Cheapest way of taking cash out of an atm when im working in Ireland

madfistbt

Wasnt really sure where to put this, please move mods if its more appropriate somwhere else.

I live in the UK and im often in the south of Ireland for days at a time for work as the company is Irish. 
I prefer using cash as im old school, was wondering if anyone had advise on the best value way of taking euros out from an atm from a uk bank thats in sterling, without getting ripped off by fees and bad exhange rates?
Ive used eurochange before, but dont like carrying big sums of cash on me for each trip so would prefer to take smaller amounts out in an atm at a time.
I've heard the barclays reward card might work, but ive never used a credit card before (or even had an overdraft), could I just top the credit card up with my own money from my existing barclays account?
Currensea too looks interesting but has small limits. 

Any other ideas?

Thanks for any help. 

lr1277

I can’t speak about ATM fees, but the following debit cards offer fx fee free withdrawals, worldwide:
First Direct
TSB Spend and Save Plus
Starling
Chase.

TELLIT01

Who do you bank with?  I've recently been informed by Lloyds that they will no longer charge debit card fees when using the card abroad.

madfistbt

TELLIT01 said:

Who do you bank with?  I've recently been informed by Lloyds that they will no longer charge debit card fees when using the card abroad.

Thanks for that. I'm with Barclays. I just have a current account with a debit card, I took money out at an ATM with them while there once and I lost like 6% on a mixture of poor rates and fees! 

Petriix

Kroo were free last time I checked. 

eDicky

madfistbt said:

I've heard the barclays reward card might work, but ive never used a credit card before (or even had an overdraft), could I just top the credit card up with my own money from my existing barclays account?

The Barclaycard Rewards credit card is excellent for overseas use, including ATM withdrawals. Preloading funds to it will be against their terms and have no purpose as, unlike other credit cards, no interest is charged on ATM withdrawals (if paid off by due date).

But if you insist on using cash instead of the convenience of paying directly with a card, there's not much point in having a credit card (unless you need one for hotel or car rental).

A debit card such Starling Bank is quick and easy to obtain and have none of the costs that you suffered by using your Barclays card in RoI.

bagand96

Get a Starling or Chase current count. Both can be opened within 10mins via their app. You can just then move funds into the account before travelling to Ireland and withdraw as and when you need without fees or exchange rate loading.

ATMs may still charge their own fees, but I don't think the main banks in Ireland do. 

badger09

Another vote for Starling. 

I’ve used mine all over the world both for purchases & cash withdrawals. No fee, though some foreign ATMs impose a small charge. Max £300 cash withdrawal per day, but that’s plenty for me. 

madfistbt

Appreciate the replies! Great information! Just researching chase and starling now. I see that they use MasterCards exchange rate, rather than the true exchange rate you get on Google. I was wondering if there is much difference between the two and how to find it? 

eDicky

https://www.mastercard.com/content/mastercardcom/global/en/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

It's a daily rate, corresponding closely enough to the average mid-market (interbank) rate during that day as to have no significant difference. So it's an ideal rate. Most banks add ~3% margin and often a fee for ATM use. The cards recommended above don't.

Neil49

Santander don't charge for atm withdrawals at their branches within the EU.

Do they have a branch in your vicinity?