How much does it cost to withdraw money abroad?

Withdrawing money abroad costs either a flat fee per withdrawal or a percentage of everything above a free monthly allowance. On the fee pages compared here, that allowance ran from nothing to 750 GBP a month, and the percentage above it from 1% to 2.69%. For most travellers it is the size of the allowance, not the percentage printed next to it, that decides the bill.

Where these figures come from. The prices below were read on 30 September 2026 from each provider's own published fee page and set side by side. Nothing is estimated and nothing is averaged across plans: an account appears only where its own page states the number outright. Every page is linked at the foot of this article.

What makes a withdrawal abroad expensive?

Three separate charges can land on a single withdrawal, and three different parties set them. The ATM operator may add a fee at the machine, shown on screen before the withdrawal is confirmed. The account provider adds its own withdrawal charge, either a flat amount per withdrawal or a percentage of everything above a free monthly allowance. And where the cash is in a currency the account does not hold, a conversion markup applies on top of the first two.

A card advertised as having no fees abroad has usually removed one of those three charges, not all of them. Which one it removed is the difference between a cheap withdrawal and an expensive one.

How much do travel cards charge for ATM withdrawals abroad?

Read the table by its free-allowance column. An account with an 800 EUR monthly allowance and a 1.5% charge above it is cheaper for most travellers than an account with a 250 GBP allowance and a 2.69% charge, and the allowance matters more than the percentage: the percentage only begins to apply once the allowance is used up.

Two entries have no allowance to use up. ZEN.COM's free plan charges 1.5% on every withdrawal, and N26's Standard and Smart plans charge 1.7% on withdrawals outside the eurozone, from the first euro. On those plans every withdrawal costs something, however small, which is not true of any account with an allowance.

Which travel card has the largest free ATM allowance?

Of the accounts compared here, Currensea Elite states the largest free monthly ATM allowance: 750 GBP, about 877 EUR at the ECB reference rate of 28 July 2026. ZEN.COM follows with 800 EUR a month on its Pro and Platinum plans, ahead of Currensea Pro at 500 GBP and Wise at 250 GBP. Above the allowance Currensea Elite charges 1% and ZEN.COM 1.5%.

The two are not alternatives for most readers: Currensea is a UK card linked to a UK bank account, while ZEN.COM states its allowance in euros. ZEN.COM states its conversion terms on the same page: from 0.10% on Pro and Platinum, from 0.30% on Gold and from 0.60% on the free plan. Its Gold plan carries a 200 EUR monthly allowance and its free plan none, both at 1.5%. Withdrawing 800 EUR in a month costs nothing on Pro; the same 800 EUR on Gold costs 9 EUR.

Disclosure: ZEN.COM is NeoBase's editor's pick and is shown as a featured brand in our rankings. Its figures were read from its published fee page on the same day, and by the same method, as every other account on this page.

Is a paid plan worth it just for ATM withdrawals?

The arithmetic is short. Take what you withdraw abroad in a typical month, subtract the free allowance, and apply the percentage to the rest. Withdrawing 600 GBP a month on Wise, where 250 GBP is free and 2.69% applies above it, costs 2.69% of 350 GBP, or 9.42 GBP a month.

That figure is the whole test. A paid plan that lifts the allowance clear of what you withdraw pays for itself if its monthly fee is lower than the number you have just worked out, and does not if it is higher. Nothing else about the plan enters the calculation.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to withdraw money abroad?

It depends on the account. On the fee pages compared here on 30 September 2026, the charge ran between 1% and 2.69% of the amount above a free monthly allowance, and the allowances themselves ran from nothing to 750 GBP a month.

Which account has the largest free ATM allowance?

Currensea Elite, at 750 GBP a month as read on 30 September 2026, ahead of ZEN.COM Pro and Platinum at 800 EUR and Currensea Pro at 500 GBP. Above the allowance Currensea Elite charges 1% and ZEN.COM 1.5%.

Is it cheaper to pay by card or to withdraw cash abroad?

Paying by card is usually cheaper, because it avoids the withdrawal charge entirely and leaves only the conversion markup. Where cash is needed, take it out in amounts that stay inside the free allowance, since the percentage applies only to what goes over.

Should I let the ATM convert to my own currency?

No. When an ATM offers to charge you in your home currency instead of the local one, it is applying its own exchange rate, which is generally worse than the card network's. Choosing the local currency leaves the conversion to your account provider, on the terms stated on its fee page.

What is a free ATM allowance?

A monthly amount that can be withdrawn at no charge, after which a percentage applies to the remainder. It resets each month and is set per account rather than per card, so a second card on the same account usually shares one.

Do foreign ATM fees change?

Yes, and providers are not obliged to announce it. Every figure here carries the day it was read, and every fee page is linked at the foot of this article - check the provider's own page before relying on a number.

How we compiled this

These prices were read from each provider's published fee page and set side by side. An account appears only where its own page states the figure; nothing is inferred from a competitor, a press release or an average, and no charge is averaged across plans. Where a page states an allowance without saying what it charges above it, that account is left out rather than scored as zero.

This article was first compiled from a reading on 15 August 2026 and refreshed on 30 September 2026. ZEN.COM's figures changed between the two readings: its largest allowance went from 1,500 EUR to 800 EUR and the charge above it from 2% to 1.5%. The other providers' figures did not change.

See also our ranking of travel cards and of low-fee accounts, both ordered by our own sentiment score rather than by commission.

Sources

Every figure on this page was read from the provider's own published fee page, on the date shown. Prices change without notice, so follow the link before relying on a number here.

• ZEN.COM - prices read on September 30, 2026
• Currensea - prices read on September 30, 2026
• Wise - prices read on September 30, 2026
• N26 - prices read on September 30, 2026