Best Credit card for Mexico, south/centeral America.

[BlackdogGS]

I'm looking for a cc card with no foreign transaction or atm fees. What would you suggest?

[Danny Diego]

Unsure if there's a "no-fee" ATM card, though Discover had no/low fees while I traveled through Canada. My other cards incurred hefty user fees.

Also, even if ATM cards have no bank (issuer) fee, the vendor (ATM location) may tack on fees.

[pancho]

My US American Airlines AAdvantage Aviator credit card has no foreign transaction fees. My debit card in Mexico is Bancomer. Many American expats here in my area tend to favor Capitol One, I just have not gotten around to researching it much.

[mollydog]

As mentioned, nearly ALL USA ATM cards have fees ... plus the Mexican bank will tack on another fee of their own. But it's a FLAT RATE fee ... and this is why it's best to withdraw large amounts at one time. Usually about $3 per withdrawal plus whatever the Mex. bank charges. (yes, it's a racket!)

So, Fee is the same if you withdraw $50 or $500.

Credit Card. Best to just shop around the big companies, see who does NOT charge foreign transaction fees. My Citi master card DOES charge foreign fees, as does my Discover and Well's Fargo Visa.

Banks change policy on this a lot so let us know what you find out ... if Capital One do not charge then I'll sign up for one of those next trip!
There are several who DO NOT charge ... just can't name them.

In Mexico it's a crap shoot regards ATM cards. Some cards work at ATM's, some don't. I found one Mexican bank (Bancomer I think) that worked with one of my ATM cards and I just would go that same bank every time.

Fees are killer. Nothing to be done that I know of ... aside from dealing with locals who may want to buy CASH dollars and will pay a good rate. (some Pemex stations will change dollars ...no fees, sometimes OK rate.)

At fancy tourist type business's they usually accept credit cards but many smaller business's will not accept cards, small Hotels and such. The FEES charged are TOO HIGH so they boycott these banks.

But on my last trip I found that now more Mex. business's are again accepting CC whereas a few years ago not many would. YMMV.

[teevee]

assuming the OP is american, charles schwab offers a no fee debit/atm card, but you have to have good credit.

bank of america charges 3% on atm withdrawals....bastards

[Tony LEE]

Our Oz bank charges a flat rate of $4 which is OK since we can usually get $1000 at a time from the ATM and some ATM operators charge no fees.

BUT couple of days ago in Ecuador - where the single withdrawal limit is universally US$200 with a daily limit of US$1000, the ATM fee was $8 so total fees of more than $10 to get a huge $200 out. THAT is a ripoff.

[Peter Bodtke]

Originally Posted by teevee

assuming the OP is american, charles schwab offers a no fee debit/atm card, but you have to have good credit.

bank of america charges 3% on atm withdrawals....bastards

As mentioned in this thread, check with you credit card companies and bank to see who has the best deal. In my experience, going back as early as 2008, Santander Serfin in Mexico is a partner with Bank of America. You can withdraw cash from a Santander ATM with your Bank of America ATM card, zero fees, nada. In some of the big tourist area you have your choice of withdrawing USD or MX pesos. Before opening a BofA account, check to make sure the partnership is still in effect. PS: Santander banks in other countries don't have the same deal with Bank of America. Sames goes for HSBC, Scotia, CitiBank...they are all franchises, without relationships that cross international borders.

I recently heard you can get better than bank rates when exchanging USD privately in Brazil. Venezuela and Argentina are great places to get great exchange rates when trading on the "private" market. In both of these countries I transfer funds from my Bank of America account to a friend's Bank of America account, then got local funds from them. Trading USD with street money changers in Lima (Nov 2014) saved me bank fees and got me a good rate. Hard to exchange outside big bills once I got outside of Lima.

Download a currency conversion app for your smart phone. I use the free app "Currency" for my iPhone. A conversion app will help you strike a reasonable deal at the border and informs you what price is being asked in your home currency.

In the end, get a credit card that cuts a fair deal, then deal with the fees. Its the price of adventure...and its worth it.

[Warin]

Originally Posted by mollydog

There are several who DO NOT charge ... just can't name them.

Why not?

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You should travel with more than one card ... at least one Visa card and one Master card. You might even make it 4 cards .. Visa credit, Visa debit, Master credit and Master debit.

[josecito250]

The Banks in Mexico charge you a fee for using the ATM, even if your bank doesn't. For me the best way is to go to the Banamex ATM and withdraw 8000 MX $. You have to pay a fee from about 30 Pesos (about 2 USD). Other banks charge more. Banjercito charges only 18 Pesos but they have very few ATMs as far as I know.

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