No. Bank of America's international partner page, read 17 September 2026, says partner ATMs avoid the non-Bank of America ATM $5 usage fee and the ATM operator access fee. The same page states the bank still assesses an international transaction fee of 3% of the converted US dollar amount.
No. Bank of America's own international ATM partner page, read on 17 September 2026, is precise about what a partner machine saves. Use the card at an International partner ATM and you avoid the non-Bank of America ATM $5 usage fee on each withdrawal, transfer or balance inquiry, and you avoid the ATM operator access fee. The same page then adds the line most write-ups skip, that Bank of America will assess an international transaction fee of 3% of the converted US dollar amount. Nothing on the page ties that 3% to the kind of machine you stood at.
The bank's self-service ATM page, read the same day, says it from the other direction. Its Global ATM Alliance answer names the two charges avoided at International partner ATMs, the $5 non-Bank of America ATM fee per withdrawal or transfer and the operator access fee. Its fee section then states the 3% is assessed on all ATM withdrawals processed in foreign currency. All, not all at non-partner machines.
So the alliance is a two-fee waiver, not a fee-free withdrawal. That matters because the charges behave differently. One is a fixed $5 plus an operator fee you cannot see until you are at the keypad. The other grows with every dollar you pull out, and it is the one that survives at a partner.
Three separate charges can land on one foreign cash withdrawal, and the alliance removes two of them.
The two pages do not quite agree on one detail. The international partner page includes balance inquiry in the waiver. The self-service page names only withdrawal or transfer. If a $5 line follows a balance check at a partner machine, that mismatch is where it came from.
One further caveat sits on the partner page itself, which notes the international transaction fee may be waived for certain account relationships. It names no tier, so that is a question for your own fee schedule rather than an assumption. Our methodology explains how we date figures like these.
Put the two figures together and the arithmetic is blunt. Take out $300 at a partner ATM and the 3% international transaction fee is $9.00. Take out $300 at any other foreign ATM and you pay that same $9.00 plus the $5 usage fee, so $14.00, plus whatever the operator charges on top. The partner saves the $5 and the operator fee. It never touches the $9.
The shape of the table is the lesson. At a partner machine the cost is a flat 3%, so how often you withdraw makes no difference, only the running total does. At a non-partner the $5 is per withdrawal, so four $100 visits cost $20 in usage fees before the percentage starts. Frequency is what you control at a non-partner, total volume is what you control everywhere.
That also means the alliance is worth most to whoever withdraws often in small amounts. Pull $500 once at a partner and you save $5 and one operator fee. Pull the same $500 across five visits and you save $25 and five. The $15 percentage bill is identical either way.
| Cash withdrawn | 3% international transaction fee | Partner ATM total | Non-partner ATM total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $3.00 | $3.00 | $8.00 plus operator fee |
| $200 | $6.00 | $6.00 | $11.00 plus operator fee |
| $300 | $9.00 | $9.00 | $14.00 plus operator fee |
| $500 | $15.00 | $15.00 | $20.00 plus operator fee |
The partner list on the page, read 17 September 2026, is shorter than most travellers assume and covers a specific set of countries.
Spain, Portugal, Japan, Thailand, Greece and most of Asia are not on it. Travel somewhere with no partner and the $5 per withdrawal plus the operator fee are simply part of the budget, leaving fewer and larger withdrawals as the only lever. The page also warns that participation is subject to change and asks you to review the list before travelling.
Cash matters most where card acceptance is thinnest, and the arrival taxi rank is the usual first test. Our guide to airport transfers versus taxis covers where you need notes in hand, and luggage storage covers the station lockers that still want coins.
Because the machine can offer to do the conversion itself. Bank of America's partner page says foreign ATM operators may offer to convert your currency for you and may charge a higher fee for it, and it tells you outright that you may refuse that offer to keep the conversion from costing more than 3%. In practice that is the screen asking whether you want to be charged in US dollars.
The bank's foreign exchange rates FAQ, read the same day, says the rate for international purchases and foreign ATM transactions is set by Visa or Mastercard depending on your card logo. That network rate is the base the 3% applies to, and you can look it up. An operator's dollar quote carries a margin it never shows you.
The bank attaches the 3% to withdrawals processed in foreign currency, and its own advice is to refuse the operator's conversion, so declining the dollar quote is the cheaper of the two routes the page describes. The 3% itself is not negotiable at the keypad. Your only two decisions are which machine you use and whether you accept its conversion offer.
There is no trick that removes the 3%. There is a short routine that stops you paying it alongside charges you did not need to accept.
Budget the percentage as a line item rather than a surprise. On $1,000 of cash across a two-week trip that is $30 whatever machine you use, worth weighing against paying by card and against how much cash the trip really needs. What travel insurance covers is the other place travellers find a charge late.
The other half of the question is how much you are allowed to withdraw at all, where free allowances and daily caps bite. See the Monzo ATM allowance and the Starling daily cash cap, plus the Seven Bank fee nobody publishes for the machine side in a country with no partner.
Yes. Its international partner page, read 17 September 2026, says the international transaction fee of 3% of the converted US dollar amount is assessed by Bank of America, and nothing on that page limits the charge to non-partner machines. The self-service page says the 3% applies to all ATM withdrawals processed in foreign currency.
Two charges. The non-Bank of America ATM $5 usage fee, which the bank assesses on each withdrawal or transfer at a foreign non-Bank of America ATM, and the ATM operator access fee charged by the machine's owner. On a $300 withdrawal that is $5 plus the operator fee, while the $9 percentage fee stays.
On the list read 17 September 2026, Barclays in the United Kingdom, BNP Paribas in France, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Italy, Deutsche Bank in Germany, UkrSibbank in Ukraine, TEB in Turkey, Scotiabank in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile and several Caribbean countries, Westpac in Australia and New Zealand, and China Construction Bank in mainland China excluding Hong Kong.
Local currency. Bank of America's partner page says foreign operators may offer to convert for you and may charge more for it, and it says you may refuse that offer to keep the conversion from costing above 3%. Its exchange rate FAQ says the rate for foreign ATM transactions is set by Visa or Mastercard.
The international partner page carries one line saying the international transaction fee may be waived for certain account relationships. It names no account tier and no amount, so the only reliable answer is your own account's fee schedule or a call to the bank. Do not plan a cash budget assuming the waiver applies to you.
At a partner ATM it makes no difference to Bank of America's fee, since 3% on $600 is $18 whether you take it once or six times. At a non-partner ATM the $5 usage fee lands on each withdrawal, so six $100 withdrawals cost $30 in usage fees before the percentage is added.