Linda and Ron Audet

We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often do
not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to take
a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
withdraw our funds from our bank.

We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the continent,
or has the problem been exaggerated?

Jcoulter

"Linda and Ron Audet" <> wrote in
news:9YOdnfEsmaHwJurfRVn-:



    >
    > We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without
    > problems. Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on
    > the continent, or has the problem been exaggerated?

I have never had any trouble in Belgium. I had trouble once in Germany but
never in any other western european country.

Markku Gr

"jcoulter" <> kirjoitti viestiss

Googled

"Linda and Ron Audet" <> wrote in message
news:9YOdnfEsmaHwJurfRVn-...
    > We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
    > postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often
do
    > not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
    > suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to
take
    > a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
    > withdraw our funds from our bank.
    > We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
    > Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the
continent,
    > or has the problem been exaggerated?

The Visa ATM locator at
http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp shows 100
Visa/Plus ATMs in Brugge. I would hope that the majority of the ATMs listed
would work just fine. If you really want to be safe you should have one ATM
card that works on the Plus network and another for the Cirrus network.

Robert Clark

Linda and Ron Audet wrote:
    > We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
    > postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often do
    > not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
    > suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to take
    > a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
    > withdraw our funds from our bank.
    >
    > We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
    > Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the continent,
    > or has the problem been exaggerated?

There are 2 types of ATM bank machines in the Belgian banking system.

The first type is an 'in bank' self-banking machine, usually in the
lobby of a bank branch. These 'in bank' machines are for the use of
account-holders for that particular bank chain - cash withdrawals,
electronic payment orders, bank statements, etc. Your VISA/MC/AMEX or
US-based bank card / debit card will not work in these machines.

The second type is the 'hole in the wall' ATM which will be branded
"Bancontact/Mr. Cash". They are normally exterior (on the street)
outside the bank-branch, or in shopping malls. These are the ATMs that
you use to access your US bank account, or to take cash advances on a
credit card. The "Bancontact/Mr. Cash" machines are on the worldwide
Cirrus/Maestro network, which would allow access to your account back
home. (If in doubt, check at your home branch before you go that they
are in Cirrus/Maestro network.) You'll also find "Bancontact/Mr. Cash"
point-of-sale devices in most stores - again you can use your home bank
card to directly debit your bank account. (The POS devices will give a
choice between paying "Bancontact" or "Proton" ... you want Bancontact,
the Proton service is an electronic wallet on a chip in Belgian banking
cards, for quick small payments.)

Important note - the Belgian banking system expects 4-digit PINs. Some
US & Canadian banks default to 3-digit PINs, so won't work in Belgium.
If you do happen to have a 3-digit PIN, just get your home branch to
change you to a 4-digit one before you travel, and you will be OK.

EvelynVogtGamble

Linda and Ron Audet wrote:

    > We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
    > postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often do
    > not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
    > suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to take
    > a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
    > withdraw our funds from our bank.

So long as your ATM card bears one of the logos the ATM
machine displays, you should have no problem. Due to the
time difference, I think my bank was off-line for
maintenance, one time I tried to withdraw cash in Brussels,
but ordinarily I had no difficulty during several visits
there. (Except the one Sunday evening, when all the
machines on the Grand Place were out of money - but that was
the weekend of an important soccer tournament, so more
tourists than usual were using the machines.)

    >
    > We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
    > Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the continent,
    > or has the problem been exaggerated?

I think people were exagerating - Belgium is, after all, the
capital of the European Union. It's probably true that some
banks only allow withdrawals by their own customers, but if
the machine displays any of the logos on the back of your
card, you should have no difficulty.

Runge

exagerated of course

"Linda and Ron Audet" <> a

Martin Bienwald

Linda and Ron Audet schrieb:
    > We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
    > postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often do
    > not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
    > suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to take
    > a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
    > withdraw our funds from our bank.
    >
    > We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
    > Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the continent,
    > or has the problem been exaggerated?

I think the problem has been exaggerated. There *are* Belgian ATMs which
accept only Belgian bank cards, or even only bank cards issued by a certain
bank or group of banks. (Interestingly, we found an ATM which accepted my
German bank card without any problems but refused Belgian cards issued by
the "wrong" banks.)

But then, there are so many ATMs around that you can just walk over to the
next one if one refuses your card.

... Martin

Bill Steltzer

That's a great explanation. I suspect that that's what often happens
when people try to use a "bank only" dispenser and think it's a regular
ATM machine - not just in Belgium but in other countries too.

Tom Peel

googled wrote:
    > "Linda and Ron Audet" <> wrote in message
    > news:9YOdnfEsmaHwJurfRVn-...
    >
    >>We will be going to Belgium in a couple of weeks. Having read several
    >>postings stating that ATMs in Belgium, especially in Bruges, very often
    >
    > do
    >
    >>not accept American bank cards, we are wondering what other travelers
    >>suggest as the best way to exchange currency there. We are reluctant to
    >
    > take
    >
    >>a large amount of cash, but we don't want to find ourselves unable to
    >>withdraw our funds from our bank.
    >>We have used ATMs in other European countries many times without problems.
    >>Can Belgium really be that different from other countries on the
    >
    > continent,
    >
    >>or has the problem been exaggerated?
    >
    >
    > The Visa ATM locator at
    > http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp shows 100
    > Visa/Plus ATMs in Brugge. I would hope that the majority of the ATMs listed
    > would work just fine. If you really want to be safe you should have one ATM
    > card that works on the Plus network and another for the Cirrus network.
    >
    >
Ummm.. well, that link is extremely useful, but if I read it correctly
it shows 100 ATMs within 50 miles of Brugge, and only 10 in the town
itself. Of those, only 3 are right in the centre. The problem is that
there are lots of banks in Brugge, but most of them are not part of the
Bancomat network.

T.