I have never had a foreign bank ATM charge me a fee. ATM fees are a very American thing. Like others said, if you go to an ATM that wants to charge a fee, find another one.

Also, keep in mind that the exchange rate used for ATM transactions is the true intra-bank exchange rates. Credit cards are usually intra-bank rate + a convenience fee. So, depending on how much you withdraw, an ATM fee may be less than the credit card fee.

Also, the "convenience fee" added by exchange booths/airport vendors are horrendous! Avoid them at all costs.

for Bank of America ATM card holders:

"Traveling Internationally?

Use your ATM card or Check Card within our Global ATM Alliance in the countries shown with no fees.
Barclays (United Kingdom)
BNP Paribas (France)
China Construction Bank (China)
Deutsche Bank (Germany)
Santander Serfin (Mexico)
Scotiabank (Canada)
Westpac (Australia and New Zealand)"

(from this page )

Thanks for posting the information, but as usual with these financial institutions you have to dig to get the whole story.

"No fees," right, sure, but buried deep in this hard to find FAQ is the information that:

The actual rate for an ATM withdrawal transaction is set by the VISA® or MasterCard® international network. The currency conversion rate on the processing date has an International Transaction Fee added. Contact Customer Service for information on international ATM transaction fees. The conversion rate on the processing date may differ from the rate on the date of the transaction.

First they tell you there's no fee, then in the FAQ they admit that there is what even they themselves call a fee. Rip-off artist bozos ...

Yes, but for me, I don't have a huge problem with it because it's going to be a small percentage on top of the interbank rate. I don't know easy ways to get much better than that, so I accept it. The bottom line is that it's not a flat $5 or $10 fee every time you use the ATM. That means I can withdraw small quantities as much as I wish and not worry about how much I should take out, etc.

I agree that a very small percentage is much better than a large flat fee. At $5, if you only take out $100 you are paying 5%. The intrabank/VISA/MC additional fee is always less than that.

brasil or argentina
 

I would like to know if anyone has any good information for these countries as we are going to travel in Sept and are wondering what the best ways to handle the transactions in these currencies.
Thanks
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Ugh, Wachovia just doubled their international transaction fee from 1% to 2% (plus the $2 ATM fee).