Santander current account for use with Spanish ATMs

dggar

apologies if this has been asked before.


I am after a Santander account with a debit card for use in Spain at Santander ATMs. This account would not be used for anything else.
I have read the following advice on this site:-
"Avoid this card abroad if you can. If you must use it, try to make a few bigger ATM withdrawals rather than lots of small purchases. However, if you're in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, USA, Brazil or Poland, this card's okay to use to get cash at Santander ATMs, as there's no exchange charge or withdrawal fee - as long as you pay in £500+/mth to your account"
Does this apply to all of the current accounts that Santander offer. I don't want to pay a monthly fee to Santander.


Thanks in advance

colsten

You could always check the official information on the Santander website.

Their Everyday Current Account might fit your requirements, but judge for yourself.

sal_III

You best check the T&C on the Santander website to be sure.

But why risk it instead of using Starling/Halifax Clarity CC that won't charge you fees on any ATM in any country, instead of limiting yourself to Santander ATMs in a coupe of countries?

colsten

sal_III wrote: »

You best check the T&C on the Santander website to be sure.

But why risk it instead of using Starling/Halifax Clarity CC that won't charge you fees on any ATM in any country, instead of limiting yourself to Santander ATMs in a coupe of countries?

Starling/Halifax etc are not in charge of any foreign ATMs. The ATM provider can therefore charge you for withdrawals and you can either pay that charge or not get any money. Santander, however, own many of the Spanish ATMs and will not levy any charge when you use these ATMs with a Santander card.

sal_III

colsten wrote: »

Starling/Halifax etc are not in charge of any foreign ATMs. The ATM provider can therefore charge you for withdrawals and you can either pay that charge or not get any money. Santander, however, own many of the Spanish ATMs and will not levy any charge when you use these ATMs with a Santander card.

Plenty of ATMs Spain that don't charge fees on their end.

On the other hand the Santander "deal" appears to come with "strings attached" (like paying in certain amounts etc.). I wouldn't be betting on their systems making the right call and not charging me fees. It also doesn't take into account currency conversion rates, only absence of fees.

Why risk it when there is easy and better alternative that is tried and tested by thousands on this boards alone.

eDicky

Yes, the fee-free Santander Everyday current account does not charge any fee or exchange rate loading for use of its debit card in Spanish Santander ATMs, as long as you pay in at least £500/month.

Spanish banks who do not charge for use of their ATMs are becoming very scarce, I think there's only a couple left and they are likely to begin charging also sooner or later.

colsten

sal_III wrote: »

Plenty of ATMs Spain that don't charge fees on their end.

On the other hand the Santander "deal" appears to come with "strings attached" (like paying in certain amounts etc.). I wouldn't be betting on their systems making the right call and not charging me fees. It also doesn't take into account currency conversion rates, only absence of fees.

Why risk it when there is easy and better alternative that is tried and tested by thousands on this boards alone.

Eh? You appear to have an irrational aversion to Santander. What's the risk of using Santander? Why do you claim there "appear to be" strings attached when you can get a perfectly good Santander account with no strings? Why do you claim Santander would not stick to their T&Cs for use in Spain?

Recommending Halifax Clarity for cash withdrawals, as you did, should come with a massive health warning: it is a credit card, and it charges interest from the day of withdrawal. So unless you immediately pay off the withdrawn amount, the fact that they didn't charge fees is neither here nor there.

Just about the only valid point in your argument is that people need to also consider currency conversion fees if they are after the best financial deal. On this, I agree that Starling is probably giving a better rate than anyone else, and personally, I would use my Starling card if the ATM doesn't charge me (they tell you before they do). However, the OP asked for a Santander account - almost certainly because a Santander card is the only option to avoid getting charged at the ATM. The Santander exchange rate might not be quite as good as the Starling one but it might still be the cheapest way to get cash at a Spanish ATM.

Browntoa

18 months ago I could get cash out for free in Spain , now almost all charge between €2 - €7 now just to use the ATM regardless of your card charging no fees

colsten

eDicky wrote: »

Yes, the fee-free Santander Everyday current account does not charge any fee or exchange rate loading for use of its debit card in Spanish Santander ATMs, as long as you pay in at least £500/month.

Where do you get the "as long as you pay in at least £500/month" from? I cannot see this mentioned in the official fee information document that I already linked to earlier.

dggar

sal_III wrote: »

You best check the T&C on the Santander website to be sure.

But why risk it instead of using Starling/Halifax Clarity CC that won't charge you fees on any ATM in any country, instead of limiting yourself to Santander ATMs in a coupe of countries?

I already have a Halifax Clarity CC and a Nationwide Select CC and a Metro Bank Debit card. I would only use the credit cards to purchase goods and services.


I was in Lech in the Arlberg region of Austria last week and found that all of the ATMs I tried were charging a fee to withdraw euros with my Metro Bank card.


The lowest charge I found was at the Raiffeisenbank (a proper bank, not an ATM in a shop).
To take out 50 euro there was a charge of 4.9 euro.
(another ATM was going to charge 6 euro to take out 20 euro)


The exchange rate used by Metro bank on that day was 1.171825 euro/£
The effective rate when adding in the charge was
1.0672 euro/£


There is a lot of documentation pointing to Spanish banks imposing ATM charges for withdrawing euros.

eDicky

colsten wrote: »

Where do you get the "as long as you pay in at least £500/month" from? I cannot see this mentioned in the official fee information document that I already linked to earlier.

The FAQs for traveling used to say:

All main adult bank current accounts (those which are credited with at least £500 per month) can benefit from free cash machine withdrawals in Spain at a Santander branded cash machine

But I see that it now reads:

All main adult bank current accounts can benefit from free cash machine withdrawals in Spain at a Santander branded cash machine

So apparently it's not so clear whether the £500 pay in is still necessary.

According to OP the MSE info states the necessity, and I believe it has often been mentioned as necessary in threads on the Overseas board, although I'm not sure how recently.