Originally Posted by
pinniped
I've never had a problem using my ATM card outside the U.S...Europe, Middle East, Asia. I've never called my credit union ahead of time to tell them I was going anywhere. (I see that mentioned from time to time on this board.)
If you're overly concerned about your existing account, maybe go and throw a few hundred bucks in a local credit union. That way you'll have a backup ATM card if BofA doesn't work...
I also saw advice on this board somewhere that suggested international travelers have accounts with two credit unions - one that has a Mastercard/Cirrus ATM card and one that has a Visa/Star ATM card. That's probably good advice, although I have yet to run into a country where Visa doesn't work. Maybe a search on the specific countries in question would tell you whether one network is more dominant than the other there...
Sound advice, and the same applies to credit cards as to debit cards. "Pre-travel" notification helps (even with CCs for some US travel), but may not always work in the case of "exception" purchases. Of course, the standard caveat, using US bank debit cards for cash at ATMs and not for purchases/services is probably wise.
In a decade of annual travel in Western/Central Europe, we've never had a problem with a Visa debit card, although I do recommend using only "bank-located" ATMs. ....But then I shy away from the "Proprietary" ATMs in convenience stores, etc., even in the US. The only bad experience I recall was a less than decent exchange rate at an ATM immediately adjacent to the AMEX counter at LHR Arrivals (CO). I had unwittingly assumed it was AMEX, and then after the transaction noted that it appeared to be a non-network "off brand".