Withdrawing Money at a London ATM

Tips for withdrawing cash at a London ATM
By Mark Fitzgerald

I recently heard a Clark Howard broadcast recommending the use of American Express Bluebird prepaid cards in Europe.  So I decided to look into it a little further. First of all Bluebird is kind of like a debit card. Think of as a checking account with your credit card company.

The recommendation from Clark Howard was to use it make ATM withdrawals because of their favorable fee structure.  In particular there is no foreign transaction fee.  Most banks are charging between a 2 and 3% transaction fee. Also their out of network ATM fee is $2.  This is compared to $5 for Bank of America or Wells Fargo.   A bank ATM in England should not charge a fee for withdrawals on their end, though from what I can, tell there are some 3rd party ATM's that may charge.

You can get a Bluecard card at Walmart for $5 or start online for free.  It seems fairly similar to other online banks in that you can deposit a check with a mobile app or you can transfer money to and from other accounts electronically.