FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Best card for foreign exchange?
View Single Post
Old Apr 18, 2010 | 3:09 am
  #1730  
k374
10 Countries Visited
20 Countries Visited
30 Countries Visited
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 677
Originally Posted by ajnaro
The part about "Refunds on all ATM fees domestic and international" isn't really true -- Schwab will only refund ATM fees if they have been PROPERLY reported by the ATM bank and VISA, and that doesn't always happen outside of the USA. For example, Citibank in Brazil charges an ATM fee of over R$ 10 for each withdrawal with a Schwab card but Citibank simply tacks it onto the total and does not report it to VISA. So, if you withdraw R$1000, the Citibank ATM will give you R$1000, but charge your Schwab account the equivalent of R$1010. Even if you present the receipt to Schwab they will not make good on their promise of no ATM fees.
This is true. I used a HSBC in Mexico and the ATM fee was rolled into the withdrawal amount and I never received any rebate for it. Maybe I will call them to find out why? But it was a pretty small amount, $0.75 I think...still beats a Bank of America charging a ridiculous $5 plus 3% in ADDITION to whatever fees the other ATM will charge

although I do understand that what Schwab does is technically against their promise of refunding all ATM fees.

But even so I rate Schwab A+, their customer service is the best!
k374 is offline