A cousin of mine, Queen Esther, is coming to France and also traveling to Germany next month. She has asked for advice on bringing cash, that is, buying Euros in the US. I told her to wait because the value of the Euro probably won't go up much more, and likely go down a bit between now and then. In any case, she asked if she can use her Master Card to take cash from ATMs in France. I really do not know about that, because I've never had a Master Card. Are Master Cards used in France? Can they be used to get cash at ATMs? Should she advance pay her credit card in order to avoid the high credit card fee for taking cash? How can she get Euros in the US without paying humungous fees? THANKS EVERYBODY!

She should not have an trouble at ATM's

IF

She notifies her card company that she will be in France and any other country and the dates that she will be there. No phone call to notify - quite probably issues in not being able to get cash.

The high fees are just part of doing travel.
Sigh.

I used my Mastercard debit card in the ATMs in France last fall with no problems. Tom's advice of notifying your bank before leaving is also very smart. If the bank is not notified, the card may stop working since US banks will often block international ATM access unless notified.

To get cash using a MasterCard or Visa, you of course need a PIN. Without that, you can't use the ATMs. And yes, notify the bank that you are going to be traveling in Europe. Ask to talk to the bank's security department.

Using a CREDIT CARD to get cash is NOT a good idea... Make sure your cousin understands the difference between using a CREDIT CARD and an ATM/DEBIT CARD.

Any money withdrawn with a Mastercard (or Visa) CREDIT CARD is considered a cash advance - and most backs charge a high interest rate on cash advances, plus whatever they charge for foreign conversion charges. (I just looked at one of my credit accounts - they charge 21.74% for cash advance transactions!)

Withdrawls using an ATM/DEBIT card, on the other hand, involve just taking out your own money - so although most banks charge a fee for the foreign transaction, there is not an interest charge added.

Wish her happy travels.

Judy

TourMama is absolutely right, and it's my understanding that you generally can't even avoid the cash advance interest fees by prepaying into your credit card account. If the MasterCard is not a debit card, she probably does have an ATM card from her bank in the US that would also work in Europe.

- Roz

I'm going to disagree here with cash advance charges.

If the Mastercard has sufficient funds in credit to cover the withdrawal, then there is no charge for 'cash advance.'

There may however, be a withdrawal fee, but no interest is payable.

You will need a pin to access the ATM.

Elly

Elly - I think terminology and perhaps banking methods are different in our two countries...

In the US (which is where Queen Esther is), a CREDIT CARD has no "funds in credit"; it is used as a method of purchasing things with the bank's funds, then you pay the CREDIT CARD company for those charges. You CAN use this card (with a PIN) to get money from an ATM - but it is considered borrowing from the bank, and they begin charging interest upon withdrawl, at a high rate.

What you have described is our DEBIT/CHECK/ATM card, which is tied to a checking account, and from which, if you have funds in the account, you can make withdrawls using an ATM.

My best suggestion to Normandy Dude and his cousin is for her to check directly with her banking institution for information on charges, etc.

Judy

That cannot be right, Roz: if she prepays her credit card, so that she has a credit balance before coming to Europe, then in reality there is no cash "advance" because she's just using money she has already paid into her account.

Furthermore, what is the difference between a cash advance fee on the CC (even at a high annualized interest rate) and a foreign transaction fee on the debit card?

Let's say, for example, she takes out 100 dollars (65 Euros) on her CC, with a cash advance fee of 20% per annum (or @1.5% per month, compounded). Then she'll pay a buck fifty extra for the transaction, assuming she pays her next cc bill on time. If there is a 1.5% foreign transaction fee using her debit card, that works out exactly the same, doesn't it?

Judy I think the terminology is similar but maybe Australians are luckier in using their cards?

We also have debit cards. We always travel with both. Our debit cards are linked to our savings and cheque accounts and the credits cards are primarily for making purchases.

However we can have credit balances on our Visa and Mastercards by paying into them and some banks will even give you interest on keeping them in credit.

I always pay extra into my credit card when it is due to cover me for unexpected incidentals.

I have used my Visa card for cash withdrawals when overseas and didn't have to pay any interest as it was in credit. Just the usual ATM fee the same as my debit card.

It is handy to have both cards when having to pay a large sum of cash to an apartment owner. Just use both cards at the ATM to withdraw without going over the allowable daily limit.

Elly

1. To the best of my knowledge, you cannot put more into a credit card than your limit. For example, if you have a credit line of $5000 and have not used any of it, you may take a cash advance up to that limit, although some cards distinguish between the cash advance and charging for goods. The interest on the advance is generally musch more than for goods.

2. A debit card for some banks also may be credit cards. But you can withdraw at low interest and if from Commerce Bank, no special charges and they will also refund any charges placed by the service bank. Bank of America also has connections with a French bank and thus lower fees. Any U.S. Bank will up the daily limit for using an ATM card.

3. It is my understanding that ATMs must be linked to a checking account and NOT a savings account.There are also differences in that most U.S. cards have strips and increasingly European credit cards require chips.

4. Finally the pin must be 4 digits, not three.

quote:

That cannot be right, Roz: if she prepays her credit card, so that she has a credit balance before coming to Europe,

I think that there might be differences on this country by country.

In the US you cannot transfer or put more money into your credit card account than the amount of of charges that are already in there. I have tried doing that online to cover my existing balance and a charge that I know that I just made, but the bank would only let me transfer the amount for the charges that they knew about at the time of transfer.

quote:

A cousin of mine, Queen Esther, is coming to France

Happy Purim?

I love this list.

Perhaps she should contact her card company and see how they read the "rules".

I suspect that each bank or company has a different view.

Good luck

Check this thread in "Everything About Travel" for a lot more on this subject.

Note that one poster reports that his credit card treats a cash advance like a loan which cannot be prepaid. I have prepaid my credit card account before a trip, including an extra amount, so that all my purchases up through the next statement would be covered and I wouldn't incur interest. But I think purchases are treated differently from cash advances.

As others have said, this may vary from bank to bank, so the best advice is to check with your own financial institution.

- Roz

Hey, Dragonpat,
You CAN overpay your credit card by check, but not online. I will explain to my cousin that she should call her bank to see how they treat cash withdrawals abroad, either as advances or if she has prepaid before coming to Europe.
Thanks all!

quote:

Originally posted by dragonpat:I think that there might be differences on this country by country.

In the US you cannot transfer or put more money into your credit card account than the amount of of charges that are already in there.

In Canada you can transfer electronically to your credit card an amount larger than your balance. I do it routinely when we travel. I am quite surprised that in USA one can't because we are actually using the same Visa or Master Card facilities, albeit operated in the names of different banks.