London Travel Forum

Hi,

I was wondering if the UK banks charge any disloyalty fees. I read that they were abandoned after 2001 but wasn't sure if they have been readopted.

By disloyalty fees, I mean a flat fee that the ATM charges you if you are withdrawing money using an ATM card issued by another bank. (eg, I use a non-UK bank issued ATM card at an UK ATM)

THANKS!!

High street banks here are free. Ones that charge now have to clearly tell you and are found mainly in pubs and inside corner shops. That said, you really need to find out what your bank will charge you. Many charge a fee and a percentage.

Where are you from?

Aslo, consider opening an account with another institution like a credit union or Building Society if they charge less. You don't have to stay with them forever.

Most UK banks donīt charge - all you will get hit with is the charge from your foreign bank.

but there are a growing number of ATMs that do. These are usually in small shops, pubs and clubs and so on. They can charge up to Ģ1.50 or so.

I wrote you a tip.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/30b4a/4b7ec/7/#1862102

All the pictures are from London.

Have a great holiday!

Thanks all for the prompt response. Thankfully, I have an account with a bank that does not charge fees for foreign atm withdrawals.

Now you just have to deal with the general bad exchange rate!

Nationwide Building Society has a current account here that is fee free abroad and credit card. The Post Office also does a fee free card here as well.

If for some reason a bank decides to charge you here a warning comes up and asks if you want to proceed. Its very rare nowadays.

Have a great time!

Recent developments within the banking industry, has seen an increasing amount of travellers having their credit/debit cards stopped whilst on holiday.
The banks computer system sees money being spent abroad as odd or a possible fraud. The banks are after all, looking after you and your money.
Please ensure you inform your bank before you leave, that you are going away and to which part of the world you will be using your cards. Some travellers were left without access to their money for up to 5 days.

Cancelling your card as soon as you use it in another country. Yes, they are quite fond of doing that.

It the UK we are quite adverse to paying surcharge fees at ATMs and the fee has to be displayed prominently.

These fee charging ATMS tend to be in shops, at some garages and in pubs.

The banks tend to part of ATM interbank networks like LINK, Plus, Cirrus, which are international. If you bank card has one of those labels on it and so does the ATM, you don't get charged, otherwise you get charged a disloyalty fee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATM_usage_fees#United_Kingdom

Avoiding the fees is easy enough, the exchange rate is another matter.