ATM charges

re Santander "free"

- there are definetly some types of Santander UK account that wiil give you free access and use in Spain,
- e.g. the UK "SELECT" accounts _ you may be lucky enough to have one of those types.
- however many types - such as the "123" UK account that I hold - do not (they are not "free" to use in Spain).
Luckily I never made the mistake about "free" use in Spain - but I know of others who did make that mistake - they suffered costs & charges (similar to those mentioned as being charged by other UK banks).

I am not selling anything - but there is the Santander "ZERO" credit card (if you qualify for it) - that converts Euro spending here in Spain to Sterling (for settlement) at the professional FX mid-market rate on the day of the transaction's processing. You must then settle whole balance every month to achieve no interest charge, otherwise it would be an expensive route to take. There are some other equivalent cards.

Just _PLEASE CHECK_ before assuming "free".

Santander don't charge if you use a Santander bank in Spain.been using it for years,and you get bank rates.

ACCEPTED CORRECTION
re Santander charges

As “Dave c” has obvious experience of this - I fully accept his statements and would ask that everyone ignores what I have written above about Santander charges.

I apologise for any confusion that I have caused

Redwoodsman

OK - Santander ATM charges and costs -

I went to the local Santander ATM to test a "free" withdrawl of €500 using my UK Santander 123 account debit card - with the following result
- cost of that withdrawl would be £481+ from my UK account (about £1 = €1.04 or €1 = £0.96) with "no commision" charged (all as shown on the Santander ATM screen)

I did not do it for the following reason
- I could buy €500 online (TorFX) for £452.37 (£1 = €1.105) with "no comission" charged and a "no cost" transfer of the Euros to my Spanish BankInter account (I could then use the Bankinter ATM at no cost)


Everyone must make their own choice of course - but do look at "total cost" [ even with no comission ]
This is saying nothing against Santander - there are similar pitfalls with all of the banks.