hughe

Hi

This is long but please bear with me. There may be an obvious answer and I may be a complete muppet but for the life of me I can't think of it.

We have been in Canada in a couple of weeks now. We brought over enough cash to tide us over but it is quickly running out. I have tried about a dozen ATMs but all of my cards are declined despite informing eveyone back home first and having substantial funds ( I had no problem on holiday 2 years ago so I can only think it is the chip and pin). I have no problem paying for anything in the shops with any of them it's just getting actual cash out. The only way I can get cash out is is to make a 50 mile round trip into Calgary and get it done over the counter(there are closer banks but my cards are visa and those banks only work with mastercards!!!!). Even this has been limited to about a couple of hundred dollars a day due to a daily limit which is no good when I have to pay rent (property management company will not accept credit cards ???). So in order to avoid several trips a week I'm having to get cash advances on my credit cards which is not ideal. It also means that I am limited to getting cash during banking hours which I am quickly learning are not as accessible as in the UK

I have rang and rang back home (UK) just to be told that there shouldn't be a problem and maybe it is just that particular machine but short of trying every single ATM in Alberta I don't know what to do. I have opened a bank account with Scotia which is aligned with Barclays (my bank back home) but it will not let me transfer funds online. I also set up an account with Hifix before I came out but I want to try to hang on before transferring my life savings until the exchange rate improves.

Do other people have this problem? I feel like I'm in the dark ages! How on earth do I get money out? maybe I have been a bit naive but I just presumed I would be able to access it as I had done on previous holidays. Barclays have said that they would do a wire transfer but it's not cheap and it takes about 4 days. I just want to go to the hole in the wall when I want - is it too much to ask?

Sorry for the rant, any ideas would be gratefully appreciated!

mant thanks

raine66

One of the symbols on the back of your card has to be on the machine your trying to withdraw from.

iaink

Something weird is going on for sure. You should be able to use M/C & Visa in the bank machines with the appropriate symbol (Visa is plus network isnt it?).

If I were you I would arrange a priority SWIFT wire transfer to your Scotiabank account from your UK one of enough funds to keep you going. The exchange rate is what it is, you will just have to live with it, after all its what your Visa card would be set at anyway.

Dont transfer everything, just pay the $30 fee or whatever it is to get enough into your canadian account to live with. There are various levels of SWIFT transfer, if you pay enough they can make it happen faster. 4 days is about right for a regular one.

Not all that helpful, but something weird is happening with your Visa withdrawals...you've got the correct PIN...right?

Cant you at least increase your daily limit over the phone so you dont have to make frequent trips until the transfer is sorted?

MarkG

Yeah, check the logos on the ATM match at least one logo on the card.

I've been using my Natwest ATM card on a fairly regular basis over here; anywhere that has a Cirrus logo works.

hughe

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. I agree the transfer would seem to be my only option at the minute. I am trying to increase the daily limit ( I dread my phone bill) The pin numbers are fine (I made a point of checking them in a safeway that requires chip and pin!) and in theory there should be no reason why they shouldn't work but they just aren't. I have numerous cards and have tried them all in various machines, I just can't for the life of me work out why they aren't.

It is certainly weird :curse:

hughe

Cheers Helen

I didn't know this was possible. I will check it out.

Many thanks

DaviesHN

Sorry I actually deleted that when I realised you must be a long way from their offices so it's probably totally irrelevant!
http://www.vbce.info/index.cfm?fuseaction=Locations
H

bazzz

I may have misunderstood here, but if it comes to it you can use your credit cards at ATMs - I'm not sure if this is what you're doing or if you're actually using a counter service. You can then use internet banking to pay off the amount you withdrew to minimise interest charges (although this won't stop the one off cash-advance fees). You may even be able to "pre-load" your card by putting a positive balance on it. Banks sometimes don't like this, but in the circumstances, I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

Just to clear things up, could you list the cards you're using, and whether they're credit or debit, and whether they're Visa or Maestro/Switch/MasterCard. And which banks' ATMs you've been trying to use them at.

hughe

Out of interest then (and for the sake of my sanity) has anyone in the Calgary area (or Banff/Canmore) got money from an ATM with a Barclays connect card that has a visa symbol and is chip and pin back home. If so, please tell me where - I am willing to travel just to see if it works!

flashman

Buy something at a place like Walmart who will give you cash back.

iaink

Cant get cash back with a credit card AFAIK. Its only an interac thing?

Surrey Expat

If you have a Barclays cheque book with you and enough funds in the account, why not write yourself a Sterling cheque and pay that into your Canadian bank account?

There may be a hold on the funds, depending on the relationship with the bank.

The exchange rate for a cheque is often better than cash.

hughe

Oh if only it was that easy! none of my credit cards work at ATMs either (they are all fine in shops)

Here goes with the list of some of the ones I have tried:

Barclays Connect card (my current account) with visa symbol was declined at Scotia Bank ATM in Scotia Bank at 3 Calgary locations. The same Scotia ATMs also declined Barclay credit cards (my wife's also as well as her connect card) with visa symbol. All were accepted by the counter staff.

MBNA and Tesco (mastercard) was declined at Alberta Treasury ATM in the branch at one Calgary location and also Bragg Creek. It also declined my wifes' cards on seperate accounts but both were accepted by the counter staff.

RBC in Calgary ATM declined both Barclay credit and connect cards (visa) but again they were accepted by counter staff.

My wife's Royal Bank of Scotland credit card was declined by RBC in Canmore.

There were others but it's hard to keep track. Everything has been accepted by bank staff so I know I'm using the correct cards with the correct logos if you know what I mean and shops aren't a problem either even when a pin is required so I know it's not that.

Phone calls back to the UK keep assuring me that they should work but I have never, not once, managed to withdraw money from an ATM. It is a strange business indeed .

hughe

I never thought of that, what a muppet. I will give it a go. Fingers crossed!

cheers

iaink

My bank has a 60 working day hold on all UK cheques Thats about 3 months in the real world.