5 July 2009 – When ever you are traveling abroad or even with in your own country, you should check with you banks to see if your bank is partnerted up with other banks for free ATM access. This can save you money in a big way.
I personally bank with Bank of America and one the key reasons why I chose the bank was because of thier ATM options at home and abroad. In the States, BofA has branches and ATM from coast to coast. This helps me avoid having to use other banks ATMs and save any where from $4 to $10 per ATM transaction.
Abroad, BofA is partnered with several banks to provide free ATM access, with no exchange fees when taking money out while traveling abroad. This is a huge savings and quite often, I have recieved better exchange rates by taking money out through partner banks.
Another advantage to taking money out while away is that you can control how much cash you go through and limit the amount of cash that you carry on you. You will always want to have some money on hand upon arriving at your destination, but by limiting how much you withdraw, can help you stay with in a budget.
BofA has agreements with Barclays Bank in the UK and BNP Paribas in France. BofA has many other agreements with other banks you should check with your bank to see with whom they have such ATM agreements with.
BofA also offers it’s customers the ability to purchase foriegn currency online via the BofA web site. You can have the currency delivered straight to your home address or you can pick it up from a BofA bank location. I have used the service myself and found it to be very cost effective and efficient. Total cost was $7.50 for delivery of my currency order, which came by Federal Express with in two days of my ordering being placed online. For more information on this sevice goto: http://www.bankofamerica.com/foreigncurrency/index.cfm.
