Holders of Greek credit and debit cards will be charged with a commission of 2-3 euros per transaction when they withdraw money from the ATM of another bank. The charge will be equivalent to the amount of withdrawn money.
The measure is to be implemented as of July 20, 2019.
Apparently the extra charge is in line with the commission holders of cards issued by foreign banks have to pay when they withdraw money from Greek banks.
It should be noted that the new charge is not associated with the domestic DIAs system that charges €1.3 – €2.2 when holders withdraw money from a different Greek bank than the one issued the card. The DIAS charge depends on the amount of withdrawn money and on the bank.
It is not clear whether the new charge fee will replace the DIAS fee.
PS I hope we don;t come so far to implement the IMF proposal to sanction cash in crisis countries: For every €100 withdrawal, the bank account holder will receive 97 euros.
This will give people an incentive to barter instead or use alternative money in trade. There is also TAM. This pointless charge for ATM usage is outrageous. Having this system will chase money away from the economy of Greece. Greece depends on tourism. People could instead travel to countries that want business from visitors. 3 Euros per ATM withdrawal is too much of a handling fee and will hinder Greece from growing its economy. Once knowing this many tourists will not want to return to Greece for their vacation dealing with such charges. It’s very cruel to impose this on a country where its people are poor and struggling. Greece needs to do more to attract people to their country, not chase them away with unfriendly and crippling policies for those foreigners who wish to spend and enjoy their time in Greece (such as myself). At least VAT was dropped so I guess it’s a bit of give and take. If this ATM fee drives tourist money away from Greece the people of Greece will know who to go after and blame. The economy in Greece is miserable according to what people still tell me who live there, this latest fee will only weaken an economy trying to emerge from a long depressed situation, with high unemployment. In 2017 I was getting 6 beggars a day asking me for money. It was a pleasure when this stopped later but am afraid it could slip back into that state if the banks continue to undermine Greece’s economy.