Collecting a list of cash-machine / bank ATM fees in Spain

[Kathor1]

Abanca? I'm sure they're fairly cheap too, as witnessed by my continual use of them on my last camino, but I can't for the life of me find any more of the slips to check.

@H Richards, can't you work out on the basis of the bank statement what you were charged? Does it show an amount in €? The ATMs gave me only multiples of €10 or sometimes multiples of €20 .... so just look at the digit before the decimal point and the two digits after the decimal point ...

 

[Ungawawa]

@H Richards, can't you work out on the basis of the bank statement what you were charged? Does it show an amount in €? The ATMs gave me only multiples of €10 or sometimes multiples of €20 .... so just look at the digit before the decimal point and the two digits after the decimal point ...

I don't have the statements to hand, but I recall that they only listed the round amount on the statement. It's weird, because I know they were charging a small fee or it would have gone into my list of "free" banks, but I can only suppose that for some reason it's not listed in the primary amount. Perhaps they factored it into the exchange rate instead. I'll dig up the old statements and have a look again, when I next have the chance.

 

[Ungawawa]

As we're now onto two pages (woo), here's a quick link back to the full table of free banks, for anyone who arrives first on this page and wonders what we are talking about:

Our list of Spanish ATM fees

 

[Ungawawa]

The stuff I now know about ATM withdrawal in Europe. For example that your UK Metro Bank card is better for ATM withdrawals in Spain than @Jeff Crawley's UK Halifax card. Metro will not charge a cash fee for ATM withdrawal in Europe and a fee of £1.50 elsewhere abroad while Halifax will charge a cash fee of £1.50 for any ATM withdrawal abroad.

Yes Metro Bank have been very good. They are Mastercard too, not Visa, and apparently Mastercard offer better exchange rates

 

[Kathor1]

I don't have the statements to hand, but I recall that they only listed the round amount on the statement. [...] I'll dig up the old statements and have a look again, when I next have the chance.

It's easier for me to see what's going on as there is no currency conversion involved. I looked at my bank statements and noticed that the ATM bank does not transmit separate information about their fee to my bank. To my bank, it looks like I withdrew €22.00 (instead €20) and €21.87 (instead of €20). Now I start to wonder how Mr Schwab can figure out what's €-cash and what's €-fee. .

I also noticed that I was not charged an ATM fee by Santander in late 2017 but they did charge me in April 2019.

Good fun, this thread.

 

[Ungawawa]

I also noticed that I was not charged an ATM fee by Santander in late 2017 but they did charge me in April 2019.
Good fun, this thread.

Yes most of the spanish banks only started these fees in 2018, although the law which allowed them came in a year or two earlier!

 

[Grid]

@H Richards
I hope that this is accurate, but I still have two questions: Do the fees, or lack of fees, listed for the green or yellow banks apply when Canadian bank cards are being used to make withdrawals? Are there sufficient banks on these two lists available to make withdrawals on the less traveled caminos, for example, the Madrid and the Invierno, which I plan to walk this year? I may test the first question by making a withdrawal from one of the banks on the list when I am in Madrid, before I begin walking my camino. But there is nothing I can do if the banks listed are unavailable when I am walking and need their services. This is not a huge issue for me. I would much rather use a Bank Santander ATM, if I am in need of cash and that is all that is available, rather than let myself run out of cash.

Last time I was in France, my Tangerine card (owned by Scotiabank) worked for free when I withdrew from BNP Paribas machines. I just looked up Scotiabank’s international ATM affiliates, and in Spain they have an agreement with Deutsch Bank. This is my first time in Spain, so I can’t verify it’ll be free withdrawals at DB, but my fingers are crossed (and I’ve marked down all DB ATMs on my maps)

 

[Ungawawa]

Last time I was in France, my Tangerine card (owned by Scotiabank) worked for free when I withdrew from BNP Paribas machines. I just looked up Scotiabank’s international ATM affiliates, and in Spain they have an agreement with Deutsch Bank. This is my first time in Spain, so I can’t verify it’ll be free withdrawals at DB, but my fingers are crossed (and I’ve marked down all DB ATMs on my maps)

Good luck. There are reports of being fee-free at Deutsche Bank. There aren't many branches though - only in the big cities, Pamplona, Burgos, Leon etc.

 

[anthikes]

Bankia was always my go to but I heard a rumour they now charge. I tried one in Merida and it charged me €1.80 with no warning.

Not cool! Even banks in Asia tell you of the charge before you hit the yes button! Will try some of the local banks from now.

 

[Ungawawa]

Bankia was always my go to but I heard a rumour they now charge. I tried one in Merida and it charged me €1.80 with no warning.

Not cool! Even banks in Asia tell you of the charge before you hit the yes button! Will try some of the local banks from now.

Yeah that's poor. I think Bankia got me once like that. Fortunately it was only 1.80 and not 5!

 

[anthikes]

Well I just checked my Euro Citibank account (UK/EU based) and it is only showing the amount I withdrew, not the €1.80 charge - thats from Bankia.

I took out of UniCaja tonight with no charge.

 

[Ungawawa]

Well I just checked my Euro Citibank account (UK/EU based) and it is only showing the amount I withdrew, not the €1.80 charge - thats from Bankia.

Did they perhaps hide a fee in the exchange rate instead?

 

[98ajc]

Ibercaja in Vigo charged €0.75 for a cash withdrawal today using a UK Nationwide debit card

 

[Ungawawa]

Ibercaja in Vigo charged €0.75 for a cash withdrawal today using a UK Nationwide debit card

That's most odd. I've never encountered Ibercaja charging before. Thanks for the information. Anyone else encountered Ibercaja charges recently?

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

Might I add that I heard of lots of pilgrims having difficulties accessing or getting cards back from some interac machines. However I NEVER heard of this happening with Santander and used them with 100% success throughout Spain and Portugal for a total of 9 weeks.. Paying 1.87 euros was a small price to pay for the reliability of the system in my opinion. Also, you don't need to make a huge number of withdrawals really along the camino unless you're going through a lot of cash and repeatedly taking out amounts of say less than 300 E. Another tip, try to take money out of any ATM during opening bank hours in case the card DOES get locked inside. the machine for some reason.

Hate to bust your bubble , but I had my card eaten by a Santander ATM when we were leaving Carrion de los Condes back in 2013. That was at 7 AM and we waited until the bank opened at 8:30. We were told they could not get our card back. Luckily, we had my wife's card for the duration of the trip. We just cancelled my card and replaced it when we got home. I was so mad, I even took a picture of the ATM I am back on my meds, so I am doing much better now. . .

 

[biggmick]

Here's my research from Catalonia Autumn 2018 and should apply to northern Spain, although the availability of these banks may vary with each Comunidad.
I used a British Metro bank debit card (that has no transaction fees in Europe but this doesn't mean that the Spanish ATM will not add an extra charge.

Caixa bank No extra charge (Large branch and ATM availability)
Kuxta Bank No extra charge

Then the others that I tried in cost order
Bankia Euro 1.75
Sabadell Euro 1.80
BBVA Euro 1.87
Banco Popular Euro 5.00 (now part of Santander but still some branches branded as Popular)
Santander Euro 5.00 (one of Spain and Europes largest banks, so lots of branches & ATM's. If you have a UK Santander account see below)

Most Santander debit or credit cards from the Santander UK do not charge for withdrawals from Santander banks in Spain (there are exceptions, so check the terms and conditions of your account. Also don't forget credit cards will charge interest from the date of the transaction, so pay it off asap). I assume this is probably true if you have a Santander account from other countries as well. (beware though! Santander bought Banco Popular in 2017 and some of the branches are rebranded as Santander but the machines still charge the Banco Popular fee of 5 Euros)

Also posts that I've seen elsewhere
Confirm Liberbank No extra Charge
Unicaja No extra charge
Banca March No extra charge (quite rare in Northern Spain though. Most branches in the Balearic & Canary islands)

One option I've seen recommended although I haven't used it myself, is before you get to France or Spain, if you're travelling from London's Stansted, Gatwick or Southend airports, is to use the Moneycorp ATM's in these airports to withdraw Euros with a fee free debit card (pressing "without conversion" to avoid a bad exchange rate) and you should be debited as if the machine were in a Euro zone country.

Edit: I've noticed a lot of people saying they have been charged as much as 5 Euros at Caixa bank machines, which is completely the opposite of my experience over quite a few years and as recently as November 2018 in Madrid, Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia. I generally use a UK Metro bank debit card so I wonder if the charge varies with the country your card is from?

 

[Ungawawa]

Here's my research from Catalonia Autumn 2018 and should apply to northern Spain, although the availability of these banks may vary with each Comunidad.
I used a British Metro bank debit card (that has no transaction fees in Europe but this doesn't mean that the Spanish ATM will not add an extra charge.

Caixa bank No extra charge (Large branch and ATM availability)
Kuxta Bank No extra charge

Then the others that I tried in cost order
Bankia Euro 1.75
Sabadell Euro 1.80
BBVA Euro 1.87
Banco Popular Euro 5.00 (now part of Santander but still some branches branded as Popular)
Santander Euro 5.00 (one of Spain and Europes largest banks, so lots of branches & ATM's. If you have a UK Santander account see below)

Most Santander debit or credit cards from the Santander UK do not charge for withdrawals from Santander banks in Spain (there are exceptions, so check the terms and conditions of your account. Also don't forget credit cards will charge interest from the date of the transaction, so pay it off asap). I assume this is probably true if you have a Santander account from other countries as well. (beware though! Santander bought Banco Popular in 2017 and some of the branches are rebranded as Santander but the machines still charge the Banco Popular fee of 5 Euros)

Also posts that I've seen elsewhere
Confirm Liberbank No extra Charge
Unicaja No extra charge
Banca March No extra charge (quite rare in Northern Spain though. Most branches in the Balearic & Canary islands)

One option I've seen recommended although I haven't used it myself, is before you get to France or Spain, if you're travelling from London's Stansted, Gatwick or Southend airports, is to use the Moneycorp ATM's in these airports to withdraw Euros with a fee free debit card (pressing "without conversion" to avoid a bad exchange rate) and you should be debited as if the machine were in a Euro zone country.

Thanks for the excellent work researching these, Mick. It's really good to have extra confirmation and reports. The one item that does surprise me is that Caixa bank let you use their cash machines for free. Reports for Caixa seem to range from 0 to 2 to 5 euros and I can't see much pattern in why they vary.

I will now put all this data into a cheatsheet card and post it here soon.

I too have a Metro Bank card. Did you notice any difference in the fees depending on whether you chose Link or MasterCard, out of curiosity?

Thanks!

 

[biggmick]

Thanks for the excellent work researching these, Mick. It's really good to have extra confirmation and reports. The one item that does surprise me is that Caixa bank let you use their cash machines for free. Reports for Caixa seem to range from 0 to 2 to 5 euros and I can't see much pattern in why they vary.

I will now put all this data into a cheatsheet card and post it here soon.

I too have a Metro Bank card. Did you notice any difference in the fees depending on whether you chose Link or MasterCard, out of curiosity?

Thanks!

It's a minor obsession of mine to stop banks getting away with these rip off charges and hopefully the more of us that are informed and vote with our feet the less it will happen..

I've used Caixa bank in lots of different locations round Spain (Madrid and all the costa's from the French to the Portuguese border) with my Metro card and never even had a hint of a charge (I travel to Spain about 3 times a year).
Caixa Bank is a fairly recent amalgamation of several building society/savings bank type institutions that formed after the downturn of 2008. It's still a non profit organisation overall and any excess profits go to charities and good causes so another great reason to use them even if they did charge. Because of its ethos, perhaps it is more ethical about the charges it makes. Maybe it thinks more about whether they should charge, rather than, can they charge?
I do have a Santander Zero credit card as a "just in case option", which doesn't charge fees at Santander machines in Spain but Caixa have the largest ATM and branch network (closely followed by Santander) so I rarely use it ( it does charge interest on ATM withdrawals, but this doesn't amount to much as long as you pay it off quickly).
My tip would be, if you have Google maps on your phone, search maps for Caixa bank or (whichever suits you) in the area your travelling in and bookmark/Star the branches that come up. Then go to the Menu - Offline maps and download the area you want. You'll then have the info available whenever you want it (whether you have a signal or not) and a guide to get you to your nearest free ATM.

On the subject of noticing a difference between fees on Link or Mastercard. Spain has 2 or 3 different banking alliances (can't remember the names right now & I think they're being phased out anyway). I thought initially when I was doing the research that any charges would be related to the Alliance of the bank but this didn't seem to be relevant when using my Metro card.

For non UK residents
I believe Santander offers it's, no charges at Spanish ATM's, to Santander account holders from other countries as well (but please check the details). They have branches in many other European countries and in Latin & North America. Also if you're only visiting the UK for under 12 months, they have an account that offers No ATM charges in Spain but there is a £1 monthly fee.

I'm not saying Metro bank or Santander are the best options available but they work great for me. I hear even better options are available such as Starling bank. For the best current options have a look at Money Saving Expert's travel advice pages for the latest best deals for travel cards and buying currency.

I'd be interested to hear if it is fee free to use a card such as Metro at the Moneycorp ATMs at Stansted, Gatwick and Southend airports. Anyone tried this? Or anyone with a Metro card willing to test it out?

Here's Caixa and Santander banks logo's so you can recognise their branches and ATM's





Don't forget you can probably use Liberbank, Kuxta and Unicaja charge free as well. And Banca March in the Spanish islands

Edit: I've noticed a lot of people saying they have been charged as much as 5 Euros at Caixa bank machines, which is completely the opposite of my experience over quite a few years and as recently as November 2018 in Madrid, Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia. I generally use a UK Metro bank debit card so I wonder if the charge varies with the country your card is from?

 

[lt56ny]

I have a question about Santander as it seems I could get very good answers on this thread. I live in Mexico and Santander is my bank. Of course in Mexico if I use my Santander card in a Santander Bank there is no fee. Will the same be true in Spain if I use my Mexican issued Santander ATM card. I have asked people in my bank about this and they have no idea.

 

[Ungawawa]

I've just made my little cheatsheet that you can save to your phone with a summary of the fees on it. It's not as detailed as the info in this thread, but it's a lot more portable!

Check out:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/atm-fees-cheatsheet.64292/#post-782134

 

[biggmick]

I have a question about Santander as it seems I could get very good answers on this thread. I live in Mexico and Santander is my bank. Of course in Mexico if I use my Santander card in a Santander Bank there is no fee. Will the same be true in Spain if I use my Mexican issued Santander ATM card. I have asked people in my bank about this and they have no idea.

I have seen on other forums that people with Santander accounts in all other countries are not charged fees in Spain but I can't say that this is definitely true and even if it is, It might depend on which account you have.
Here's a link to Banco Santander Mexico and you can check your account and its full details.

Cuentas y tarjetas de débito | Santander

Elige la cuenta bancaria que se adapte a tu estilo de vida, conoce todas las opciones que tenemos para ti y solicita la tuya.

www.santander.com.mx

Look at the "Conoce más " for the detailed elements of the account.
If you can't find an answer there is an on line Ayuda chat.
Good luck.

 

[Portia1]

Thanks for all your work on this! Now to add complexity: what ATM/debit cards accepted? I.e., MasterCard? Visa? Allpoint?

 

[Ungawawa]

Thanks for all your work on this! Now to add complexity: what ATM/debit cards accepted? I.e., MasterCard? Visa? Allpoint?

MasterCard and Visa. MasterCard give slightly better exchange rates. Never heard of Allpoint, sorry!

 

[Portia1]

Thanks!

 

[Espee84]

I’m pretty sure caixa bank used to be free. It wanted to charge me €2 today

 

[Ungawawa]

I’m pretty sure caixa bank used to be free. It wanted to charge me €2 today

Where is your home bank?

 

[Kathor1]

@H Richards, not really what you want to know ☺ but as far as I can tell it hasn't been mentioned yet: Abanca, November 2019, card issued by a bank in the eurozone, it says "Cash Withdrawal Maestro" on my bank statement: 0 €

 

[Ungawawa]

@H Richards, not really what you want to know ☺ but as far as I can tell it hasn't been mentioned yet: Abanca, November 2019, card issued by a bank in the eurozone, it says "Cash Withdrawal Maestro" on my bank statement: 0 €

Hehe Abanca are weird ones. I've used them (also Nov) and they usually specify a small fee - between 50 and 85 cents. However on my statements the fees also don't show up. It's unclear to me if that's just factored into the exchange rate, or if the fees are actually never charged. At least we can agree that after the free ones it's the best mainstream choice of ATM!

 

[Espee84]

Where is your home bank?

UK - using Monzo card (MasterCard)

 

[biggmick]

Here's my latest research from a trip to Andalucia & Madid in late November 2019 (so some of these banks will not be available in northern Spain).
My "go to" bank for no extra fees in Spain has always been Caixa Bank because of it's wide network. Unfortunately (as many ppl have found already) they did want to charge me 2 Euros when I tried to use one of their machines in Nerja in Andalucia.
So here's my list of the charges I found at various bank machines.

Liber Bank Free
Unicaja Free
Caja Sur Free (I think as the name implies they are mostly in southern Spain)
Deutsche Bank Free (I've found that most medium to large towns will have a Deutsche bank)
Santander **Free** (Free if you're using most Santander Bank cards from the UK and other countries. Other bank cards 7 Euros ! Yes 7 Euros. I was so surprised I checked at 2 different machines)

Caja Rural Granada 1.50 Euros ( regional in Andalucia)
Bankia 1.75 Euros
Sabadell 1.80 Euros
BBVA 1.87 Euros
Caixa Bank 2 Euros

In tourist areas there are a lot of stand alone machines in small supermarkets and other places.
The most common are
Euronet 3.95 euros
Cash Zone 2.50 Euros

I also visited Porto in northern Portugal and found no extra charges on the machines there, with the exception of the Euronet machines (mostly found in tourist areas)

All these fees are on top of what you own bank might charge you for a foreign currency transaction.

 

[Anna Cameron]

Here's my latest research from a trip to Andalucia & Madid in late November 2019 (so some of these banks will not be available in northern Spain).
My "go to" bank for no extra fees in Spain has always been Caixa Bank because of it's wide network. Unfortunately (as many ppl have found already) they did want to charge me 2 Euros when I tried to use one of their machines in Nerja in Andalucia.
So here's my list of the charges I found at various bank machines.

Liber Bank Free
Unicaja Free
Caja Sur Free (I think as the name implies they are mostly in southern Spain)
Deutsche Bank Free (I've found that most medium to large towns will have a Deutsche bank)
Santander **Free** (Free if you're using most Santander Bank cards from the UK and other countries. Other bank cards 7 Euros ! Yes 7 Euros. I was so surprised I checked at 2 different machines)

Caja Rural Granada 1.50 Euros ( regional in Andalucia)
Bankia 1.75 Euros
Sabadell 1.80 Euros
BBVA 1.87 Euros
Caixa Bank 2 Euros

In tourist areas there are a lot of stand alone machines in small supermarkets and other places.
The most common are
Euronet 3.95 euros
Cash Zone 2.50 Euros

I also visited Porto in northern Portugal and found no extra charges on the machines there, with the exception of the Euronet machines (mostly found in tourist areas)

All these fees are on top of what you own bank might charge you for a foreign currency transaction.

Deutsche Bank was NOT free when I withdrew € in Pamplona in September 2018. I was using a Chase Bank debit card linked to a US account but then also tried my Australian debit card: in both cases, the withdrawal fee charged by Deutsche Bank was €5. As has been written earlier, it seems the charges may depend upon whether the card used is from a Eurozone bank or not. I never found ANY ATM that didn't charge the fee for my US or Oz cards. And that includes some of the banks listed above. This was in France and on the CF in Sept-Oct 2018.

 

[Ungawawa]

Here's my latest research from a trip to Andalucia & Madid in late November 2019 (so some of these banks will not be available in northern Spain).
My "go to" bank for no extra fees in Spain has always been Caixa Bank because of it's wide network. Unfortunately (as many ppl have found already) they did want to charge me 2 Euros when I tried to use one of their machines in Nerja in Andalucia.
So here's my list of the charges I found at various bank machines.

Liber Bank Free
Unicaja Free
Caja Sur Free (I think as the name implies they are mostly in southern Spain)
Deutsche Bank Free (I've found that most medium to large towns will have a Deutsche bank)
Santander **Free** (Free if you're using most Santander Bank cards from the UK and other countries. Other bank cards 7 Euros ! Yes 7 Euros. I was so surprised I checked at 2 different machines)

Caja Rural Granada 1.50 Euros ( regional in Andalucia)
Bankia 1.75 Euros
Sabadell 1.80 Euros
BBVA 1.87 Euros
Caixa Bank 2 Euros

In tourist areas there are a lot of stand alone machines in small supermarkets and other places.
The most common are
Euronet 3.95 euros
Cash Zone 2.50 Euros

I also visited Porto in northern Portugal and found no extra charges on the machines there, with the exception of the Euronet machines (mostly found in tourist areas)

All these fees are on top of what you own bank might charge you for a foreign currency transaction.

Thanks, That's great work Mick. I've updated the main table with your information. I'm also really shocked at the Santander cost. It would be great to hear some other Santander experiences, to find out if this is just your bank or if everyone is having the same huge fee.

 

[Ungawawa]

For everyone's information, the latest updated version of the cheat-sheet is now available in the Camino Resources section here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/spanish-atm-cash-machine-fee-cheat-sheet.749/

 

[Ungawawa]

*** PLEASE NOTE - THE LIST AT THE TOP IS NOW NOT THE MOST RECENT ONE ***

Due to a change in forum policy, I now can't go back and edit the list at the start of this thread. This makes it very difficult to collect all the information in one post, unfortunately. I'll try and post updates at the end and then semi-regularly rebuild them into a downloadable resource.

 

[Ungawawa]

Latest update.
Added in Bankinter, as reported by one Irish pilgrim. If you can confirm your own experiences with Bankinter it would add weight to the great news that there's another free bank you can use?!

iberCaja	NO FEE
Liberbank	NO FEE
UniCaja / EspañaDuero / Kuxtabank / Caja Sur	NO FEE
Deutsche Bank	NO FEE (not non-EU cards)
Caixa bank (some EU cards) Santander (own cards only)	NO FEE (mixed reports)
Bankinter	NO FEE (hoping for more confirmation)
ABANCA	€0.80 or less
BBVA	€1.87
Sabadell	€1.80
Bankia	€1.80
Caixa bank (some EU cards, not UK)	€2.00 (mixed reports)
CashZone private ATMs	€2.50
Euronet private ATMs	€3.95
Telebanco / Popular	€5.00
Caixa bank	€5.00
Santander	€5.00 - €7.00

 

[Bloggsy]

On 16/01/23 Caixa bank charged 7 Euro to withdraw 500 Euro with a Nationwide debit card

 

[Ungawawa]

On 16/01/23 Caixa bank charged 7 Euro to withdraw 500 Euro with a Nationwide debit card

Ouch - yes, I think I had something similar on Mallorca GR221. Needless to say I pressed cancel! This is why Caixa is definitely in the red category on my cheat-sheet.

I also have a Nationwide card, but never use it abroad because they add their *own* additional fees on top of the Spanish fees. If you're going to be travelling a lot it might be worth looking at Starling or Metro banks as they both are UK fee-free, last time I checked!

 

[Tigger]

On 16/01/23 Caixa bank charged 7 Euro to withdraw 500 Euro with a Nationwide debit card

Ouch - yes, I think I had something similar on Mallorca GR221. Needless to say I pressed cancel! This is why Caixa is definitely in the red category on my cheat-sheet.

These tips are very helpful for me as a newbie to the Camino. You are all very organized! Thank You ! I will add a cheat-sheet on my phone.

 

[Sirage]

Thanks for all the effort - the collective benefit 'to those interested' will be substantial.

This information may be useful for some

Schwab debit card reimburses all fees

and those will not be at all concerned. I have no idea about a Schwab card and maybe it is a US thing and maybe has big annual fees or other, but for the rest of us some are concerned.

Useful: ATM fees

I applaud @Ungawawa for the tenacity and effort. Perhaps a summary new thread would be useful so we all don't need to wade through repetitive or not relevant information. (A task for the Moderators or a kind soul?) I am wondering what information is in the Resource section (I must look !!!), and what information like this merely gets somewhat lost in the forum especially in meandering threads with side anecdotes stretched over some years, or if found is out of date? Some people like the therapy of reading all this whilst others just want the information.

I wonder if there is a non-Camino resource that has all this? Although many questions here are general travel resources and this forum is a single somewhat reliable site so we don't need to wander the internet and sift through the ... ... ... of life. We just need to sift through all the 1,000,000+ on this forum.
Maybe my grumpy morning .

 

[Ungawawa]

Thanks for all the effort - the collective benefit 'to those interested' will be substantial.

This information may be useful for some

and those will not be at all concerned. I have no idea about a Schwab card and maybe it is a US thing and maybe has big annual fees or other, but for the rest of us some are concerned.

Useful: ATM fees

I applaud @Ungawawa for the tenacity and effort. Perhaps a summary new thread would be useful so we all don't need to wade through repetitive or not relevant information. (A task for the Moderators or a kind soul?) I am wondering what information is in the Resource section (I must look !!!), and what information like this merely gets somewhat lost in the forum especially in meandering threads with side anecdotes stretched over some years, or if found is out of date? Some people like the therapy of reading all this whilst others just want the information.

I wonder if there is a non-Camino resource that has all this? Although many questions here are general travel resources and this forum is a single somewhat reliable site so we don't need to wander the internet and sift through the ... ... ... of life. We just need to sift through all the 1,000,000+ on this forum.
Maybe my grumpy morning .

Thanks Sirage. The cheat sheet summary page already exists at:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/spanish-atm-cash-machine-fee-cheat-sheet.749/

I've just done a small 2023 update to it

 

[Ungawawa]

On 16/01/23 Caixa bank charged 7 Euro to withdraw 500 Euro with a Nationwide debit card

Thanks very much for the info. I've moved Caixa to the red zone and done a small update of the cheatsheet!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Can people please post below their cash machine usage charge costs from experience / currently from the camino? I'm talking about the Spanish ATM on-the-spot usage fees, that are charged regardless of your home bank. The ones they ask you to confirm at the end before giving you the money.

This is a worthy attempt, but the truth is that these fees vary from one individual to the next, to the point that no meaningful list can be established.

Because they change according to which country you're from, which non-Spanish bank you have your account in, and which type of credit/debit card you're using ; also, from whether your bank and the bank whose ATM you are drawing from are "correspondent banks" or not -- to the point that it will be next to being different for each individual who is subjected to such withdrawal fees.

For those of us having an account in another EU Member State, there will be by law at least one bank that will charge zero fees. In my case it turns out to be Abanca, and all the others charged me -- but at a much lower rate than for a US, or South American card holder. One pilgrim I spoke to last year from Chile IIRC was being charged at a rate ten times higher than I was when unavoidable.

The greater the number of intermediary banks that the withdrawal must pass through to connect your home bank with the bank that the ATM is attached to, the higher the withdrawal fee ; and smaller to lower. The diplomatic and political situation between Spain and your own country can also affect withdrawal fees.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Thanks Sirage. The cheat sheet summary page already exists at:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/spanish-atm-cash-machine-fee-cheat-sheet.749/

I've just done a small 2023 update to it

I have been charged fees by both IberCaja and UniCaja ; more than €2 by both BBVA and Sabadell ; less than €5 by all of the ones in the red except Popular, that I cannot recall ever using.

And I have heard from pilgrims being charged rather expensively by Abanca.

The list is probably useful mostly to pilgrims having their home banks within the EU, and possibly UK as well.

 

[Magwood]

I haven’t read all the responses to this thread so apologies if this info already exists. I discovered last year via our friend Google that the only bank that doesn’t make a withdrawal charge in Spain for foreign cardholders is Deutsche Bank. And I found this to be true.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I haven’t read all the responses to this thread so apologies if this info already exists. I discovered last year via our friend Google that the only bank that doesn’t make a withdrawal charge in Spain for foreign cardholders is Deutsche Bank. And I found this to be true.

Liberbank doesn't have any charges for me at least (I have a German bank account).

 

[Ungawawa]

I have been charged fees by both IberCaja and UniCaja ; more than €2 by both BBVA and Sabadell ; less than €5 by all of the ones in the red except Popular, that I cannot recall ever using.

And I have heard from pilgrims being charged rather expensively by Abanca.

The list is probably useful mostly to pilgrims having their home banks within the EU, and possibly UK as well.

This is a worthy attempt, but the truth is that these fees vary from one individual to the next, to the point that no meaningful list can be established.

Because they change according to which country you're from, which non-Spanish bank you have your account in, and which type of credit/debit card you're using ; also, from whether your bank and the bank whose ATM you are drawing from are "correspondent banks" or not -- to the point that it will be next to being different for each individual who is subjected to such withdrawal fees.

For those of us having an account in another EU Member State, there will be by law at least one bank that will charge zero fees. In my case it turns out to be Abanca, and all the others charged me -- but at a much lower rate than for a US, or South American card holder. One pilgrim I spoke to last year from Chile IIRC was being charged at a rate ten times higher than I was when unavoidable.

The greater the number of intermediary banks that the withdrawal must pass through to connect your home bank with the bank that the ATM is attached to, the higher the withdrawal fee ; and smaller to lower. The diplomatic and political situation between Spain and your own country can also affect withdrawal fees.

I do hope that our attempts to codify these charges aren't as doomed to failure as you suggest! I'm certainly aware that they only seem to hold true for UK and EU users, with much more variation for US users. I would certainly be interested to hear from more people who have had wildly different fees charged to those in our list. I'm used to seeing a little variation, especially with Caixa and ABANCA, but not so much that the list itself wouldn't still be a useful starting point.

Do you think a separate list for non-EU users would make sense? And can I ask which country your bank is located in?

 

[JabbaPapa]

Do you think a separate list for non-EU users would make sense? And can I ask which country your bank is located in?

Don't know about separate, but three separate columns might be useful : EU/UK -- US -- Rest of the World.

Mine is in France.

As to the detail I gave, it was from having worked for a time in banking/financial software programming.

 

[Ungawawa]

Don't know about separate, but three separate columns might be useful : EU/UK -- US -- Rest of the World.

Mine is in France.

As to the detail I gave, it was from having worked for a time in banking/financial software programming.

Cheers. It's good info.

If anyone wants to volunteer to collect the fees for the US users, I'll happily visualise them into a cheatsheet

From what I gather this is less important for the US users though, as they often have these bank accounts that refund the fees, or so I've heard.

 

[Ungawawa]

Liberbank doesn't have any charges for me at least (I have a German bank account).

Doing the Norte in 2018, Liberbank were my saviours. The amount of fees I managed to avoid by using them instead of big-name banks .

 

[Former member 102963]

Ouch - yes, I think I had something similar on Mallorca GR221. Needless to say I pressed cancel! This is why Caixa is definitely in the red category on my cheat-sheet.

I also have a Nationwide card, but never use it abroad because they add their *own* additional fees on top of the Spanish fees. If you're going to be travelling a lot it might be worth looking at Starling or Metro banks as they both are UK fee-free, last time I checked!

Check out Monzo, if you are a UK consumer. Fee free ATM withdrawals across EU countries and I get £200 free rest of world, on a rolling 30 day basis. All ‘contactless’ transactions are free worldwide which is a big deal too.. I have Metro too but don’t use that a lot nowadays. Monzo had a great App too!

In Spain my ‘go to’ is Deutsche Bank which is fee free as a UK Cardholder. Coverage limited to major cities/towns though!

Regional Banks do seem to be less prohibitive than national banks fee wise.

About 18 months I was using Caixa for €2, now that seem to have jumped to €6/7.

Spain is one of the worst countries for fees in my experience. Most banks in Germany and Italy don’t seem to charge fees. I don’t know about France as I go there less often and have not been for a year or so.

Contactless is growing at a phenomenal rate for many consumers and in many countries, including Spain, though I know many establishments on the Camino are small and have a preference or capability for cash only. I think there is an element of ‘mindset’ when using contactless so it takes a while for some folks to feel comfortable. Currently in Australia for last days 10 which is ‘contactless heaven’ and haven’t even thought about getting cash out as absolutely everything has been contactless ( I dare say there are a few outlets that don’t take cash, maybe markets, but I have not found one yet!). Given I would be charged 2.99% by my bank for all ATM withdrawals over £200 and a charge by the bank in Australia to withdraw, I have saving quite a lot of money ( a great thing as it’s so expensive here even compared to London for food and drink). So check out your charges contactless versus ATM withdrawal.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

In Greece everywhere charges but the fees are usually not more than €2.50-3.50.

 

[Sirage]

So check out your charges contactless versus ATM withdrawal.

Are you able to share your contactless (international) fee, assuming you are using a UK card?

PS during our world record lockdown in Victoria (Aus) we used contactless for everything with all shops tolerating even $1 or 2 purchases contactless - for many it remains cash-free.

 

[Former member 102963]

Are you able to share your contactless (international) fee, assuming you are using a UK card?

PS during our world record lockdown in Victoria (Aus) we used contactless for everything with all shops tolerating even $1 or 2 purchases contactless - for many it remains cash-free.

Yes of course. So Monzo based UK issued card, no ‘contactless’ fees anywhere in world. ATM withdrawals are free in EU countries and I get £200 free on a rolling 30 day basis anywhere in world, after which it is 2.99%. Of course I look out for fees from the overseas bank I withdraw from. I think there are some better but happy with Monzo.

Yes in Victoria now and no cash used. Not sure if may have needed cash at the Central Market for fruit and veg, etc. but bought a hat on ‘contactless. Not even thought about withdrawing cash!