Originally Posted by
zrudeboyz
You could always just use any ATM (i.e. HSBC) and pay the fee. I have never been hit with a fee by Citi of more than $3 total for a foreign currency withdrawal from a non-Citi ATM.
I think you still get the best rate with ATMs, even if you have to pay a transaction fee.
For anyone who already read this response, I was incorrect. This is, I believe, the current status. For ATM withdrawals in Europe from ANY machine - Citbank or not - you have the current conversion rate plus a 1% surcharge. This is from the Citibank website:
If you use your ATM/Debit Card to get cash in the local currency at any ATM—Citibank or non-Citibank—then there is a foreign exchange fee that totals 1% of the transaction, in U.S. dollars. For example, if you withdrew 100 Euros at an ATM in Italy, and the value in USD was $125, then the 1% fee would be $1.25. This exchange fee is also applied when you use your ATM/Debit Card to make purchases overseas.
This is a recent change, hence my confusion. So, apparently you no longer need to seek out a Citibank ATM, can anyone confirm this?
Getting out cash and using it for purchases would seem to be the better way to go, since you'll get hit with a 3% charge on CC purchases.