In Zubiri without a way to withdraw money?

[Stephen Tran]

Hello everyone, I'm in Zubiri right now and it seems as though the only ATM in town does not take Chase bank debit cards? My phone number is one number too long to type in for a text confirmation and my card is not a pre paid. Neither of those options work, any thoughts?

Btw I'm lucky that the albergue im in accepts my debit payment, appreciate any help, thank you!

 

[mspath]

If you desperately need cash you might ask your albergue as a favor to debt a sum from your card and give it to you in cash.

Re Chase and travel abroad check out this web.

Good luck and Buen camino!

 

[GreatDane]

I used both my Chase debit card and my Chase credit card in Spain in 2014 and this past April with no problems. I pretty much stick with Santander Bank ATM's while I am there. Santander is a Spanish bank with a large presence in northeastern United States.

 

[Caminodreams]

Santander worked for me. I just finished the Inglais.

 

[naplesdon]

I am curious: is this chip and pin issue?

 

[Caminodreams]

I have no idea. It kept asking for a phone number but not enough space for number. But Santander just had me put my 4 number code.

 

[SYates]

I never had a Spanish ATM asking me for a telephone number UNLESS you are in the wrong menu and try to recharge a mobile. Are you sure that you are in the cash withdraw menu and that your card is enabled to be used with a 4-digit PIN? Buen Camino, SY

PS In the worst of cases hitchhike/bus to Pamplona and go to a big bank and ask them for help, the bigger banks normally will have somebody that speaks English.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Might just be the day. On Sunday (all day) I could not use my card even for an account balance in any one of four machines in Zamora. On Monday morning it worked.

 

[naplesdon]

Banks are open on Friday and Saturday, I think you need to consult with a person inside a bank. It all sounds very fishy.

 

[C clearly]

Hmmm. I remember seeing some bank machines called Telebanco. They had the various symbols for my cards, but I was uncertain about what the "Tele" part meant, so I did not try to use them. Is it possible that this is a different system, using phone numbers, and that you need to go to a regular bank machine to enter the 4-digit PIN for your debit card. I found that my Canadian cards didn't work with some banks, even when they had the right symbols, but Santander always did.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I remember seeing some bank machines called Telebanco. They had the various symbols for my cards, but I was uncertain about what the "Tele" part meant, so I did not try to use them.

I used Telebanco almost exclusively and only had one problem with them my last week in Spain. I was not able to withdraw that week and I got messages to the effect of "Already withdrew maximum today." It looked like someone was beating me to getting my money each time. I doubted that. We used my wife's card the last week. It was as I suspected, a bad error message for what should have been "Insuffient funds." My bank at home was setup to do automatic transfers to my debit account from another account and the transfers had stopped. So the only problem on Telebanco's part was that bad message.

 

[Pabloke]

Hmmm. I remember seeing some bank machines called Telebanco. They had the various symbols for my cards, but I was uncertain about what the "Tele" part meant, so I did not try to use them. Is it possible that this is a different system, using phone numbers, and that you need to go to a regular bank machine to enter the 4-digit PIN for your debit card. I found that my Canadian cards didn't work with some banks, even when they had the right symbols, but Santander always did.

Telebanco is just the name of the finantial society, nothing to do with telephone except for the prefix 'tele'.

There are three: Telebanco 4B, Servired and Euro 6000. The ATMs are owned by these societies which are participated by banks and finantial enterprises (as Visa or Mastercard, eg).

They all work in the same way as they are part of the SEPA - Single Euro Payments Area.

 

[Richard Ward]

Bankia ate my ATM card in Najera on a bank holiday last month. I thought I was going to have to go 80 km on under 20 Euros, but luckily I found some pilgrims to swap US currency for Euros. Western Union to a Burgos Correos works, but there has to be a cheaper way to get money....

 

[Albertagirl]

Bankia ate my ATM card in Najera on a bank holiday last month. I thought I was going to have to go 80 km on under 20 Euros, but luckily I found some pilgrims to swap US currency for Euros. Western Union to a Burgos Correos works, but there has to be a cheaper way to get money....

A bank machine in Pamplona ate my ATM card on the very first time I tried to use it in Spain last fall. Fortunately, I had read a thread about banking on this forum and knew to only use the banking machine when the bank was open. A bank employee returned the card to me and I withdrew successfully at a different bank. Later, I discovered the advantage of looking for a branch of the Santander bank and I never had any problem withdrawing from there. I always got bills which were too large to spend in albergues, but the bank staff were quite willing to exchange them for smaller bills, once I figured out how to ask "Mas peqeno, por favor." Probably terrible Spanish, but somehow understood by bank employees.

 

[HeidiL]

Yes, Albertagirl is right. I will only use Spanish ATMs when the bank they're connected to is open. I've been lucky so far, but you never know...

 

[t2andreo]

To the OP in Zubiri, if you are in Pamplona now, use Santander banks.

On any foreign (non-native-English language country) ATM, watch for the language option on the initial screen, after you insert your card. English speakers should press the Union Jack (UK) flag icon or button. After that, instructions should be in English. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION!

The ONLY number any ATM should ever ask for is your four-digit NUMERIC PIN number. Most ATMs in larger towns and cities still accept magnetic stripe cards. However, I am reliably informed that many banks are going to deactivate the option in future as the USA is the last major country to move to integrated IC chips on the cards. Once the US changeover is announced to be complete, some of the Euro banks are likely to disable reading the magnetic stripe readers.

The take-away is that if you have a mag-stripe only debit or credit card, and the expiry date is coming up, you might call your bank or issuing company to confirm that the new card will have a chip on it. If your card issuer is still offering the option of mag-stripe or chip, GET THE CHIPPED VERSION, especially if you travel to Europe.

It is not an issue now, or necessarily this year. But it will be an issue in future. Forewarned is better prepared...

I hope this helps.

 

[Priscilla NC]

I just returned from the Camino Frances/Finisterre/Muxia yesterday.

I had the same problem as the OP with a Caixa bank ATM. Luckily there was another ATM nearby, and I had no problems. I used a variety of ATMs in my journey. My favorite was BBVM, where they asked if we wanted our money in small or large denominations.

 

[Angel-hart]

Most Santander banks are or use the Telebanco system, and are user friendly to US banks. Just finished in Spain finding banks that are user friendly along the camino can be challenging at times.

In your situation: SYates post could be the source of your problem? I think you maybe on a wrong page.

When using an ATM in Sapin, the red button will cancel everything and most times (all in my case) cancel everything and return your card. I have heard accounts of the machines eating your card. I used and encouraged those who asked me to stick with Santander systems first(that use the the telebanco system), if you can't find one at the time you are looking I stuck with telebanco system on other banks than Santander.

My girlfriend had a Chase card and it worked using the above criteria. Most town squares or center of towns is were you will find choices if there are any for banks. On the Camino and were that towns center is and were the Camino is my be different.

Rob