STACK Prepaid Mastercard | Credit card reward programs | Discussion forum

Thanks for the update. It sounds really interesting and safer than normal credit/debit cards. Also, the no foreign ATM withdraw is super appealing. Saving those couple dollars makes me happier.

Also some people reported it works just fine in Mexico (Redflagdeals).

II don't understand the attraction of this card. Why wouldn't you just go with the Rogers card or whichever one is not charging forex? With Rogers, you get some cashback and higher spending limits. $500 per transaction would not cover hotel bills if you stayed several days. Why would you see the Stack card as safer than regular CC or debit?
Please explain. I must be missing something.

Thanks for the explanation, peseta. It's helpful.

Top It Up said

Peseta said

Now, its true that local ATM operators might charge you a fee on their end, but in my experience there are a lot of ATMs worldwide that operate fee-free. Its the matter of trying various banks and seeing which one operates fee-free (you're always given a warming before proceeding with the transaction). One thing that you have to look out for is Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC): some ATMs will ask you if you want the ATM owner to convert the currency or let your bank do the conversion.

I have to say, out of all my travels to Europe, I have yet to have a bank-affiliated ATM (I ONLY use bank operated ATMs) show me their ATM fees or DCC options before dispensing the money - never. I do, however, get an after-the-fact $5.00 network transaction fee charged to my account for every foreign currency withdrawal - a fee of which I have ZERO control over.  

What you refer to, I believe, is the foreign withdrawal fee that your bank charges you here at home. Thats pretty normal if you don't have a banking plan that waives foreign transaction fees (RBC VIP Banking, TD All-Inclusive Plan, or using Scotia's ATM Alliance Partner ATMs, etc.)

Normally overseas ATM-operator fees do not show up on your account statement. They are usually displayed on the ATM screen and/or printed on the receipt, and on your bank statement they are part of the total withdrawn amount. For example, if you withdrew an equivalent of CAD50 and the ATM fee was equivalent of CAD5, on your bank statement it will show as a withdrawal of CAD55.

As for DCC, local DCC-enabled ATMs (and merchant terminals) in Europe always warn you how you want to proceed with the transaction: 1. have your own bank do the conversion or 2. have the ATM owner do it.

If you get no warning it means that the ATM is not DCC-enabled and the conversation is be done by your own bank at their own rate. Normally its 2.5+% above the interbank rate (often followed by the $5 fee that you mentioned). A total rip off IMO.

Again, from my own experience, I have never been charged local ATM fees from bank operated ATMs in Europe. It is not displayed on screen NOR is it printed on the receipt NOR is it hidden in the subsequent bank statement. The Canadian equivalent amount + the banks 2.5% administration fee is ALL that is charged i.e. that amount mirrors the daily posted VISA exchange rates ... again, there are NO displayed or hidden ATM fees at the bank operated ATMs I have dealt with.

Fair enough. But just because you haven't come across a European ATM that charges a fee doesn't mean they don't exist. Also, there is more to the world than Europe and my initial post wasn't about a specific geographic area.

True, there are lots of fee-free ATM operators and I mentioned so in my post (for example: BNP and HSBC in France, virtually all banks I've used in Germany, the UK, and Switzerland). But there are also plenty of banks in Europe that do charge a fee (BBVA in Spain, SEB in Estonia, Danske Bank in Sweden, etc.) and operate DCC-enabled ATMs (i.e. Santander bank).

Just because you haven't come across such fees in your travels, doesn't mean that others haven't, or that these fees don't exist - there are plenty of disclaimers about them in banking fine prints, including that of STACK's. Nor does it mean that readers of this forum should not be informed about them. That's the whole point of this site - to help each other save money, not to leash out at each other. To be very clear, I was saying what was to watch out for as a possible fee using a foreign ATM. I wasn't making factual statements about anyone's personal banking experiences in any particular country or continent.

I do, however, get an after-the-fact $5.00 network transaction fee charged to my account for every foreign currency withdrawal - a fee of which I have ZERO control over.

At least two banks in Canada offer banking plans that waive that $5 fee: TD for $29.95 a month (waived if balance is $5000+) and RBC for $30 a month. So consumers do have ability to control whether or not they get charged that $5 fee, especially if one is a very frequent traveler. The option is there. Whether one uses it or not is a matter of a personal choice (and budget, I suppose).

I have nothing else to say and I will not engage in a useless back and forth with you, but I do want to ask you to be respectful on the forum and act like an adult. Its not that hard.

Used this in Mexico without any problems. Adding money was instant. Like the fact that this card is more compatible in Mexico than the ones used by Scotia, CIBC, and TD. Seems that the Big 5 have compatibility issues with a few banks and merchants. Saving the 2.5% fee is great.