At Nomad Numbers we like sharing our best tips so you can also travel smart and save money along the way. We’ve already been sharing tips on how to pack smart & light for long term travel, the best phone service to use to travel the world, how to handle your mail while living outside of the US more of the year, how to save hundreds of dollars on accommodation, how to fly around the world for nearly free and more.
Today we are going to talk about some of those nasty fees you occur while traveling when withdrawing foreign currency. We found a solution that has helped us save about 2.5% of our money withdrawn by ATM which would’ve been eaten up by an ATM “transaction” fee – that’s $25 for every $1000 withdrawn so it adds up! We’d much rather put that money towards a special dinner in Thailand than pay bank fees. With this solution we don’t have to worry about which ATM to use and how much cash to take out since all ATM fees will get credited back to our bank account at the end of the month. And best of all, this solution is entirely free for everyone in the US! If you’re not a US resident, we have an alternative solution for you too. Let’s dig into our ultimate ATM hack!
What are ATM transaction fees?
Basically every time to go to an ATM your bank will take a small fee (usually between 2-3 USD) for the service of giving you cash.
It is very common for a bank to charge you a fee when you are using an ATM that is not part of their network (which is basically operated by another bank or institution). This is sometimes referred to as a “non-network” ATM fee. You’re very likely to be charged the fee once you leave your country since most of the ATMs will be non-network. These charges will typically cost between $2.00 and $3.50, depending on your bank and the location where the ATM is located.
Fun fact about Thailand’s ATMs: Thailand banks charge absurdly high fees since any visit to the ATM will cost you an extra 220 Baht, which is more than 7 USD as of November 2019. Insane!
Can ATM fees represent a lot of money?
Well like anything that reoccurs, this can add up.
I looked up our ATM transactions during our nearly 18 months of nomadic travel and there were 28 of them! During this period, we visited places like Canada, Mexico, USA, Europe and recently Thailand. We occured ATM fees in each of these countries for a total amount of nearly $100 (or 2.3% of the money with withdrawal). Here are the details if you are curious on how theses ATM fees are adding up:
| Location | Date | Local Currency amount | Local Currency symbol | USD debit (including fee) | Fee rebate from bank |
| Montreal, Canada | 7/2018 | 180 | CAD | $139.41 | $2.29 |
| Montreal, Canada | 7/2018 | 80 | CAD | $62.95 | $2.09 |
| Baie St Paul, Canada | 9/2018 | 280 | CAD | $218.34 | $2.31 |
| Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | 102018 | 4000 | MXN | $212.30 | $5.18 |
| Mexico City, Mexico | 11/2018 | 4000 | MXN | $205.17 | $4.04 |
| Mexico City, Mexico | 11/2018 | 4000 | MXN | $196.35 | $4.04 |
| Oaxaca Airport, Mexico | 12/2018 | 4000 | MXN | $199.63 | $1.64 |
| Oaxaca City, Mexico | 12/2018 | 3900 | MXN | $198.35 | $1.64 |
| Oaxaca City, Mexico | 1/2019 | 3900 | MXN | $205.55 | $4.25 |
| Oaxaca City, Mexico | 1/2019 | 1000 | MXN | $50.00 | $0.00 |
| San Miguel de Allende, Mexico | 1/2019 | 3900 | MXN | $210.88 | $4.25 |
| San Miguel de Allende, Mexico | 2/2019 | 1000 | MXN | $53.39 | $3.17 |
| San Miguel de Allende, Mexico | 2/2019 | 200 | MXN | $11.43 | $0.68 |
| Daly City, USA | 2/2019 | 20 | USD | $23.00 | $3.00 |
| Oranjestad, Aruba | 2/2019 | 160 | AWG | $88.83 | $3.00 |
| Oranjestad, Aruba | 3/2019 | 70 | AWG | $45.00 | $5.00 |
| Oranjestad, Aruba | 3/2019 | 120 | AWG | $65.00 | $5.00 |
| Daly City, USA | 3/2019 | 60 | USD | $63.00 | $3.00 |
| Buttonwillow, USA | 4/2019 | 60 | USD | 63 | $3.00 |
| Daly City, USA | 4/2019 | 60 | USD | 63 | $3.00 |
| San Francisco, USA | 5/2019 | 60 | USD | 63 | $3.00 |
| Vienne | 6/2019 | 80 | EUR | $90.80 | $0.00 |
| Porto Airport, Portugal | 7/2019 | 70 | EUR | $93.43 | $1.99 |
| Porto, Portugal | 7/2019 | 90 | EUR | $100.37 | $2.00 |
| Chiang Mai, Thailand | 10/2019 | 4900 | THB | $169.85 | $7.27 |
| Chiang Mai, Thailand | 10/2019 | 9900 | THB | $333.73 | $7.27 |
| Chiang Mai, Thailand | 10/2019 | 20000 | THB | $669.25 | $7.27 |
| Chiang Mai, Thailand | 11/2019 | 13000 | THB | $436.26 | $7.27 |
Totals:
| Total Withdrawal amount | $4,190.47 |
| Total ATM Fees | $96.63 |
| Realized savings | 2.31% |
And even if you are not traveling and withdrawing cash within the US, you still might easily occur “non-network” ATM Fee if you don’t pay attention to where you are getting your cash. If you need to withdraw cash on a regular basis, this can definitely add up! In Thailand, these ATM fees can represent more than 7% on a $100 withdrawal. So if you withdraw $100 at an ATM in Thailand, the bank will actually charge you $107!
The good news is that we have found a solution where we never have to worry about ATM fees again!
How to never pay ATM fees again
Alright if you’ve been paying these ATM fees for a long time, you’ll really want to know what this magical solution we’ve been talking about. You might even want to look back and see how much money you’ve given away to the bank rather than keeping it for yourself.
Now are you ready for our solution? This bank is Charles Schwab. Just open a checking account with them and ask for their debit card. They will reimburse you any ATM fees worldwide as a credit on your statement at the end of each month. And setting up this account is not only free, it comes with no monthly fees which make it awesome!
So to recap, by signing up for Charles Schwab High Yield Checking account and using their Debit card you tap into the following benefits:
- No monthly fees
- No international or domestic ATM fees
- No foreign transaction fees
- Card runs on the Visa network
Special offer for our readers
If you want to open an account, we have a great offer for you – and no, we do not receive any commission on this, we just really want to share this awesome travel essential and save you money! By becoming a Schwab client you can earn up to $500 by making a qualifying net deposit. This should be easy since you will have to make a deposit to start using your card anyways.
If you are interested, you must use this link to sign-up and access the offer.
Here is the reward chart so you know how much sign-up bonus you can get.
| Net Deposit | Bonus Award |
| $1,000–$24,999 | $100 |
| $25,000–$49,999 | $200 |
| $50,000–$99,999 | $300 |
| $100,000+ | $500 |
Last but not least, we have another tip for you. If you travel with a +1 (girlfriend, partner, spouse…), we highly suggest that you each open an account with Schwab. Not only can you get more bonus with less money deposited (since you can get $200 by each making a deposit of $1,000), having two cards means that if you lose one, you still have a backup card to take cash while traveling. This can become super handy, especially in a country where most payments are done using cash in the local currency.
What about non-US residents?
Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you! While the Charles Schwab ATM card is only available for US residents, non US residents can try to sign up for Revolut, which offers a range of digital banking services. We don’t personally use Revolut but have run into non-US residents that highly recommend it. According to their website:
“Revolut offers a range of digital banking services in a mobile app, including:
- Transferring money abroad in 29 currencies
- A prepaid debit card that enables cash machine withdrawals in 120 countries
- Mobile phone and overseas medical insurance
- and more
With standard accounts (which are free of charge), users get a free UK current account and a free euro IBAN account. There are no fees on exchanging in 24 currencies, up to £5,000 a month, and you can withdraw up to £200 a month from cash machines. Revolut also offers monthly subscription plans with higher thresholds for no fees, as well as instant access to crypto-currencies, cash back, travel and concierge service.”
While there is a restriction on how much money you can withdraw at ATMs, the fact that there are no withdrawal fees is nice and more importantly the fact that you can transfer money in 29 currencies make it for an interesting alternative. If you have access to this service, please let us know how you like it!
What about you, do you have other ways to avoid ATM fees? Please let us and others know by leaving a comment in the comments section below.
11 Comments
Dragon Guy · December 9, 2019 at 4:24 pm
I love using Schwab Bank for ATM withdrawals. Given that the fees are refunded, I find it useful to be able to withdraw small amounts at a time instead of the maximum to minimize any fees. My old bank used to charge $5 per international withdrawal, so I would try to take $500 in cash out at a time to minimize the fee percentage. But then I would be giving up the ability to use credit cards (and miss out on point) and would have to worry about having leftover cash. Now with Schwab I can get a smaller amount each time (say $60 to $100) and not worry about having leftover cash.
Mr. Nomad Numbers · December 10, 2019 at 1:25 am
Hey Dragon Guy. Glad to know you guys are using Schwab Bank for ATM withdrawals. Not having to worry about carrying too much cash, especially when in a foreign country is a great piece of mind benefit that come with this card! Question: when traveling abroad merchants would sometime take your CC but for a nominal fee. Did you guys always pay with CC as much as possible to get point or are you using it only when it “makes sense” from a cash vs CC spending stand point?
Joe · December 12, 2019 at 2:42 pm
For some reason, Thailand has ridiculous ATM fees.
I used the Fidelity Cash Management account, basically checking. They refund the ATM fees. It’s really awesome.
It’s a joint account so my mom can withdraw from that same account too. It’s the easiest way to transfer money to Thailand so far. Wiring costs $40.
Where are you guys now? Sorry we missed you in CM. It would have been fun to hang out.
Mr. Nomad Numbers · December 13, 2019 at 12:48 am
We got charged 220 THB of ATM fees every time we took money in Thailand which is definitely pretty high. No wonder why foreigners complain about withdrawing cash there 🙂
We are currently in Malaysia where we will be spending both Christmas and the new year! We will be in SEA until end of March.
Skip · December 17, 2019 at 12:22 am
– Google Fi for phone: Check
– Schwab for Checking Account: Check
I appreciate the visual on the impact of the ATM fees.
and… 7% in Thailand… I did not know this. Yikes!
Like Joe, we also considered Fidelity. I have read it is another good option. I beleive it was Jeremy form GCC. I was a while ago, so I could be wrong. Anywho…
The missus will also be getting a Schwab account as we near our travels. I am keeping my old local checking/bank account for now. I am in the midst of a mad selling spree and have a lot of cash to deal with. Depositing all this cash isn’t so easy with the Schwab account. I have been very happy with Schwab so far. I recently moved a bunch a cash out of it to place in a higher yielding MMA. They gave me a very courteous call just to make sure eveything was OK. It was a bit of a test. I have no reason to beleive there will be any difficulties when we are abroad.
Once again, great content. This type of info is valuable.
BTW, I prefer to use my credit cards as much as possible. It would be great to see posts regarding credit card strategies or maybe the ability to use credit cards in different destinations.
Mr. Nomad Numbers · December 17, 2019 at 1:49 am
Hi Skip. When it comes to getting the best interest in our savings account we prefer Ally or Capital One over Schwab since their interest rates are the best we’ve seen. With Schwab we only keep a balance of no more than $1,000 USD solely for the purpose of taking cash out when we travel to countries where credit cards aren’t commonly used.
As for using your credit card as much as possible, if you have great rewards that comes with it and always pay your balance in full and on time this is definitely the way to go! We wrote an article about how we extensively use credit cards to pay for most of our flight expenses and fly internationally for almost free: https://www.nomadnumbers.com/travel-rewards-guide/. Check it out and let us know if this helps with CC strategies 🙂
Cécile · June 26, 2020 at 4:21 pm
Je confirme – vive Revolut ! J’ai un compte chez eux depuis 2015 et je suis fan. J’espère que le Brexit ne va pas compliquer les choses pour les non-résidents du UK… 🤞🏻
Mr. Nomad Numbers · June 27, 2020 at 2:19 am
Salut Cécile! De notre côté on ne peux pas encore ouvrir un compte chez eux car nous ne sommes pas résident Européen malheureusement. Est-ce que tu sais s’ils ont prévu de se déployer sur le marché américain?
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