, compliance with such regs has always been poor and depending on the outcome of the current talks, it might not matter to Brits soon anyway.

reallydismayed

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Thanks. I hadn't spotted that thread. I had no charges from Santander in Gran Canaria in March. So I'm of the view it has changed since then.

This time I've had no charge from Bankia, the fourth largest bank, nor from caja rural de Salamanca, which seems to be a small co-operative bank.

Using a debit card and chosing the "bill in euros" option when they offer Dynamic currency conversion, I have had no charges when using Caja Rural, Caja Sur, Banco Mare Nostrum, Unicaja, Banco Popular, BBVA and CaixaBank until this weekend.

But this Saturday, BBVA charged me as described here.

reallydismayed

ricky_v wrote: »

Assuming there's an EU law which states that a Spanish ATM cannot charge more for a "foreign" card from another EU country (I don't think there is, I could be wrong though),

There are EU rules against that, but:

for all we know the mad 5 Euro fees might be levied on Spanish credit cards, or other spanish cards which don't bank with the ATM operator, which would make the fee legal.

Yes indeed. I once had a bank account with Banco Popular, used my debit card in Ireland to get euros and got charged €8. When I complained and showed them the EU regulations, they rang head office and then said "Ah, but if you use the debit card in an ATM which isn't part of the '4B' network then we charge that (even if the ATM is in Spain)."

System

A few Euro extra for your Costa full English - who cares?!
It's a dreadful place.

YorkshireBoy

reallydismayed wrote: »

Using a debit card and chosing the "bill in euros" option when they offer Dynamic currency conversion, I have had no charges when using Caja Rural, Caja Sur, Banco Mare Nostrum, Unicaja, Banco Popular, BBVA and CaixaBank until this weekend.

Add BancaMarch to that list (in Tenerife at least). I'd planned to use CaixaBank, having already seen this thread, but BancaMarch was right outside the hotel so I thought I'd try it!

sausage_time

Just back from another Canary. CaixaBank offered me a Eur 5 charge with no DCC. Pressed the "Cabrear" button. ATM next door had no charge when no DCC selected.

Be prepared to shop around!

sausage_time

Corrected my post above (to say no DCC) - sorry for any confusion.

Generally DCC is a bad thing, and with the correct (low fee/interest) card you should always pay in local currency. It's probably true if you have a bog standard 3% fee card too.

But as this thread and others point out, the landscape is changing. Some ATM operators now charge a fee when you don't accept their DCC rate, and some card issuers are imposing limits on how much you can take out ATMs abroad.

Nebulous2

sausage_time wrote: »

Corrected my post above (to say no DCC) - sorry for any confusion.

Generally DCC is a bad thing, and with the correct (low fee/interest) card you should always pay in local currency. It's probably true if you have a bog standard 3% fee card too.

But as this thread and others point out, the landscape is changing. Some ATM operators now charge a fee when you don't accept their DCC rate, and some card issuers are imposing limits on how much you can take out ATMs abroad.

I haven't seen any indication that you avoid the fee if you accept DCC. In my Santander example which started this thread they got to £99+ for 100 euros by including the charge in the DCC rate.

I'd be inclined to avoid both and if that isn't possible I'd accelerate my move away from cash to using cards to pay for as much as possible.