Canadian Interac Banking Cards?

Hello

Will I be able to use my Canadian Bank Card at ATM%26#39;s? I assume so, but I wanted to double check. I allready use a regular four digit PIN number at Canadian and US ATM machines. Also, thank you for the heads up on ATM%26#39;s in France only allowing you to access your chequing and NOT your savings I did not know that.

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Yes you can do it. Check with your bank to see if they have a partnership that will save you some of the service charges. I bank with Scotiabank and their agreement is with pnb paribis

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CIBC debit cards and VISA cards worked at every ATM I used in Paris.

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But you have to be careful. If CIBC is like TD, then withdrawing money using a Visa at an ATM is really an advance of cash as a loan and interest charges (on top of the service charge) kick in from the date of withdrawal; the debit cards don%26#39;t have that problem.

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Make sure to use a 4 digit PIN!! Pin numbers that are longer than 4 digits do NOT work. We had no problem using our interac/debit cards in FRance, Italy , Spain or the UK. As one poster cautioned, do not use your credit cards for cash advances unles you want to start paying interest charges from the moment the $$ exits the machine!! Happy travels.

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CIBC treats a VISA withdrawl as a cash advance just as they do if you do it domestically. Withdrawing from your own chequing account is handled just the same as in Canada. Unless the policies have changed drastically the exchange rate is better than if you buy Euro currency at a branch. The exchange rate I received for Paris withdrawls and Visa cash advances was the INTERBANK rate at the moment of processing and this pretty much offset any additional fee for the international transaction.

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thank you very much.im leaving for paris this june and i was thinking also of exchanging euro currency but the banks have charges. i do have scotia card.

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My 2 cents...

- your ATM should be tied to a chequing account

- be sure to notify your bank first with your travel dates otherwise you risk your card being frozen.

- ditto your credit card

- increase your ATM limit if needed... $500 CDN is only about 320 euros which doesn%26#39;t go that far these days. ;^(

Have a great trip!

Rob

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Sorry but I forgot about your comment re %26#39;changing euro currency%26#39;... in a word, don%26#39;t.

You%26#39;ll do better using ATMs while there. I always have a couple hundred euros on me when I land so I don%26#39;t have to look for an ATM but don%26#39;t get much more cash than that.

Rob

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I was there two weeks ago and did%26#39;nt not have any problems to withdraw. I choose to whithdraw from BNP Paribas. You only have to check for the Cirrus sign. Please note that with my bank there was a $5.00 fee for each withdraw.

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Hi -

One of my Canadian banks is HSBC, which requires a modest savings balance to have no charge ATM use around the world. I live part of the year in the US as well, and have banks there, too.

I%26#39;ve heard of ATMs in parts of Europe that do allow you the choice of account for withdrawal, but I%26#39;ve never come across one.

Do go into your bank and talk to them about your travel plans and raise your withdrawal limit as well as your transaction limit, if your bank has one - although, if my banks tried that, I%26#39;d walk.

I find that eyeball to eyeball contact means that everything that needs to be done gets done, but telephone instructions don%26#39;t necessarily make it through the pipeline. Still, I%26#39;d double check by telephone on the details of your requests, to ensure that everything is in good order before you leave.

I always raise my daily limit to about the equivalent of €1,500, although if I have to come up with a big chunk of cash for an apartment rental, I change the amount accordingly.

I%26#39;ve always been able to make repeated transactions on the same ATM without changing locations or cards, when the amount I need is greater than the machine%26#39;s transaction limit, no matter where I was in the world. However, I still carry a card from each of my banks when I travel, just in case.