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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For a little cash, you can order it thru your bank here and if you are high enough "status" at your bank you will get discounted fees and delivery. I find that to be a [b]cheaper way[/b] to get say 200$ for the country I am going to rather than using an ATM when abroad which has a load of fees.[/quote]

I have gotten quotes on ordering euros through my bank and it has always been crazy expensive- like 5% exchange fee and $10 delivery.  I agree often ATM costs overseas are expensive if your bank account isn't the right one- you often see exchange fees of around 3% and a $5 fee for overseas ATM usage.  But have never seen it be cheaper to get foreign currency in the US before you go.

I have a Schwab account that I use basically only for travel purposes.  No minimum amount, 0% exchange costs and it refunds ATM fees anywhere in the world.  Keep $100 in it normally, and move maybe $500 into it before a trip in case its needed.  Then can take out small amounts as necessary and not end up with a lot of cash in a foreign currency at the end.[/quote]

So basically just get a new bank account at Schwab? Do we need to setup auto pay or anything like that or just deposit a cash amount when setting up the account in person?
[/quote]

Or can I do it online:

https://www.schwab.com/open-an-account/checking[/quote]

Yup and then just link it in their external account transfers to your current bank account and pull money over.[/quote]

Great! Thank you so much![/quote]

Yeah the Schwab account is great, used it for 10 years, love it. They also open a brokerage account at the same time, you will see both when you login after setting everything up online. The brokerage account also has no minimum required, but I keep $500 in it just in case someone sees a $0 balance. I put it in their US Treasury money market so it earns around 4%, not bad. But for probably 5 years it has $0 balance without an issue.

Having an account where they refund ATM fees is nice because you can just get money whenever you want and not worry about the cost. One thing to note when outside the US is to make sure you process the transaction in the local currency. A lot of ATMs and even stores/restaurants run what's basically a scam called "Dynamic Currency Conversion" where they seemingly nicely offer to process the transaction in US dollars, which sounds great, but no surprise they give you an absolutely awful exchange rate, basically adding 4-5% to the transaction. Make sure you always turn down the conversion option and run the transaction on the local currency.

https://flytrippers.com/dynamic-currency-conversion/[/quote]

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