4

I have a pre-loaded "travel wallet" Mastercard issued by a bank in South Africa. When I loaded it I specified an amount in euro and they issued me a different card for GBP. Can I use the euro card to withdraw Swiss francs in Switzerland, even if that attracts a higher fee? Assume that I cannot use my normal credit card (I did not expect a Switzerland stop so I did not tell the bank that I would be using the other cards there).

OUTCOME: At the main train station in Geneva I was able to draw Francs at an ATM which even had the option to debit my card in Euros.

Improve this question
1
  • 2
    Most likely yes, but expect to pay premiums upwards of 5% on exchange rate and fees. The only sure way to know will be to contact the issuer.
    – PassKit
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 8:42

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Yes, you can. Maestro Cards work with every ATM in Switzerland. The currency of the card doesn't matter. The fees depends on the issuing institute (bank). ATMs of the Swiss Post (the yellow ones) charge an extra fee.

Improve this answer
0

Yes you can.

You'd be better off finding a bureau de change though.

Bureaux de change will usually be able to do the card transaction in euros and as a general rule have better exchange rates than ATMs.

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    Source on that? I'd expect accepting the rate that the ATM offers to be poor, but if you opt to be charged in CHF, my experience is that most card issuers beat Bureaux, although there are some rip-off exceptions (and fixed fees can be a killer for small withdrawrals)
    – CMaster
    Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 9:12

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .