Santander Free ATM withdrawals

missile

Hi,
Hoping to visit Spain in August / September. Can anyone confirm I use my 123 debit card to withdraw euros from Santander ATM without fee or charges?

greyteam1959

That is correct.
Make sure you select 'without dynamic conversion' on the ATM machine.
This from Santander / support / traveling.
This link scroll to near the bottom 
'Debit card withdrawal at a Santander ATM in Spain'
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/credit-cards/travelling

NoodleDoodleMan

The 123 accounts require a minimum of £500 credited monthly.

The basic UK Santander Everyday Current Account does not have this condition - and there are no fees at Santander branded ATMs in Spain and the Canaries.

patbloke

Just been to Malaga and was charged an 8.5% mark up on a cash withdrawal from a Santander branch. This happened despite the bank advertising that the cash withdrawal would be free for Santander customers.

On return to the UK I complained via the usual route with Santander. Today I got a phone call from the complaints department saying this was due to Brexit and some banks applying a mark up???

I referenced the article that appeared in Moneysavingexpert.com in 2019
I can't put the link on here as it states I've not been around long enough to post links... so just search Santander ATM charges 2019 it's a moneysavingexpert story!!!

Unfortunately I was offered the chance to put my name and details on their website to explain what happened and inform others.

I am astounded at that response and have no interest in putting any of my details on any of their websites.

I am now waiting for a written letter of response or 8 weeks (whichever comes first) to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsmen Service.

If indeed the problem has been since Brexit I would suggest that Santander are miss selling a service and falsely advertising free cash withdrawal's for account holders and have been making a fortune out of customers... For info I have a 123 select account

eskbanker

patbloke said:

I referenced the article that appeared in Moneysavingexpert.com in 2019
I can't put the link on here as it states I've not been around long enough to post links... so just search Santander ATM charges 2019 it's a moneysavingexpert story!!!

Why do you think Santander would be interested in an old article written by a third party website prior to Brexit?

patbloke said:

Just been to Malaga and was charged an 8.5% mark up on a cash withdrawal from a Santander branch. This happened despite the bank advertising that the cash withdrawal would be free for Santander customers.

[...]

If indeed the problem has been since Brexit I would suggest that Santander are miss selling a service and falsely advertising free cash withdrawal's for account holders and have been making a fortune out of customers... For info I have a 123 select account

Worth spending time reviewing exactly what Santander advertises, as their free withdrawals only seem to apply to certain account types (not yours) or making withdrawals at Santander ATMs rather than from a branch:

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/credit-cards/travelling

eDicky

patbloke said:

Just been to Malaga and was charged an 8.5% mark up on a cash withdrawal from a Santander branch.

Are you talking about Santander ATM cash withdrawal, or from the counter in branch? If the former, did you decline or accept 'conversion '?

NoodleDoodleMan

"Just been to Malaga and was charged an 8.5% mark up on a cash withdrawal from a Santander branch. This happened despite the bank advertising that the cash withdrawal would be free for Santander customers."

Can I ask what type of Santander UK debit card account you used ?

Cash withdrawals from a fully branded Banco Santander ATM in Spain and the Canaries are fee free for Santander UK debit card holders.

Could you have inadvertently used a credit card ? The Santander Zero credit card is fee free at the point of currency withdrawal - and it's not available to new customers.

The percentage mark up is odd - it's usually a flat fee regardless of how many Euros are taken.

Incidentally, the tragedy that was Brexit has had no effect on this scenario.

NoodleDoodleMan

You will see ATMs in Spain which are part of the Euro Automatic Cash network which include the Banco Santander logo.

These are fee free for Banco Santander's Spanish customers - but not AFAIK for  Santander clients whose accounts are with their national Santander bank outwith Spain & Canaries.

These ATMs belonged to the failing Banco Popular which Banco Santander acquired for a nominal 1 Euro in 2017.

The original intention apparently was to rebrand these as regular Banco Santander machines, however this never transpired.

AlexMac

Sympathies, but this is why I use a Halifax Clarity Credit Card (no fees; great rate) for almost all Spanish and other EU holiday purchases, with a small reserve of Euros bought prior to departure at the best rate I can find on this website’s Travel Money finder. Pay the bill on time and there’s not even the CC’s punitive interest rate!

Having said that, if I am caught short and need foldin’, I check the list of ATM fees on Triptipedia.com

currently it advises;

Here are the ranges for each bank:

• Kutxabank: no fees
• Banca March: no fees
• ING: no fees
• Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa (BBK): no fees
• Unicaja Banco: no fees
• Eurocaja Rural: no fees
• Banco Pichincha: no fees
• iberCaja: no fees - €1.75
• Bankinter: no fees - €1.75
• Deutsche Bank: no fees - €3
• CaixaBank: no fees - €7.00
• Abanca: €0.75 - €0.80
• Bankia: €1.75 - €5.00
• Sabadell: €1.80 - €5.00

NoodleDoodleMan

Can you clarify how some of the above quoted ATMs range from no fees to a specified amount ?

For example, CaixaBank: no fees - €7.00

That's a significant variation - you would assume it would be the same at any of their ATMs ?

I can confirm that Banca Marche is fee free - as long as your debit card is a "user friendly" one, such as Chase and Starling.