$0 Fees & MC rates - Westpac Global ATM Alliance

[marks]

Hi All,

Sometimes, we get stuck in the weeds when the answer is under our nose.....

Doing a bit of SE Asia travel at the moment and in many of these countries, cash is king.

Talking to a colleague that I'm about to load up my Citibank account for ATM requirements, he told he about his recent experience with Westpac Global ATM Alliance.
Fee free at partner ATMs, Mastercard rate. $0 fees.
I'm already a WBC customer, tried it today. $200SGD -> $218.51. Checked with the MC rate. 1SGD = 1.0925726AUD. No other fees. Right on the money!

List of the alliance partners are here: - WBC Global Alliance ATMs

SG, MY, US & Indo options here are all great for me. Unfortunately, nothing for Thailand and a few others. So Citibank or local money exchangers still in those countries.
I'm not sure if any of the other BIG 4 banks do this. Interested to hear and see what coverage they have. Or avoiding the ING five withdrawal dance before travel.

One interesting thing is that DCC was offered on the DBS ATM I used. 1SGD = 1.13xx_XAUD. Be aware to avoid this.

Cheers

 

[theblank]

Umm right here on the Westpac page you quoted

Pay no ATM withdrawal fee1 at Westpac Group or select Westpac Group partner ATMs in Australia and Global ATM Alliance partners (a 3% foreign transaction fee applies when using a debit or credit card).

A 3% transaction fee! There is nothing good about this. All westpac seems to have done is make a brief list of ATM's overseas that dont charge ATM owner fees.
eg Westpac lists Indonesia has only CIMB bank as "free' well all local Indonesian banks dont charge ATM fees. Your Citiibank ATM card is far superior option to use In Indonesia.

 

[marks]

Click the savings button. Not the credit button. No fee.

 

[oz_mark]

I'd give it a couple of days to see.what finally gets charged.

 

[yojohnny]

And the Visa/Mastercard rates are generally about ~2% also.