jumperabv3

Correct, the ATMs in Europe usually are not charging you any fee to withdraw cash, so that explains it.
I'm going to apply for this Andrews card as well, thanks for letting me know about it.

lotrbfme

I think its 250k or 100k minimum. The card looks really cool for a debit card

Dovster

I've heard of that country -- it is somewhere near Tel Aviv, right?

I use two cards: Schwab for ATMs and Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa for purchases.

The latter not only charges no fees but I get 1.6% back on all my charges, making it less expensive to buy something with it in Israel than to use my local credit card.

jumperabv3

Yes, I think Tel Aviv is in Israel, not near it but yes.
Bank of America Travel Rewards is not free for ATM withdrawals, it says:

ATM, Over-the-Counter, Same-Day Online and Cash Equivalent Cash Advances:
Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

So it might be great for purchases but not for cash withdrawals, but thanks for the tip anyway.

Dovster

As a resident of the Galilee, I can assure you that Tel Aviv is not really part of Israel!

jumperabv3

joshwex90

Have you?!

Sounds about right!

Humor my dear friend. Though in this case, accurate. As they say in Hebrew, "There's the State of Tel Aviv and there's the State of Israel."

jumperabv3

Just wanted to let you know the ATM limit for PenFed is $5,000/day !!
You can literally TRANSFER funds using the ATM instead of wire transfer.

Imagine you need to transfer $3,000 to someone in local currency, a wire would cost you at least $30 in fees .... with this card you save the fees, withdraw it for no fees, deposit the funds in the local bank account, and the transfer is complete (and is credited much faster).

007shinobi

Are we talking about the PenFed debit card or credit card? And how would you transfer funds using the ATM to a local bank account of a foreign country? I think I 'm missing something. Also, this is probably useless information but apparently if you enable the checking function for Schwab One, you can use the Schwab One Visa card just like you can for Schwab HYIC internationally except that the ATM reimbursement is done next business day. However, there is a 10 transaction a day limit(this includes purchases and ATM withdrawals) and a chat representative said that they do not pass the 1% ISA fee for Schwab One debit card. The ATM limit is $1,000/day and purchase transaction is $15,000/day for Schwab One and cannot be increased while the Schwab HYIC has unlimited transactions with the same limits except you can raise these limits temporarily.

Also, not that this means much but Fidelity's cash management transaction limits a day is 15 for reference and Fidelity's brokerage account is 10 transactions. Their ATM limits is $500/day and purchase limits are $10,000/day. The rep said that you couldn't raise these limits but somehow I believe in the past you were able to.


Edit: Oh your saying to withdraw the local currency using the PenFed card then using a local bank ATM or branch and deposit the money into your local bank account there?

uds0

Note to Self: Add daily cash withdrawal limit to checklist when applying for debit cards, and confirming/upping just before traveling, and resetting after traveling! When cash is needed quickly, this can be a BIG deal!

007shinobi

State Farm Bank limits are $770/day for cash withdrawal, can be permanently raised up to $5,050/day (I think we are pushing the envelope here for requesting that much of a raise). For the hell of it, I asked for their transaction limit per a day and it is 30 transactions per a day so no worries there. I doubt anyone needs to withdraw cash 30 times a day.

joshwex90

By default (never asked for a change - yet), my limit was $1,000.

007shinobi

For the schwab one debit card it seems there is a 2 atm withdrawal limit a day and 15 purchase transactions a day the $1000/day atm withdrawal limit and $15,000/day purchase transaction limit is still consistent. I didn't know this but apparently Fidelity's cap of $500/day atm withdrawal limit is essentially $510/day atm withdrawal limit including $10 for atm reimbursement. So if you somehow withdraw $500 in a day and go over $10 in atm fees the atm fees of over $10 will not be reimbursed. If you did $490 in a day you essentially have $20 in atm reimbursement fees. Just thought that was interesting.

jumperabv3

Yes, I opened a local bank account in Hong Kong (Citibank), I transfer funds from it for free and immediately to my US Citibank account ... I deposited funds using Halifax card back then... withdrawing from my GBP account to HKD without any FX fees ... now I use it for USD as well. They have multiple currencies in Hong Kong.

Same with Israel, yes, as a tourist you can open a bank account, it's a fairly easy process but can only be done using the main branch in Tel Aviv (for Leumi Bank, not sure hot it works with other banks).

jumperabv3

Not sure why I need to deal with reimbursements and such ... I use the PenFed card, taking out up to $5,000 in one single shot (the ATMs in Israel have very high limit), I'm paying it from Citibank, no interest is charged, the funds are taken from Citibank only after 2-3 days which even let me gain some interest before I paid them off ... it's quite easy to use it, and I also build my credit even whilst I'm abroad.