Avoiding international transaction fees in Mexico - Tips on cards, ATMs, and banks
-Beach in Mexico- photo by K. Mennem In 2023 Americans are flooding to Mexico in record numbers. Some are working remotely but many more are taking vacations, which is being called revenge travel. One thing not all travelers plan for is the extra fees they find on their bank and credit card accounts when they get home. But there are a few ways to avoid these. Credit cards are very useful in Mexico, but some places only take cash. On top of that, some places are just outright not safe to use a card. So it is good to have both cash and a travel credit card with you at all times (plus emergency cards). For most Americans every ATM trip will tag at least $9–11 USD in fees on top of the withdrawal. This is an ATM fee, a conversion fee (more on this later), and your home bank fee. At the time of writing only a few U.S. banks can waive all of these fees. Here are a few. -CITI — You have to pay a monthly fee or have a decent amount of cash in the account for this benefit -HSBC — same as Citi
