Originally Posted by yojimbo
On a related topic, I recently returned from a trip to Europe, where I used my Chase Manhattan ATM card to obtain local currency in France and the UK. On my banking statement, there is the usual $3 Cirrus fee for each transaction.
There is also a new fee labeled "I'ntl 3.5% ATM W". This fee totals 3.5% of the amount of each transaction. My inquiry to Chase yielded the following response:
"In response to your inquiry, I have reviewed your account
profile and our systems indicate that the international
3.5% ATM withdrawal exchange rate that was deducted from
your account was the service fee for the international
CIRRUS ATM withdrawal that was deducted from your account
on the same day as the international 3.5% ATM withdrawal
exchange rate.
Please be advised that as of April 2005, the international
exchange rate appears as a separate transaction, whereas
previously, the transaction was combined. A fee of $3.00
is still assessed for each international CIRRUS ATM
transaction as well."
Can anyone shed some light on this?
I have been using my Chase ATM card which has a MC logo on it to withdraw funds form my checking account over the past several years. I have been getting effective rates about 3+% worse than the interbank rate from oanda.com. No ATM fee since I am a Select customer. When I contacted Chase about this they said the charge was from the ther bank which I think is BS since others are not getting this charge.
The last time I used the ATM card the 3.5% charge was now specified separately.
I am wondering if the charge is only on the ATM cards which have the Master Card logo and are also usable as debit cards. If so, it would be better to go back to a non-MC ATM card. Does anyone have experience with this?
All in all I think that Chase is geting very greedy. And I don't trust what they say.