atms and exchanging dollars

rkimages said:

Hello everyone,
What's the bank that has the lowest fees for using the atms? Does Bank of America have any agreement with any of the banks?
What's the best place to exchange dollars in Santo Domingo and Las Terrenas?
Should we try to exchange money or get money from the atm at the airport?
Thank you!

Click to expand...

One would not exchange money at an airport, as the rates will be inferior.
ATM service rates vary but not by all that much, and only your own bank would be able to tell you which DR bank will cost you the least fees, if any.

You will almost always obtain a superior rate a casa de cambio, for cash, outside of an airport or AI. In only 1 out of almost 20 trips did i find an exception to this.

Even with associated fees, and I'm lucky to have minimal fees with my banking arrangements, I find ATMs to be a very economical source of pesos. It's recommended to take the max amount you can to minimize per transaction fees.

I understand that Bank of America has a relationship with Scotia Bank in the DR, and has very low fees. Try a search and you should be able to find threads for further reference.

rkimages said:

Hello everyone,
What's the bank that has the lowest fees for using the atms? Does Bank of America have any agreement with any of the banks?
What's the best place to exchange dollars in Santo Domingo and Las Terrenas?
Should we try to exchange money or get money from the atm at the airport?
Thank you!

Click to expand...

There is no fee for using a BOA ATM card at Scotia Bank.

my own experience with european master card at all ATM's in the Bavaro area is a 5 euros fee per transaction plus 1% for the use in a foreign country, max amount per transaction is 10.000.- pesos (US$300.-), you can make multiple transactions at the same ATM at the same time up to your card limit.
ATM's always provide a great exchange rate
happy travel
Mike