What is the best source of information for ATM availability?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 4 Aug, 2023
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Once you go outside of your home country the vast majority of ATM transactions are handled via either the Visa or MasterCard owned networks. Even where they are handled via other mechanisms, you can pretty much presume that any ATM which is going to to allow international cards to be used is going to be a part of the Visa and/or MasterCard networks. This is true regardless of whether the card is a Credit Card, a Visa/MasterCard logoed Debit Card, or just a plain bank ATM card with the Plus, Maestro or Cirrus logos on the back.
Both Visa (Plus) and MasterCard (Maestro/Cirrus) have features on their websites where you can search a specific city anywhere in the world to find ATMs that will work with any Visa/MasterCard cards.
Presuming your ATM card is marked with either a MasterCard, Maestro or Cirrus logo then it should work at any of the ATMs listed on the Mastercard locator. Mastercard also have a Mobile App for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.
If it’s marked with either a Visa, Electron or Plus logos, then it should work at any ATM on the Visa locator, or on the mobile version.
You’d probably want to know about the Global ATM Alliance. The Global ATM Alliance is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their ATM card or debit card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no International ATM Access fees. However, other fees, such as an international transaction or foreign currency fee, may still apply for some account holders. Participating banks cover Australasia, Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America.
For amazing detail of bank availability and ATM usage around the world check the Wikipedia page on the Global ATM Alliance.
EDIT
Also found the following two ATM locator sites:
This would have especially been useful in places like Nukus, Uzbekistan, where there was just ONE of the one type…hidden away in a bank on the non-tourist side of town…
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘