Revolut / pre-loaded cash card use in Spain

Minxy

Minxy

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Whilst I remember I just wanted to mention that you need to be careful in Spain when using a Revolut card (or any pre-loaded card) to withdraw cash from an ATM as many now charge, it's often a minimum of €1.87 (no idea why but that's the most common charge for taking out €100) or as much as €7.00 if you use a Santander ATM.

We struggled a few times to find an ATM that didn't make a charge but there was no consistency to it with the same bank in one area making a charge and in others not, so it was a case of stick the card in and see what came up on the screen after you entered all the relevant details requested - why they just don't say the ATM makes a charge in the first place I don't know!

The upshot is do NOT rely on being able to get cash out of an ATM free of charge in Spain therefore always make sure you have some cash in your wallet/purse just in case you need it for places that don't accept cards, or for when you only want stuff which would cost the minimum €5 purchase of those that do.
 
Madcaravanner said:
A suggestion get a Santander account - you can withdraw free from charges (just not commision)
Then just use your Revolut card for purchases
Click to expand...
Maybe ... maybe not ...

Travelling | Santander UK

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www.santander.co.uk www.santander.co.uk

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Santander customers caught out by cash withdrawal fees at Spanish branch ATMs

Hundreds of ATMs at Santander branches in Spain are charging UK customers with current accounts at the bank to withdraw cash – even though withdrawals are usually free
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I have two Santander accounts. The 123 account allows withdrawal only from machines at Santander banks and a zero account which allows free withdrawals from any telebanco atm. (other banks owned by santander)
Large supermarkets Carrefour etc often have atms that don't charge, or at least they don't at the moment.

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The thing is, the reason we have a Revolut card is to be able to get cash out of ATMs abroad without any fees, and usually use our credit cards for purchases (assuming the rate is good), so if it is going to be difficult to get cash from ATMs without being charged there's no point in having the Revolut card. When we started having difficulties getting cash out via our Revolut cards without being charged we did use them for purchases just to utilise the money we'd already put on them however as the exchange rates tend not to fluctuate more than a cent or two between Revolut and our credit cards' rates we'll continue to use the credit cards for purchases normally. We don't need a lot of cash when abroad so don't load the Revolut card with a lot anyway, especially as there's the £200/€200 fee free ATM withdrawal limit per month.

I think the number of people who will bother to have a Revolut card could be severely reduced if this ATM charging spreads to other countries, or at least lessen the number who rely on it for cash withdrawals, thus reducing the 'income' for Revolut themselves and may impact on their ability to provide cards to the end user free of charge. Other cash cards either make charges or have less favourable exchange rates which is why Revolut is so popular when compared to them, but this may not continue.
 
Bolti said:
I have two Santander accounts. The 123 account allows withdrawal only from machines at Santander banks and a zero account which allows free withdrawals from any telebanco atm. (other banks owned by santander)
Large supermarkets Carrefour etc often have atms that don't charge, or at least they don't at the moment.
Click to expand...
We have the same cards works for us no problem

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Never had any charges with Halifax clarity credit card, but some atms do say there will be a charge so don't use them , but someone came up with a good idea on here the other day, that some euro supermarkets are now giving cash back on debit card transactions, which is a good alternative but at the moment very few, so they need finding.
 
Bolti said:
Most bank accounts in Spain have charges.
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& that is why cash is king. It is the only thing you can withdraw from a bank that is free. Payment by cheque or internet transfer means you pay a fee of 4/10ths of 1% regardless of amount .
 
As said the charge is for cards used in an ATM not owned by the users bank so all cards are affected. There is another issue to bear in mind. When you attempt a transaction for say E100 on an ATM and then cancel when the charge feature arrives on screen, in most cases the amount will have already been reserved against the card and deducted from available funds. You can see this immediately in the app. It is usually reversed overnight, however if you were to go to 3 ATM's testing the "charges water" with this notional E100 you will find your available Euro balance depleted by E300 (3 x 100) which could then effect your available funds temporarily for normal card transactions for a meal out or such if you were not aware. So when testing try just E20 to limit the exposure to this phenomenon.
Michael
 
gus-lopez said:
& that is why cash is king. It is the only thing you can withdraw from a bank that is free. Payment by cheque or internet transfer means you pay a fee of 4/10ths of 1% regardless of amount .
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Surely that is what this debate is about, withdrawing cash from a bank, albeit not your card issuers. In point of fact in this case cash is not king, and if you follow the news could very well disappear as a tangible method of purchase in our lifetime.
Michael
 
sallylillian said:
..........There is another issue to bear in mind. When you attempt a transaction for say E100 on an ATM and then cancel when the charge feature arrives on screen, in most cases the amount will have already been reserved against the card and deducted from available funds. You can see this immediately in the app. It is usually reversed overnight, however if you were to go to 3 ATM's testing the "charges water" with this notional E100 you will find your available Euro balance depleted by E300 (3 x 100) ........
Michael
Click to expand...

We experienced this recently in Benidorm with a Starling card. Started to withdraw 250é and was informed of high charges right at the end, so cancelled the transaction. Then got a message to the Starling app to say £200+ had been taken. Contacted Starling through the App and was told to wait 24 hours. They then refunded the money as per Mastercard rules, but the bank then has up to 45 days to challenge this. So in effect my money is tied up in case of claw back and I am left wondering - Did I cancel the transaction or did the money come out as I walked away?

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If the money came out as you walked away, unless someone was waiting behind you, and took it, it would have gone back in after a few seconds.
 
sallylillian said:
Surely that is what this debate is about, withdrawing cash from a bank, albeit not your card issuers. In point of fact in this case cash is not king, and if you follow the news could very well disappear as a tangible method of purchase in our lifetime.
Michael
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Agree with that!

The point of the Revolut card is to provide an exchange efficient method of making card payments.

The fees for Revolut state clearly that there is additional fees for using card machines of over a certain limit in addition to any fees taken by the card machine vendor.

Simply put - don’t use cash!
 
Clickem said:
We experienced this recently in Benidorm with a Starling card. Started to withdraw 250é and was informed of high charges right at the end, so cancelled the transaction. Then got a message to the Starling app to say £200+ had been taken. Contacted Starling through the App and was told to wait 24 hours. They then refunded the money as per Mastercard rules, but the bank then has up to 45 days to challenge this. So in effect my money is tied up in case of claw back and I am left wondering - Did I cancel the transaction or did the money come out as I walked away?
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Interesting as I had a somewhat similar experience the first time round with this anomaly. My exchange with Revolut chat revealed the overnight reversal as was apparent the next day however they said that the reversal could take up to 7 days.
 
Santander 123 card does not charge for withdrawals from it's own ATMs in Spain and their ZERO credit card charges 0% commission on transactions in EUROs with a decent exchange rate as well.
 
OK just got you? I have taken €400 out of a machine in Madeira using my Revolut card it cost €3.95 as the machine owner is independent of the banks and has to make a living, that’s my take anyway, the Revolut bit didn’t charge, €400 is the Revolut limit on Premium account.

Martin
 
TeeMyob said:
What are the others ?
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See #8 for what we found last month

sallylillian said:
As posted on here I assume DB is for Germany?
Spanish free ATM,
Unicaja
Bankinter
Ibercaja
Targobank
Deutsche Bank
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Deutsche Bank in Spain. There are loads of them

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We saw last year in Spain most banks charging for cash withdrawal's. Using a UK bank card was the most expensive method as you get hit multiple times for each withdrawal and possibly by both banks too.. We use the Caxton card as there is no limit to the amount of cash you can withdraw apart from a daily limit of around £300-400 as best as I can recall and no transaction fee if used in a bar/shop supermarket etc, although Caxton has no control over Spanish bank fees for making a withdrawal. Caxton have now introduced Caxton Red which uses the inter bank exchange rate, same as Revolute. A one off £55.00 for a year or 12 monthly £5.00 payments.
 
PhilandMena said:
We saw last year in Spain most banks charging for cash withdrawal's. Using a UK bank card was the most expensive method as you get hit multiple times for each withdrawal and possibly by both banks too.. We use the Caxton card as there is no limit to the amount of cash you can withdraw apart from a daily limit of around £300-400 as best as I can recall and no transaction fee if used in a bar/shop supermarket etc, although Caxton has no control over Spanish bank fees for making a withdrawal. Caxton have now introduced Caxton Red which uses the inter bank exchange rate, same as Revolute. A one off £55.00 for a year or 12 monthly £5.00 payments.
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Am I missing something here, Why would you spend £55 for a card you can get from numous uk banks free with no charges for use abroad.
 
Go to a bureaux de change and see what they charge.
you’re gonna pay for a service, deal with it?
 
Bolti said:
Am I missing something here, Why would you spend £55 for a card you can get from numous uk banks free with no charges for use abroad.
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If you use your free uk card for a transaction in Spain. You will be charged by the UK banks for the Transaction, you will also be charged for buying a foreign currency and you will get stiffed on the exchange rate too. The Caxton card is free and does not charge for any transactions made in Spain. However, the exchange rate is about 3 cents lower per pound sterling than the Caxton Red which costs as stated above. If you buy enough Euros or any of the other 15 or so currencies you can hold on the card it pays for itself.
 
Starling Bank.
debit card , no currency charge, very good exchange rate.
up to £300 perday from atm
just got check if the ATM charges for cash withdrawal, same as using any debit card.
no charge to set up.
oh and it sends an instant receipt to your phone of any spend.
with a bit of interest on your current account balance.

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