Hopefully some Canadians on here will have some recommendations that will work for you. I would imagine there should be something in place yet to be discovered.
Best wishes.
If you have a US address - Schwab Bankâs ATM card is fee free and refunds any charges by the ATM owner. But you need to have a Schwab brokerage account to have a Schwab bank account - for getting cash overseas.
There are a few other US banks that reimburse fees as well - see this article from The Points Guy from March 2021.
We are based in the UK and have used our Monzo and Revolut cards worldwide with no issues for around 5 years now. I donât withdraw money that often so Iâm not sure on the fees abroad but when paying by card it uses the current exchange rate and has always been good. When you make a payment a notification comes up on your phone in the local currency and what it would have been in ÂŁ
This is good to know - thank you. Youâre right that very little cash is used these days so using a card with a reasonable exchange rate to pay for services is whatâs needed.
Yes they have been very useful. We now use them as our main bank accounts too which makes it easier when travelling abroad with not needing to change any money in advance 
Charles Schwab
Open an interest earning checking account
No minimum balance
No transaction fees
No foreign transaction fees
Withdraw up to $1,000 daily
Transfer funds in and out no fees
They will issue a visa debit card
Love it never leave home without it 
Go online and do your research
You can open new account today if you choose
Revolut. As a full-time traveler changing countries and currencies on an (almost) âdailyâ basis Revolut works best for me.
In 5 years, no
Have used it in 9 countries
Never in the past five years.
As an update for Canadians, Wise now offers their card to us! Weâve been using ours for months in the UK and Europe and itâs fantastic! We load up our Canadian dollar virtual account and convert to whatever currency we need when the rate is favourable.
For an ATM card, Iâll join the endorsers for the Schwab card. In addition to no fees and refunding any foreign fees, the exchange rate is at market. I think Iâve had mine for at least 10 years, probably longer and never had it declined. I do take the time to go online and file travel notices with Schwab - used to require a phone call, now you can do it online. Iâve used it in all the âstandardâ commonly visited countries, but also in Cambodia (where the ATMs dispense US$), South Africa, India, Vietnam.
For credit cards, Iâm very happy with my Chase Sapphire Reserve - it is pricey but for me the various benefits outweigh the cost and my balance of payments is positive even with the high annual fee. The Sapphire Preferred is cheaper with fewer benefits. Iâve used the card as my touch card for transit systems all over the UK. Chase doesnât allow you to submit a travel notice anymore, somehow they figure things out.
Did you notice that you can set a rate that youâd like to convert at and it will be done automatically when that rate is reached? No more faffing about âI should have changed when the pound was Xâ.
Love it!
When we took money from a cash machine on arrival at Gatwick airport, we got dinged an incredibly high amount for the exchange fees. We had a choice on how we wanted to do the exchange and maybe we chose wrong, or maybe itâs because it was an ATM at an airport, not really sure.
Anyway, we need to take some cash out now and we are wondering if any Canadians on the forum can provide some help. I know itâs best to get money from a bank ATM rather than one at a small shop etc, but is there anything else we should look for?
Also, what is the best choice when asked how we want to do the exchange?
We always select the currency of the country we are located.
Re ATMs - We always look for a larger bank brand, not a credit union or local bank. Look for the PLUS symbol. Also, double check with your bank re fees. Same re credit card.
In the US, historically, credit unions have charged lower fees than banks, but that may be changing. The key is to get a debit card that doesnât charge for using non-native machines and refunds the ATM ownerâs fees, for example Schwab Bank-- there is a thread on the topic Credit cards & Foreign transactions The thread is titled credit cards but includes ATM card info as well.
Yes, local currency. That might have been what we did wrong. But the fees were atrocious. We used the atm at a bank today and the conversion was only slightly more than what we get charged when we used our credit card. 99% of the time we use CC but once in awhile, but in this situation, we had to pay cash.
Thanks everyone!
Yeah, my CU debit card charges $3 per international WD but that doesnât bother me because we rarely use cash anyway, but it was the conversation fee that hit us hard at the atm at the airport. We will never use one there again, and will only go to a bank.
Yeah our CU fees are clear and thatâs ok. It was the conversion charge that hurt us. I think itâs because it was a private atm at an airport. We should have waited until we got to a bank, and we should have done it in local currency (I assume we didnât).
To clarify, we have found it impossible to withdraw money from a local credit union. Most recent experience was in Spain.
Oh I see. We just used our CU debit card to withdraw cash from ATMs. Ours has worked in every country weâve been to so far (UK, France, Italy, SpainâŚ)