Martin Lewis issues urgent ATM alert to all Brits on holiday
The Money Saving Expert has warned holidaymakers to be wary of a certain charge if they are planning on withdrawing cash while abroad
A finance guru has urged holidaying Brits to be vigilant of superfluous charges that could leave them out of pocket. MoneySavingExpert, Martin Lewis, has highlighted that withdrawing cash abroad might set you back as much as €7 per transaction.
In an age where plastic and smartphone payments are soaring in popularity, many opt to travel light, sans cash. Yet, there remain situations abroad where hard currency proves essential.
Accessing funds via foreign ATMs is usually straightforward, but here's the catch – hidden fees can accriliate on each withdrawal. On his highly acclaimed website Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis has shed light on these crafty extra costs.
These fees are levied not for the currency exchange but merely for the service of obtaining your money. And these costs can fluctuate wildly between different machines.
Martin cautioned: "Beware overseas ATM charges. Don't think they're all the same, and watch for scare tactics.", reports the Express.
He notes the troubling trend of being charged by the machines themselves on foreign soil. "It's becoming more common for the actual cash machine to charge you when abroad. There's no way around this, but don't assume all ATMs charge the same."
Martin recounted personal encounters with highly variable ATM fees from his travels. "A couple of years ago, I did a cash machine experiment when I was filming abroad, and as part of it, often found ATMs within 200m of each other with withdrawal fees ranging from €2 to €7," he declared.
"While the €7 fee machines did sometimes offer better exchange rates, that's irrelevant, as you should SAY NO to the foreign bank doing the conversion - you want your UK card to do it (especially if you've a specialist card)."
Do not heed the ATM's attempts to persuade you otherwise. Martin explained: "Foreign ATMs don't like that. They'll push and try to scare you to let them convert for you, with an 'are you sure?', or 'are you really sure?' if you select the option they don't want (as they make less money).
"Yet still say no to currency conversion. Do that and the only thing that matters is the fee, so go for the cheapest one of those."
However, his overall advice is to procure any necessary foreign currency before your trip. "In general, it's a safer bet to get cash beforehand, as you can research the very cheapest rates, but you're blind to what's out there, and especially in tourist resorts, you may find poor rates and limited competition," he concluded.
"I'm not saying overseas bureaux can't undercut UK ones, but they'd need be very cheap to beat the UK's cheapest, and it'd be rare to randomly stumble on that. The exception is if you know of a specific super-cheap bureau, for example, you go to the same place every year. Then absolutely, if you know what you're doing, wait."
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