Cash Advance - charges applied

dcbradley

Following MSE advice re Best cards etc I recently took out a BarclayCard Rewards credit card - given it applies to both purchases and cash advances.

I've had no problem on purchases - rates are excellent.

However on a recent trip to Turkey I withdrew cash via an ATM and the local bank charge me 4% on top of the advance...

I haven't used credit cards this way before - so not sure if this is normal - or a one off unfortunate example of using the wrong bank.

Can anyone offer tips on this - is it possible to withdraw cash abroad with no charges in both UK and local country?

NoodleDoodleMan

The 4% is a fee imposed by the Turkish bank that owns the ATM - there is no way to avoid that - Barclaycard is not charging you, and they have no control over that charge, neither do other UK banks.

More and more foreign ATMs are charging fees - you'd need to do a country by country study to get specifics.

For example - a Santander UK debit card attracts no fees at a Santander brander ATM in Spain & the Canaries - but their machine will take 6 Euro fee for any other bank debit card used.

Generally speaking withdrawing currency on a credit card is a poorer option than a "user friendly" debit card such as Starling etc.

dcbradley

Good info - thankyou....

I'll look further into the Chase account for future trips  

NoodleDoodleMan

You'd still have fees taken from a Chase card at that ATM in Turkey.

Maybe somebody with more insight into the situation in Turkey can advise ?

Some discussion on TripAdvisor.

dcbradley

I'm surprised..... maybe I should have been clearer...... 

When I said Chase account - I meant bank account (current) so using a debit card to withdraw cash. Would that still incur charges?

zagfles

Some ATMs charge. You can't avoid that, except by cancelling the transaction and trying a different ATM.

But charges are usually flat rather than a %, eg 3 EUR per withdrawal.

Are you certain it was a charge and not a currency conversion offer? How does the withdrawal show on your account, in Turkish Lira with a conversion rate, or only in GBP. If the latter you've probably been stung by DCC (dynamic currency conversion). This is optional, there should have been an option to decline it.

NoodleDoodleMan

Not sure how accurate and up to date this is, but might be helpful ?

https://ikamet.com/blog/atms-in-turkey

It's wrong on the Metro Bank debit card - Turkey is not one of the countries where it can be used fee free.

eDicky

dcbradley said:

When I said Chase account - I meant bank account (current) so using a debit card to withdraw cash. Would that still incur charges?

When an ATM levies a charge for dispensing cash using a foreign card, it will apply to all such cards, credit, debit and prepaid.

The fee is usually (always?) a fixed amount, but you mention being charged a percentage - can you clarify..?

NoodleDoodleMan

According to internet articles and chats - ATM fees in Spain vary from bank to bank.

Some (Santander for example) can be quite painful, around 6 Euros per transaction.

Not sure how it works in other popular tourist destinations.

zagfles

It seems to be similar in most countries - a mix of charging and non charging ATMs. It's the same in the UK, ATMs in places like motorway services and corner shops sometimes charge.

One tip for abroad is to try ATMs in supermarkets, IME these are less likely to charge and less likely to offer DCC. I think supermarkets want and possibly mandate fee free ATMs so customers can get hold of cash to spend in their store.

Brie

I've had similar in the US and Canada so plot my need for cash carefully.  I rarely buy any in advance anymore as my Santander CC is fee free for use as a CC wherever.  But if I need cash I would withdraw from my bank account in the UK in a CIBC/RBS/TD ATM.