ATM Fee Impact Calculator

Compare the cost of ATM withdrawal strategies abroad.

About ATM Fee Impact Calculator

Flat fees reward fewer, larger withdrawals while percentage fees are indifferent to the split. Always declining conversion to your home currency at the machine avoids a markup of around five per cent. The prompt offering to charge you in your own currency is never in your favour, and declining it is the single easiest saving available abroad.

Formula

ATM Fee Impact

Total fees = withdrawals × flat fee + cash × percentage fee

flat fee: Charged per transaction, so fewer larger withdrawals cost less
dynamic currency conversion: Being charged in your home currency at a poor rate

Worked example

With the default values below, ATM Fee Impact Calculator returns Total Fees of $51.75. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Total cash neededminimum 0: 900
Number of withdrawalsminimum 1: 6
Flat fee per withdrawalminimum 0: 4.5
Percentage feeaccepts 0–100 %: 2.75 %
Markup if accepting local currency conversionaccepts 0–100 %: 5 %

Results

Total Fees: $51.75
Fees as a Share of Cash Withdrawn: 5.750%
Cost per Withdrawal: $8.63
Fees With Half as Many Withdrawals: $38.25
Extra Cost if Accepting Local Conversion: $45.00

Step by step

1Values used
2ATM Fee Impact
3Total Fees= 51.75
4Fees as a Share of Cash Withdrawn= 5.750
5Cost per Withdrawal= 8.63
6Fees With Half as Many Withdrawals= 38.25
7Extra Cost if Accepting Local Conversion= 45.00

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is ATM Fee Impact calculated?

Total fees = withdrawals × flat fee + cash × percentage fee Flat fees reward fewer, larger withdrawals while percentage fees are indifferent to the split. Always declining conversion to your home currency at the machine avoids a markup of around five per cent.

Why does ATM Fee Impact matter?

The prompt offering to charge you in your own currency is never in your favour, and declining it is the single easiest saving available abroad.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 5 inputs: Total cash needed, Number of withdrawals, Flat fee per withdrawal, Percentage fee, Markup if accepting local currency conversion. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.