International ATM Bonanza
Wouldn’t you know it, just a few weeks after intentionally overdrawing our bank account we had another mini financial crisis:
We needed a massive amount of cash in a foreign country in a very short period of time.
First, we signed a lease and paid a security deposit, 1st/Last month’s rent, and an agent’s fee.
Total: ~$8,650
Then we enrolled Jr in school and paid a full semester of tuition.
Total: $4,175
How do you transfer that much cash overseas without paying crazy fees and stupid exchange rates?
With the International ATM Bonanza, of course.
International ATM Bonanza
Over 10 days or so I visited the ATM just a few times and withdrew ~$15,000 at market exchange rates with no ATM fees.
No ATM fees? Nope. We get reimbursed 100% for any/all fees.
No Foreign Transaction Fees? None.
No weird currency exchange fees or commissions or terrible bid/ask spreads? No sir.
What is this madness!?
No Fee International ATM Cards
The not so unknown secret of course is a no fee bank that reimburses ATM fees.
Or banks, with an s.
Expats and travelers seem to fall into 2 camps, one which says Fidelity is the best and the other which prefers Schwab.
I say, “Why not both?”
Both banks have no fees* and reimburse ATM fees. Fidelity has a $500 daily withdrawal limit, and Schwab has $1,000 (but can be increased, which I may do in the future. Note to self: Call Schwab tomorrow.)
Both banks reset their daily limit at midnight EST. If you go to the ATM at 11:55, you can do double withdrawals – 2 transactions 10 minutes apart. This works well for getting a lot of cash in 1 day, or reducing the number of ATM visits required to build up large cash hoards. Sometimes I remember to actually do this, but since there are about 900 ATMs within 30 seconds of my front door I don’t worry about it too much.
Which is better? Why not both?
* Fidelity has small print on their website that states the following: “Please note, there is a foreign transaction fee of one percent that is not waived, which will be included in the amount charged to your account.”
This fee is for PURCHASES ONLY. It is never charged on ATM withdrawals. (verified by life experience, and confirmed via phone) Purchases belong on a rewards credit card anyway.
Schwab vs Fidelity, an Experiment
A couple years ago we were in Dublin, enjoying some Guinness (with my new hat) and debating the pros and cons of International ATM withdrawals with a friend. (Check out his blog.)
Then we got crazy (as one does after a couple pints…)
I had a Fidelity card, he had a Schwab.
We found a bank with 2 ATM machines adjacent to each other.
We inserted our respective cards simultaneously and each withdrew 100 Euros.
In USD, the two transactions were equivalent.
Conclusion: Use either Fidelity or Schwab, whichever is better for you. Or both.
Note: both cards are for US Residents only. ;) You must have a physical address in the US to be approved.
Conversion Cost
For the purposes of this blog post, On Jan 18, 2018 I repeated the experiment in Taipei, withdrawing 3000 TWD with each card, one immediately after the other from the same ATM. By my math, aside from bank posting dates they are the same.
Fidelity
Schwab
Note: The official TWDUSD exchange rate on January 18th was ~0.0339. This puts our cost of conversion at roughly 0.02% or 2¢. That seems pretty low to me…
Referrals and Free Benjamins (that’s $100)
The Schwab card is a relatively new addition to our money management arsenal, and I had to have it forwarded from my Traveling Mailbox to us on the road (at a cost of $3.15.)
If you happen to be personally referred to Schwab by an existing account holder they will give you $100. Or you can just refer yourself like I did (use code REFER.) Disclosure: if you sign up for a Schwab account, we get nothing.
Fidelity also has a referral program for new account members, but they don’t give either of us anything. As far as I can tell they just offer you a way to sign your friends up for free spam mail. You can open a new account here.
btw, a great addition to one or both of these ATM cards is a No Foreign Transaction Fee credit card.
This No Foreign Transaction Fee card is one we’ve had for ~10 years.
No annual fee, No foreign transaction fees, 1.5% cash back, and $150 bonus after spending $500 in first 3 months.
(Affiliate links)
Alternatives?
Are there other better alternatives?
I looked at a FOREX account, but bid/ask spread was 4%.
I looked at Transferwise and Revolut, but they don’t do Taiwan Dollars (or many other currencies) but look really solid for the currencies they support.
International wire transfers? Fees up to $50 and sometimes require a notary signature (or worse a Medallion Signature Guarantee.) Plus, I don’t want any foreign bank accounts thanks to FATCA.
Carry cash and exchange at the airport? The world’s worst exchange rates
Bitcoin… volatility and liquidity are not your friend.
For the purposes of normal cost of living cash flow, I haven’t found anything better than your friendly neighborhood ATM.
If I’m missing anything, please let me know. I can add it to this list.
Conclusion
With the tag team combination of the Fidelity and Schwab ATM cards it is possible to quickly access a massive amount of cash with no ATM fees and favorable exchange rates. That is the International ATM Bonanza!
Enjoy.
Woo! I just mentioned Fidelity/Schwab in my Japan travel hacking article today. They are both great for getting cash out of those countries that have a lot of cash-only stores.
A few years ago I was traveling and looked at the bid offer for currency at the airport. I was looking at the Euro (we were in London) and was amazed that it was 10 PERCENT WIDE. I was incredulous as I was in finance, and I knew USD/EUR traded with a spread of .002% (yes 2 one-thousandths of a percent). People must still use the brick-and-mortar exchanges though, because they still exist. It’s crazy.
The currency exchange retail business is pretty close to highway robbery. I love the ones that charge both a commission and outrageous bid/ask spreads
Just back from Europe. This practice is very common (especially at the airports). Our worst ‘find’ worked out to 15% loss with commission and spread. No thanks! I waited until I had internet access and transferred more € and £ directly onto a stored value card. Tiny spread in comparison and flat fee of €2 to withdraw cash; no charge when used as a debit card/ contactless payment. Not bad for an Australian FI – not as good as US options but certainly better than either withdrawing cash from my savings account or using an exchange kiosk. If so called third world countries like Indonesia and Cambodia can offer forex with a small spread and make money, it’s just pure greed from European/UK to double dip on commission and a huge spread…
In Prague a couple of years ago, jet lag + an ATM at baggage claim caused me to withdraw the equivalent of $820 in CZK for our three-day stay. Oops. I ended up having to convert it to € at a physical location to get us through the next two weeks of our European jaunt.
Fortunately, some googling found me a place with a bid/ask spread of <1%, which I felt was a more-than-fair stupid tax on me for operating a foreign ATM while sleep-deprived. eXchange.cz FTW.
I did the exact same thing. True story!
I pulled out 10x what I intended to because math is hard at midnight. I found a small currency exchange place in an alley where they didn’t speak any English and only got stuck with about a 1% fee. The place on the main square wanted a fee and had a worse rate.
Hah! I’m in good company. My US-centric banking experiences have all led me to believe I wouldn’t be able to pull more than the equivalent of $400-$500; my own credit union has a $500 limit… but I guess that’s out the window the moment other countries’ regulations come into play.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/banking/atm-withdrawal-limits-daily-debit-purchase-limit
I did the same thing in Budapest! Math is hard at 8:00am when you’re jet lagged. I was the “atm” for everyone in our group and still didn’t spend it all. Got hosed (I refuse to remember how bad) when I converted the excess to USD.
Thanks for the post. I’ve had a Schwab account for a while now for all the reasons you list (and I’ve found their customer service to be pretty good), but I didn’t know that Fidelity had effectively the same product. Perhaps I will open it up just in case.
How do the withdrawal limits work when you are withdrawing in a foreign currency whose exact conversion rate will only be determined at the end of the day? How close have you gotten to the daily limits?
conversion rates change constantly, 24/7. You’ll get whatever the bank is using at that moment.
I hit the limits regularly, and sometimes go over. Recently fidelity was fine with me withdrawing $507
Are these atm cards debit cards or credit cards?
The first two
The information is very helpful, thanks a lot. Both Schwab and Fidelity are reputable companies. I received services from both. Schwab seems even better, I feel.
Lately Schwab reduced their mutual fund fees, and becomes more competitive. The phone service is very good. You can get hold of a real person quickly, instead of being transferred over and over again. They answer the phones promptly and professionally. They are the native English speakers. Not like some banks, they redirected your call to somewhere, when you have hard time understanding their English.
Yep. You have to watch them like a hawk or the banks will rob you blind when you are abroad. I was in Italy in October and mindlessly used one of my cards that doesn’t waive foreign transaction fees to book a train trip. Boom, they charged me over three bucks extra for a $30 train ticket. But here is the kicker. I just went on line and sent them a secure message and asked them to waive the fee, pointing out that it was an oversight on my part. They didn’t bat an eyelash and waived the fee. Took me maybe the same amount of time as it did to write this comment. So people should always ask for the fees to be waived. Thanks for this one, GCC.
Nice move. Always worth calling
Absolutely, I have Schwab that is not reliable these days.
Yup, agreed for both accounts. I have both and my wife has Fidelity, and I’ll be getting her a Schwab account before we move overseas. Also Alliant Credit Union will also reimburse worldwide ATM fees and doesn’t charge its own fees or Forex fees either for ATMs. Aspirations in CA claims to be similar, but I don’t have any experience with them.
For forwarding your mail and only paying $3, was that to a US address or to an overseas address?
To Taiwan
Take the same Fidelity and Schwab debit cards inside a bank branch and do a cash advance at the counter. The daily limit is higher (USD 2,499 equivalent on Fidelity card). No fee.
Link to Harry’s post on this: https://thefinancebuff.com/how-to-withdraw-a-large-amount-of-cash-from-online-bank-account.html
I tried this one many years ago and had communication problems wth the bank, and left with no cash. My Chinese is better now so maybe I should try again.
I have both the Schwab and Fidelity ATM cards and always just used Fidelity in the US and Schwab overseas because I
thought that Fidelity charged the 1% on ATM withdrawals overseas. Thanks for pointing out that the 1% is just for purchases
, now I will use both.
I’ve had the Fido card for a long time (15 years?) and have never been charged a fee (never made a purchase.) I called them while writing this post to confirm: no fees on ATM withdrawals, 1% on purchases.
I used my fidelity debit to withdraw money in the USA in a traveler atm and I was charged 1% fee and not reimbursed. Just fyi
Am I reading correctly that to have one of these cards/accounts you have to also have a brokerage account with them? I’m not sure I want to open another brokerage just for this reasonably small use case. I’m a non-nomadic expat, so I’ve got to have a local bank account and deal with it….
Tangentially: GCC, if Transferwise worked in Taiwan, would you have a different result in this article?
Yeah, they come with a brokerage account. Nothing says you have to have anything in it though. My Schwab account has only the $100 self-referral bonus.
I don’t really see how Transferwise changes anything. The 0.02% currency exchange loss for ATM withdrawals is hard to beat.
Jeremy / All –
I was trying to use the referral code “REFER” above to open Schwab account, but didn’t work.
Can anyone who has a Schwab account (help with referral code) to cash in on the referral bonus?
Thx so much
Schwab has change their referral program – you can now get up to $500 with a $100k deposit on a new account, as far as I recall.
This requires an existing Schwab client to call Schwab and get a referral code (I think 1 time use.) It’s weird with more hurdles.
If you call Fidelity and ask, they will increase your ATM withdrawal limit to $1000/day assuming you have a sizable amount of money in your account. It takes a few days to get it approved though.
I recall trying to do this years ago with no luck. I should try again
Good stuff. I’ll get a Fidelity card for our travel this year. We’re going to Iceland. I’ll check if they have a minimum balance requirement.
Seems like it’d be easier to open an account in Taiwan if you’re going to stay a bit longer. Is FATCA a big deal? Don’t know much about that one.
You don’t need cash in Iceland. Even the National Park bathrooms take credit card. Use a rewards credit card instead. The only time I used my Schwab debit card was at the gas station because the self serve machine required chip and PIN.
That is good advice. Will be opening accounts before our next summer trip.
Very cool. We are big fans of our Fidelity account when we go abroad — easiest way for us to get cash when we need it. And we like it here in the states, too. It’s by far our best checking account option.
Every once in a while we will get a check that is too large for mobile deposit, and then we see the merits of us having a brick and mortar bank as our second account…
I have a brick and mortar credit union as my 3rd account, but it is in Seattle. They charge $5 if you use a foreign ATM, so I’ve mostly kept it for emergencies until now. For large deposits I just have Traveling Mailbox deposit the check for me by mail.
It’s also worth looking into whether a bank you are currently using has a relationship with foreign banks. For instance, we had accounts with Bank of America while we were living in China. They have a relationship with China Construction Bank (which is a large bank with ATMs everywhere) such that you can withdraw money fro your BOA account from a CCB ATM with no fees. Worked great for us – until that one time, the CCB ATM made a whirring noise like it was dispensing money and spit out a recent for our money – but no money. Thankfully, BOA was great about it and credited our account. But still – since I was taking out a good bit of cash (~$500), there was some stress involved.
I can confirm the no fee no transaction cost Fidelity card is *great*. We used ours at ATMs quite a bit during our stay in Japan last year and saved ourselves a bundle of money just by avoiding stupid fees and those thieving Forex places.
Thanks for pointing out the Scwab card. Wasn’t aware of that one.
For midnight withdrawals, is that midnight local time, or midnight eastern time (or whatever base the bank may use)?
FWIW, this may be unrelated, but Vanguard is now accepting voice verification in lieu of medallion signature guarantees. This is good for giving grandmas appreciated shares as xmas gifts.
Al
Eastern time
The Aspiration Debit card also covers ATM costs worldwide AND the checking account gives a 1% interest rate.
For international travel – hardly anybody beats USAA – their exchange rate, and no-fees/no-cost ATM withdrawals. If possible do add USAA checking card to your arsenal – you be dandy!
We use the Fidelity card simply because we have had accounts there forever. $500/day is the limit and honestly I’ve never needed more than that.
I LOVE the no transaction fee part because you can pull out $10-20 at a time in foreign currency. Spend what you need and re-up the cash stash a second or third time during the day. We implemented this strategy in Czech (which is Eurozone but uses the Koruna instead of the euro!!) so that we wouldn’t end up with a ton of leftover currency once we left the country. When we hopped on a train back to the euro-using part of Europe, we only had a handful of Czech koruna worth $1 or so (aka souvenirs for the kids :) ).
I think this is the first time that I’ve needed more than $500/day. I guess that is what happens when you do normal person stuff like signing leases and registering kids for school
both cards are visa card and hence the exchange rate should be the same (https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html) Last year, I’ve used Schwab card in Peru, Vietnam and last month Taiwan, saving me hundreds of ATM fee! Some ATMs won’t allow you to withdraw $$ if you’re checking account is 0 while some allow the overage into your investment account (without any fee, yay). In Taiwan, some bank ATMs don’t take Schwab (Mega bank, post office, Taiwan Cooperative Bank) even though the “Cirrus” symbol is present. Wondering which banks work for you in Taiwan?
I heard Capital One is also good with foreign ATM withdrawals. Does anyone here know? I use a Capital One credit card for overseas purchases and get the current exchange rate, no additional fees additional fees, plus 1.5% cash back bonus.
Affirmative on Capital One Debit card! We’ve had a lot of success in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America withdrawing local currency from our account with favorable exchange rates. And no foreign transaction fees to boot. We use credit where we can but when you need cash I can’t say enough about having that card in my wallet for international jaunts. But I also saw a comment earlier about USAA and I’ll be investigating that option since I’ve got accounts there as well.
Roger that, and thank you for your service.
Just to clarify, do you take the Capital One debit card into the bank and ask for a cash advance, as though it were a credit card? I went to the Capital One website, and it appears they do not recognize overseas ATMs. I hope to avoid ATM fees as well as transaction and ForEx costs.
FYI, everyone, I also plan to check into Schwab and Fidelity, of course, but, for now, I see that Capital One does not require any money to open a checking account, and it has no minimum balance. Sign up is online.
Yes, I can confirm the Capital One debit card also is good with ATM fees. When I made my first around the world trip back in 2011, I opened a 360 checking account just to have access to this benefit. In recent years, I have found that Capital One sometimes doesn’t pick up all ATM fees (the ones where the ATM fee is not separated from the amount withdrawn). I’ve had to closely watch my account and ask an associate to research the transaction. In those cases, Capital One turned around a few days later and credited some money back to my account.
I’m going to use my Fidelity card next month in Asia to compare the F/X rate and fee situation and update after that.
Thank you!
both Schwab and Fidelity debit cards are issued by Visa so their exchange rate should be the same – https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html/ we have a Schwab checking account and we used it in Peru, Vietnam and Taiwan and it saved us hundreds of dollars already. One problem we encounter is that even though Schwab debit card is part of the “Plus” network, but not all ATMs in the “Plus” network would take it. Not sure if you encounter this issue in Taiwan? Fidelity seems another good card and thanks for clarifying that the transaction fee only applies to purchase!
ah ha, the exact date of your transaction, and that’s how your $101.72 is calculated. https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html/?fromCurr=USD&toCurr=TWD&fee=0&exchangedate=01%2F19%2F2018&submitButton=Calculate+Exchange+Rates
Great find, thanks!
I’ve occasionally had ATMs that don’t work. I’ll just go through the main banks until one works and then stick with it.
Any luck going the other way? From NTD to USD? When we taught English over in Taiwan but had debt to pay in the US, the bank transfer fees were f’n horrible. Ugh. It was also 2007 ish so that was long ago. Before smartphones! Gasp!
What I’ve learned is that if you have Citibank accounts both in US and TW, you can use their Global Transfers to transfer USD from your TW account to US account for free (the free fee promotion has been running for years). I personally don’t have Citibank accounts so this is not based off my personal experience. Hopefully it helps.
Citibank US site: https://online.citi.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=InterCiti
if you can read Chinese, https://blog.tripplus.cc/zh/29348/citi-globaltransfer
Great advice. Our son lives in Taipei and we drop cash into his US account on his birthday or Christmas and find it the best way to get funds to him. Getting funds to go the other way is not so easy. We have yet to find a cost effective way for him to funnel his TW$ to the US to pay student loans etc. Have you ever had to move money from TW to the US, and if so, what would you recommend.
I am currently planning a first trip to Europe and could use this information. Thank you for sharing!
Ooh, thanks for writing this post. We’ve had the Schwab for a few years, and I’ve shared about them with my expat friends. Now that we’re nearing retirement and will stay places for a longer amount of time, having both will come in handy!
You are still being charged by the payment network in form of a worse exchange rate. Banks add their percentage on top of that (in Schwab’s case 0%), as shown here https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html ,but you are still paying.
For example, the Belizean Dollar is pegged to the USD 2:1. Nonetheless, Visa’s exchange rate with a 0% transaction fee still comes out 0.9% less than what it should be. XE shows the rate at +0.1% for the same day. You got lucky that day with the exchange rate, but it won’t always be that close to the mid-market rate. There is usually a 0.8% difference.
Right.
Do you know of an alternative that has a better effective exchange rate?
Hi GCC. Can you clarify which Fidelity card you have? Fidelity offers a debit card that can be linked to a brokerage account. They also have a “cash management account” (like a checking account) that can have an associated ATM/debit card.
The terms are different for these two cards. Which one are you using?
I have the brokerage version, but I can’t find reference to the 2nd card you mention on their website. I only see cash management and brokerage with cash management?
From the Fidelity.com home page, click “Investment Products,” then “Cash Management and Credit Cards,” then “Fidelity Cash Management Account” to get an overview of the cash management account. The associated ATM/Debit card has different terms and conditions than Fidelity ATM/debit card associated with a brokerage account.
Some features/fees for the card associated with a brokerage account require a certain number of trades per year or a large minimum balance to get the favorable fees. There are no such hurdles for the card associated with the cash management account.
Hi GCC,
I’ve been reading bits and pieces of your blog recently and have a question for you regarding your investments. My husband is American and I’m Australian, but we both live and work in Japan, so our workplaces file income taxes for us in Japan.
We are very (very, very) interested in investing for retirement (early if at all possible, since we’re starting so late!), but after contacting Fidelity, they told us that unless my husband is a RESIDENT, not just a citizen, of the US, then all his investments would be considered foreign and would be very limited.
Since you are travelling and have been travelling for years, therefore a non-resident of the US, I’m wondering if that’s why you chose to go with Vanguard? I would assume that the restrictions would be the same though…
Can you let me know how you’re going about it?
Oh, by the way, if you ever head to Japan again… let me know! ^_^
Regards,
Catherine
Hi Catherine, thank you. We were just in Japan for 6 weeks, working our way slowly from Tokyo to Osaka. We will definitely be back.
There are some restrictions on non-residents and purchasing Mutual Funds, but you can buy ETFs and individual stocks. This is for new purchases, anybody can continue to hold MFs they purchased while they were US residents. 100% of our investments are in ETF form, and Vanguard ETFs and Mutual Funds are equivalent (just different classes of the same asset.) You can buy ETFs from any broker in a standard brokerage account.
Vanguard doesn’t like to work with non residents as a matter of company policy, not a legal requirement. So they are probably best avoided, although I know people who continue to use them and just never report they aren’t in the US (using a parent’s home address or something.)
I don’t know the context of your conversation with Fidelity (what does it mean to be very limited?) but you should be able to buy ETFs with them. Perhaps they meant you can’t buy MFs, and depending on how your company does your taxes, you may not be able to invest in an IRA. There are also potential implications of if/how Japan would recognize the tax status of an IRA, and I’m not familiar with Japanese tax law.
Since you have access to an International tax firm, I would maybe contact them and ask what they can do to explain / help with options for investing. Tap that expertise.
I’ve heard of people using Fidelity, Etrade, Interactive Brokers, Schwab, all as expats. YMMV
Hi again!
Thanks for replying!
Just to clarify, I don’t have access to an international tax firm. When I said our workplaces file tax forms for us – I work at a school – that’s all I meant. It’s very common practice here in Japan. No one does their own taxes if they’re just working (read: slaves) for a company, with no other sources of income. The workplaces here (read: personnel and office staff) will file one-page tax forms in bulk for all of their employees.
One of my coworkers has a side job, and because of that he has to file his own taxes. As I understand it, it’s still easier to do that here than it is in other countries.
No one has time to do anything else here if they work full time. It is, after all, the country that gave us “death by overwork”.
All the more reason I’d like to get enough money together and retire. That won’t be until I’m 60, at least, since we’re starting so late.
Something they should be teaching in school, which I totally plan to talk to my students about in their last year of high school. Lol.
I did exactly the same thing when I needed $15k for rent on a new apartment in Tokyo. 7-11 ATM for 15 days straight, lol. It worked though! The exchange rates I got for USD/JPY weren’t as good as what you got, and they weren’t consistent either. Seems like I got anywhere from .20 to .60 less than the daily exchange rate. Still acceptable, but I wish they were upfront about what their fee actually is and how they calculate it (since it’s not consistent from day to day).
Hello,
I wonder if any of those cards are available to non-US citizen.
I am French living abroad (in China) and the perks that you get from those cards seem awesome compared to what I am used in France.
US residents only
GCC, outside the US, I use Fidelity Debit card for cash withdrawals and Discover card for purchases. Both charge no fees for foreign transactions. Have been doing this for years with no issues. You are right that it’s wise to limit the Fidelity card for ATM only and Discover for purchases only, which gives me 1% cash back on international purchases also (you can use Discover wherever Diner’s club is accepted, including China and India these days). Following this way, you get best exchange rates for both cash and purchases.
I also use a Discover Card for overseas, but only as my back-up plan. My Capital One credit card gives 1.5% cash back, beating out Discover’s 1%.
GCC,
Thinking about trying this as a cross-border commuter working in USA (with US address I use) and living in Canada. Transferring funds across the border every two weeks has been painful given the exchange rate spread. Currently do all of our shopping (on both sides of the border) with Chase Sapphire, which gives us the straight Visa spread, but a Schwab account would be great when we actually need CAD dollars. Sorry if this is addressed elsewhere, but how does the local ATM fee reimbursement work? Thanks for sharing this great idea!
If you are charged an ATM fee then Schwab and Fidelity deposit that fee back into your account.
Hey GCC,
Long time reader, love your posts! Do you know if you need to maintain a US address to qualify for a Schwab and/or Fidelity account? I have a possible expat opportunity upcoming and I have a US address now and could maintain access to one through extended family if I needed to… but does a travelling mailbox service fulfill that need if I used them as my forwarding address? I’d like to avoid burdening distant cousins with my mail if at all possible.
Thanks again for the great content!
You need a legit physical address. If you setup everything for electronic documents, etc… then you almost never get any mail, and 100% of that can go to Traveling Mailbox.
Hi Jeremy, you mentioned not keeping a foreign bank account because of FATCA. Does that mean that you are paying your rent/agent/tuition in cash? These seem like really large amounts to do so.
On a related note, do you use any mobile payment platforms, and if so can you fund them with cash? In China, I’ve read that WeChat and Alipay payments, which need to funded from a local bank account, are slowly taking the place of cash; while credit cards are not that widely accepted as in the U.S.
I guess in general I’m wondering about the issues/inconveniences that you run into living for extended periods in a country without a local bank account, and how you work around them. Perhaps a topic for a future post?
Cheers.
We just pay cash. For mobile, we use Apple Pay.
Does applying for the Fidelity or Chase (debit) cards affect 5/24 for Chase credit cards? Thanks.
Thanks for this info, I am going to look for a similar card for Canadians…
How do you transfer money to your charles schwab account? I read on nerdwallet that you can only transfer money in by going into a branch or using a check (thought we left the 20th century behind!)? Can you not do wire transfers from another bank, say Bank of America, to your schwab account?
I have 3 accounts linked and have successfully transferred funds from all of them. Never been in a branch or written a check
Cool, much be miss-information from nerdwallet. Also, I was wondering how you still get new credit cards to keep the air miles game going when you don’t live in America any more? I guess you keep an address in the US and say you are there?
We use Traveling Mailbox for our mailing address (see my review), and a friend’s house for physical address.
Thanks! :)
Hey, don’t forget Capital One, they are the best bank I feel. No overdraft fees, no foreign transaction fees and and international ATM fees. Don’t know the details on the international ATM fees but I will find out soon since I am going to be living in China for 18 months.
Jeremy, since you advocate both a fidelity brokerage account and personal capital and I’ve subscribed to both–I’m wondering if you know how to get PC to display the cash/checking part as cash instead of investments. Has anyone else had this minor problem?
I’m not sure, I think you can specify your money market as cash under fund configurations but I’m not sure. This isn’t a big problem for us since we have little/no cash.
Hi, is it really true that there is no fee for withdrawing money with Fidelity? To be more specific, I’m only referring to withdrawing money from ATMs abroad. I messaged Fidelity and they told me that there is a fee and it’s the 1% foreign transaction fee. Can anyone here confirm this?
Yes it’s really true
Hi, and thanks for the response. It’s getting really frustrating now. I just messaged Fidelity and again, they told me the 1% foreign transaction fee includes ATM withdrawals. Fidelity Cash Management Account looks like a good option, but I’m not sure if I want to take the risk, even if it’s 1%.
Gearing up for more international travel. Thanks for this informative post. Tired of all those fees! Used the Schwab sign on bonus link as a kicker. Tx!
Hi, I have a couple of questions.
1. From the image of the Fidelity card next to the Schwab card above, is that how the debit card for the Fidelity Cash Management Account would look like?
2. I also read elsewhere that Fidelity will NOT reimburse foreign ATM fees if you have a brokerage account with the Cash Management account. Do you or anyone else have any experience or knowledge about this?
1. Yes (the pic is my card)
2. I have a brokerage account with cash management account, and get reimbursed for foreign ATM fees.
If anything is unclear, call fidelity.
I went to Jerusalem, the ATM fee was included in the transaction….they haven’t responses me yet
I am in Guatemala right now and the local ATMs have a limit that equals $259 plus the local bank chsrges $4. Have you found a way around this situation? Thanks
Doesn’t this post already outline a way around this? If your bank refunds all ATM fees, just do as many withdrawals as you need. Need $1,000? Do 4 withdrawals in a row.
Alternatively, see the comment from Harry Sit and try going into a branch and doing a cash withdrawal at the counter.
Thanks for your reply. My bank doesn’t refund all fees. They don’t charge me one. I will have to get another card.
It might be worth adding an analysis of Denizen, although the two mentioned are great enough that I have yet to bother trying Denizen myself.
never heard of it
Hi Jeremy, so this is awesome for retrieving funds out of US account. Is there an equally awesome way to do the opposite (ex. stashing money you earned in TW into your US account)? Thanks!
I’ve not done this so I haven’t explored it, sorry. If you are moving a lot of money then an International money order, if a little money then maybe just cash when you make a visit to the US.
I’ve been with Schwab since 2004. Their customer service is the best. Here’s a great example. I live in Indonesia and need large amounts of cash at the end of each month. Why pay Schwab’s $25 International wire fee (to my Indonesian bank acct.) when I can withdraw from an ATM and get reimbursed. But, withdrawing this amount ends up costing Schwab about $40/month in reimbursement fees. Without hesitation, Schwab gives $25/month so I
can wire these monthly funds.
FWIW recently a number of crypto wallets have launched ATM cards, where you can switch which coin you use in the app right before you withdraw in the local currency. Some of these even have USD and EUR stablecoins if you aren’t into the cryptos and their volatility. I’m currently experimenting with the Uphold card, too soon to make a recommendation, but wanted to share for readers who might be interested.
Thank you Jeremy for this post. I would like to add another debit card that charges NO foreign transaction fees for ATM withdrawals: the debit card for First Republic Bank ATM-rebate checking account. I have had this checking account and the debit card since 2012. I have used the card abroad without being charged a foreign transaction fee (e.g. Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Iceland, Italy, etc.) You have to keep a minimum balance of $3,500 to avoid the monthly service fee of $25. They provide free notary services at all branches in San Francisco. I’m not sure about other cities. Using the mobile apps, you can lock or unlock your card anytime.
It isn’t sufficient that a particular card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. It is that the card also REIMBURSES for ATM fees, both foreign and domestic.