david55

I just found out ( luckily before I left) that my local bank where I have my accounts will not accept ATM transactions or withdrawals while in Greece. ( and India they add)

They claim that their fraud rate skyrocketed after Greece's economic problems closed banks last year.

Anyone else experience this serious inconvenience.

KLouis

I can't help you with your real problem but your bank's excuse is simple bs. The fraud rate with ATMs has not risen at all. The only problem is that Greece has instituted capital controls, so you can't have more that 840 € (are about that) withdrawn from your Greek account within a 15 days period. That only applies to Greek bank accounts, though. On the other hand, foreign banks have their own rules: for example, I can't withdraw more than 200 € per day from a foreign account that I have in Greece.

Possible solutions: Open an account with another bank or use your CC (this might be more expensive that simple cash withdrawal) or even a pre-paid CC. Other than that, you can also use travellers' checks or, as a last resource, cash.

Still, your bank is rather "provincial", and most probably they don't even know where Greece is...

dcmike

This is a key point a lot of people visiting don't get - the limits on withdrawals are only for Greek accounts. If you have foreign accounts, you can still withdraw up to your bank's daily limit.

I have U.S. accounts and have no problems (except my bank's fees) making withdrawals from Greek ATMs.

ProleOnParole

The fraud excuse sounds implausible and your bank's refusal to lift their blanket ban of a whole country is quite ridiculous. Is that even allowed per Visa/Mastercard issuance regulations? Those cards are supposed to work globally.

Do you still have the time to open an account elsewhere? Short of that, you can get a prepaid card as KLouis suggested, preferably something like Revolut (now unfortunately for EU residents only) that offers reasonable exchange rates and no ATM surcharges up to a point.

Alternatively, if you have a layover in another Eurozone country, there will most likely be an ATM airside you can use on your way to Greece.

GUWonder

I had ATM cards linked to a US bank account and ATM cards linked with US brokerage bank accounts where ATM withdrawals in some foreign countries were blocked by the US financial institution. India was on the list before Greece, but this was closer to 15 years ago than to today. Home financial institutions blocking withdrawals in some foreign countries does still take place -- even by institutions that know full well where Greece and India are.

This is the kind of thing that got me to diversify where I keep my cash and to carry cards from multiple financial institution card-issuers. Even some banks with offices in Greece and India have done this to their US bank affiliate customers.