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Washington Mutual Debit Card / ATM Foreign Transaction Fees

Below are the fees assessed for using a Washington Mutual Debit Card at an ATM machine in a foreign country to withdraw currency. These fees only apply when using the debit card at an ATM machine in the debit card company’s network. Fees can be higher when using an out-of-network ATM machine. Please see this post for clarification between ATM foreign fees and ATM foreign transaction fees.

Washington Mutual Foreign Transaction Fee: 1%

Washington Mutual ATM Fee: $3

Special Circumstances: NA

There are three questions to ask when determining ATM and debit card foreign transaction fees for a particular card: Does the bank charge a flat fee per transaction, do they charge a percentage of the withdrawal and do they add a fee for converting the currency. Finally, if the debit card carries the Visa or MasterCard logo, it is important to verify with your bank that the foreign transaction fee is the same when using the debit card as a credit card to make a purchase.

For the purposes of this directory we include the foreign currency transaction fee assessed when using the card at an ATM and the ATM fee charged by the bank issuing the debit card. We encourage readers to update listings with supplemental information as necessary. Readers should be well advised that the actual fees charged may be higher than the fees listed because of circumstances described above. With this in mind, it is always a good idea to call the bank before a trip to verify fee structures.

Last updated by TravelFinances.com August 22, 2006
4 Updates to " Washington Mutual Debit Card / ATM Foreign Transaction Fees "
  1. on 25 Sep 2006 at 9:34 am Posted by: brian

    I used my Wamu card as a credit card for travel in Turks (where U.S currency is the only currency they use). I was charged 1% for all my purchases and not once did I use an ATM.

    So now we they make a profit off our savings, but they also profit from our purchases. It’s a bank card,using my hard earned dollars and no exchange rates had to be done. Why the fee?!?!?!

    I was informed that this is their fee for me using the card outside of the continental U.S. .

    It’s time we all went back to hiding our money under our bed and let the banks thank us again for being customers.

  2. on 01 Oct 2006 at 1:11 pm Posted by: asda

    If u thought that was bad, look at bank of america…they charge 5$ plus a 1% transaction fee for using a non BOA ATM. Also keep in mind the ATM may also charge u a fee! Thus for a $80 transaction, u could pay as much as $5 plus atm fee ($2.5) plus 0.80!

  3. on 08 Nov 2006 at 10:50 pm Posted by: Joe

    Wednesday November 8, 7:43 PM EST

    By Jonathan Stempel

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumers will share in a $336 million settlement of a lawsuit accusing several banks and credit card groups of conspiring to charge excessive fees on foreign currency transactions, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

    The settlement covers holders of U.S.-issued MasterCard or Visa credit cards or debit cards, and Diners Club credit cards who made foreign transactions from February 1, 1996 to the present. Tens of thousands of cardholders, including companies whose employees travel internationally, may recover money.

    Judge William Pauley of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the class-action settlement appeared to be the result of serious negotiations by experienced counsel, and was “fair, reasonable and adequate.”

    Defendants in the five-year-old case include credit card groups Visa and MasterCard Inc. (MA), as well as Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), HSBC Holdings Plc , JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Washington Mutual Inc. (WM) and several affiliates. Cardholders accused them of colluding to fix charges and of poor disclosure.

    “Every time you go overseas, you would be charged 1 percent by Visa or MasterCard and another 2 or 3 percent by your bank to convert a transaction into U.S. dollars,” said Patrick Coughlin, a partner at Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP in San Francisco, who represented the plaintiffs.

    “The cost (to defendants) to do these transactions was about one-quarter of 1 percent,” he said.

    Citigroup spokesman Samuel Wang said the settlement avoids the uncertainty of litigation, and that the bank’s portion was covered by existing reserves.

    HSBC spokesman Stephen Cohen declined to comment.

    Visa spokeswoman Rhonda Bentz said the card association was pleased that the judge approved the settlement.

    Washington Mutual spokesman Alan Elias said the settlement was not a material issue for the company. Other defendants did not immediately return requests for comment.

    Coughlin said one benefit of the litigation was that card issuers now break out currency charges as a separate item on customer bills. “This makes banks competitive in setting those charges,” he said.

    Lawyers for the plaintiffs had announced a pending settlement in July. Pauley’s approval is preliminary, and carries several conditions. A hearing to enter a final judgment was set for November 2, 2007.

  4. on 09 Dec 2007 at 10:17 pm Posted by: C. H.   

    I checked with WAMU today. I have a free checking account. According to the agent, WAMU does not charge an ATM transaction fee or any fee is I use my debit card at a MasterCard logo ATM machine. The agent did say that I may incur a fee by the owner of that ATM machine, but not from WAMU.

    For use at a Point of Sales (POS) transaction, there is a 1% fee.

 

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