Euronet or Telebanco for cash in Spain

tappet_rattle

Yes you are correct, I have a Santander 123 account and cash withdrawals from a Santander atm are free and at the visa rate.

NoodleDoodleMan

My undersatnding here is that if someone is using his Debitcard linked to Santander 123, Santander 123 lite in Spain in Santader owned Cash machine, given that
- They keep paying at least £500 amonth into the account
- They have 2 DD (?) set up in the account

They will not get charged for ATM fee and get Visa Exchange rate. Is my understanding correct ??

I visited local Santander this morning whilst waiting for the car to be serviced - all their current account debit cards are fee free in Spain, the Balearics and Canaries at a Santander branded ATM, as long as the £500 minimum monthly pay in is satisfied.

The Select account is also fee free at their ATMs in about 10 or so other countres as well - but its conditions are relatively demanding.

There is no requirement to have Direct Debits on the basic Everyday Current account to enjoy the fee free deal in Spain. That is absolutely the one to use if you just want the fee free deal from Santander in Spain etc.

DDs are required on the 123 and 123 Lite however.

NoodleDoodleMan

Also please be aware that Santander bank have now merged with Eurobank

I haven't clocked that yet - do you have a link to any press release or newspaper article ?

I suspect it'll be a takeover, rather than a merger ?

NoodleDoodleMan

I've just had a thought about the Select account that may be relevant for anybody who might benefit from having one.

No ATMs fees at 11 countries at Santander holes in the wall - from their website.

"We will waive the 2.75% foreign exchange fee as well as the £1.99/1.5% cash handling fee when you use Santander branded cash machines in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, USA, Brazil and Poland. Some cash machines may give you the option to transact in Sterling or the local currency; please select local currency to avoid being charged fees."

There are other useful benefits, all on the website.

As mentioned earlier, it is basically an upgraded 1-2-3 account with more stringent Ts&Cs - however, if you can afford to have £5000 (ish) in an interest bearing account with another bank (ie Lloyds Club) you can have a Select account which "self funds" in respect of the £5 monthly maintenance charge.

If you pay Gas, Electricity, Council Tax and Telephone bills from the Select account the cashback interest should just about cover that fiver (maybe even be more ?)) - and you'd still get 1.5% interest on the balance in your account.

The £5000 monthly pay in when completed can be transferred out and back to its source without delay.

Useful for Portugal, where I assume Santander have a significant presence, being the neighbouring part of the Iberian Peninsula ?

That's debatable for those other countries, and I've a vague recollection of reading that Poland may not actually be on that list.

adindas

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

I've just had a thought about the Select account that may be relevant for anybody who might benefit from having one.

No ATMs fees at 11 countries at Santander holes in the wall - from their website.

"We will waive the 2.75% foreign exchange fee as well as the £1.99/1.5% cash handling fee when you use Santander branded cash machines in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, USA, Brazil and Poland. Some cash machines may give you the option to transact in Sterling or the local currency; please select local currency to avoid being charged fees."

There are other useful benefits, all on the website.

As mentioned earlier, it is basically an upgraded 1-2-3 account with more stringent Ts&Cs - however, if you can afford to have £5000 (ish) in an interest bearing account with another bank (ie Lloyds Club) you can have a Select account which "self funds" in respect of the £5 monthly maintenance charge.

If you pay Gas, Electricity, Council Tax and Telephone bills from the Select account the cashback interest should just about cover that fiver (maybe even be more ?)) - and you'd still get 1.5% interest on the balance in your account.

The £5000 monthly pay in when completed can be transferred out and back to its source without delay.

Useful for Portugal, where I assume Santander have a significant presence, being the neighbouring part of the Iberian Peninsula ?

That's debatable for those other countries, and I've a vague recollection of reading that Poland may not actually be on that list.

[FONT=&quot]There is already a lot of discussion about various Santander accounts including Santander Select in the current account section. Some people could effort to have Santander Select, but choose Santander 123 lite instead.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The requirement of £5,000 is not a problem as people could transfer it from another external account and transfer it back. But paying £5 instead of £1 is the main reason why people choose Santander 123 lite. You still get the same amount of cash back for certain DD using Santander 123 lite and just pay monthly fee of £1 instead of £5. £4 indeed not a lot but why pay if you could still avoid it.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]You get additional perks such as foreign cash withdrawal with Santander select but there is substitute for this where you get the same or even a better result by using other means[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For instance[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cash withdrawal in Spain, due to ATM fee, you could still have the same result with Santander Lite. Finding Santander Cash Machine outside Spain (or certain South American Countries ?) is not a good option, as you prefer to pay about £2 rather than spending time to find Santander cash machines.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For withdrawal outside UK and Spain you could use other specialists debit card / Credit card. In Europe for instance you could use such as Metro, Monzo Revolut. Outside Europe, you could use Starling, Barclay, Halifax Clarity [/FONT]

NoodleDoodleMan

We had a standard 123 current account and when I realised the Select was basically an upgrade + the £5000 pay in, it seemed useful to hook it up with reciprocal standing orders to/from the Lloyds Club.

The £5 monthly fee is self funded by cashback from Council Tax, Utility bills and Telephone direct debits.

The ability to withdraw up to £1000 at an ATM may be useful at some point, and the dedicated 24 hour support likewise.

We have other usual suspects "user friendly" credit and debit cards for outwith Spain, so that is covered.

tappet_rattle

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

I haven't clocked that yet - do you have a link to any press release or newspaper article ?

I suspect it'll be a takeover, rather than a merger ?

Nope sorry no link, it’s what the chap from Santander complaints told me when I called about being charged to withdraw from the Santander branded ATM.

NoodleDoodleMan

Nope sorry no link, it’s what the chap from Santander complaints told me when I called about being charged to withdraw from the Santander branded ATM.

Interesting.

Last year I was charged using my Santander debit card at one of their branded ATMs in Mallorca.

After I raised the issue in the UK they refunded the fee and promised to investigate.

The machine had previously been Banco Popular - taken over by Santander in 2017 and many of their ATMs rebranded. I suspect that was the source of the problem - nobody told the machine it was no longer a BP facility !!!

https://www.ft.com/content/4cf8a400-4b4b-11e7-a3f4-c742b9791d43

Santander UK were unable to provide an explanation despite the case being escalated up their administrative chain.

biggmick1

As I travel to Spain a few times a year & was annoyed by rip off fees from British banks.
I followed the advice on travel cards from MSE
but in the last few years Spanish banks have increasingly started to charge fixed fees for ATM cash withdrawals. Here's what I found at different banks in Catalonia.

Firstly the only fee free Spanish bank I found was
Caixa Bank (pronounced Cai sha) (I seem to remember not being charged a fee at Kuxta bank but I'm not certain. Love to know if you've found others)

Then the others that I tried in cost order
Bankia Euro 1.75
Sabadell Euro 1.80
BBVA Euro 1.87
Banco Popular Euro 5.00
Santander Euro 5.00
(copy & paste this list to your smartphone before you travel)

Notably for British Santander account holders there is no charge from most Santander ATM machines in Spain (one exception I found was a stand alone Santander machine in a bus station which did charge even on a Santander card.
To check if a machine is going to charge, use the machine as normal & it will advise you of the charge just before you press the final acceptance, which you can cancel without charge. Don't forget to press the "without conversion" button as the rate is very poor. (Also be nice if you can update people here of any changes you find or any other banks that aren't listed here.

These charges were from Autumn/Winter 2018.
Also remember MSE's advice to not accept the conversion offered by the machine this is almost always a bad deal.
Don't forget as well, that if you are using a credit card to withdraw cash, most cards (even most special Travel cards) will charge interest from the day of withdrawal so make sure you pay it off A.S.A.P. Don't let this deter you from using theses cards though, as they can still offer good value if their APR is reasonable, costing about 1.5% if paid off in a month.
Also worth noting MSE's research has shown that Mastercard exchange rates tend to be better than Visa card rates.

My take on the best cards at the moment for ATM cash withdrawals

Debit Cards ATM charges
:)Starling Bank No fees in Europe or the rest of the world
Metro Bank No fees in Europe 2.99% + £1.50 rest of world

Credit Cards ATM charges
Tandem No charges overseas (except interest) but does charge for ATM withdrawals in UK (£2.50min 2.5% plus interest till paid off) also give 0.5% cashback on purchases.
If you also want to use in the UK, go for the Halifax Clarity card (no ATM fees in the UK, except interest but no Cashback on purchases)

When I'm abroad I use my Metro bank (Mastercard) debit card for ATM withdrawals and use Google maps to find a Caixa Bank if there's one nearby.
Then for purchases I use my Aqua (Mastercard) credit card, although I have no problem using the Metro Bank card if needed.
These cards I use are not necessarily the best cards available now but they were when I applied a few years ago & are still good now.

Happy, rip off free travelling.
P.S. Don't forget to keep us all updated of any changes & especially any other fee free banks

System

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

I've just had a thought about the Select account that may be relevant for anybody who might benefit from having one.

No ATMs fees at 11 countries at Santander holes in the wall - from their website.

"We will waive the 2.75% foreign exchange fee as well as the £1.99/1.5% cash handling fee when you use Santander branded cash machines in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, USA, Brazil and Poland. Some cash machines may give you the option to transact in Sterling or the local currency; please select local currency to avoid being charged fees."

That's debatable for those other countries, and I've a vague recollection of reading that Poland may not actually be on that list.

The Select account gives free access to Santander USA (former Sovereign Bank) which is very useful in the US East Coast as most US ATM access is surcharged.