Originally Posted by LAX
Are ATM foreign exchanges also subjected to the 1% univeral surcharge as well? Even if the withdrawal is done at a US-based bank with international branches (ie: withdrawing money with my Citibank ATM card at a Citibank ATM machine in HKG)? For some reason, I have always thought ATM withdrawals are better than using a no additional surcharge credit card (ie: MBNA).
I've found that I get near identical exchange rates on the same day using my Umbrellabank.com Visa Debit card at an ATM overseas, using the same Umbrella card at point of purchase, or using my Target Visa credit card at point of purchase. All come very close to 101% of the rate that day as posted on xe.com.