In Reply to: dennisc you out there posted by bogden on Monday, 8. February 2010 at 07:21 Bali Time:
I'm not sure about gillb, but I'm not talking about using a credit card. It's a visa debit card but it has no credit facility attached to it - I only spend my own money in my bank account, just like any regular ATM card.
I get charged a monthly account keeping fee plus any excess transaction fees (which is on the savings account, not the card), but I also get a 'loyalty rebate' for having savings and loans, so the fees are usually cancelled out most months anyway. There's no annual fee on having the visa debit card at all.
I've checked my statements thoroughly after every trip and there's never been any extra fees added for overseas ATM withdrawals. And as I've said, I've compared the exchange rate I get to the one available at reputable money exchangers on the same day and it's always within a couple of hundred rupiah.
There's nothing hidden at all. I guess that's one of the benefits of being a member of a credit union rather than a customer at a bank.