New HSBC ATM

[suzyq1]

Recently on the KTLN web site they announced that a new HSBC ATM was going to be put in place by the end of July. It was going to be positioned in front of Midtown Cafe. I know things always take longer than planned, but wondering if any one has any updates on this.

Apparently there was going to be a request made to the bank to have the option to  be able to take out sterling.

Would appreciate any feed back when it is up and running, particularly from HSBC  customers.

HSBC state that there is only a charge for taking out non sterling when abroad so I am assuming I should be able to get sterling out for free and then change it to lira.

 I understand from other helpful posts on here  that  I can also get sterling out from the ATM at the Garanti Bank? Is the Garanti ATM outside so that I can get money at the weekend?

Thanks once again.



Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=11436.0

[Charlie]

Garanti Bank is on the same road as Midtown Cafe but on the opposite side.  The ATM machine is located outside the bank so available at all hours.

[MartynE]

the HSBC machine is up and running.

Haven't actually used it yet to find out if there is a charge... but I will now (it's right next door) and will report back very shortly

[Charlie]

Definitely no charge for withdrawing sterling from the Garanti bank using a Nationwide Flex account debit card.  Used it in July many, many times!!! 

[MartynE]

Spooky.... was just going out to check and had an email arrive from John at KTLN asking me to post this update link!:

http://kalkan.turkishlocalnews.com/portal/kalkan-news/306542-hsbc-atm-now-working-in-kalkan

[MartynE]

Ok... just used the machine... drew out some GBP from my UK First Direct account (which is HSBC of course) and no charge. Also withdrew some TL... no charge, but exchange rate not displayed - will report back on exchange rate once it appears on my statement.

[MartynE]

Woop! Exchange rate was 2.93

[Babs]

so, to recap........I'm thinking of the best thing for my daughter who is in Kalkan in a couple of weeks and has a HSBC current account. Bring enough cash for first evening......she is 21 and arriving with 3 friends late afternoon so hair will need to be straightened, make up primed etc so no time to draw out cash.....then use the HSBC ATM for excellent rate at no charge? Does that sound about right Martyn (aka HSBC and ATM expert)

[Babs]

Final question....she tells me she has cash squirrelled away for her holiday....what are the exchange rates like in the shops that do exchange if she decides she would rather do that?
Thanks!

[Cuddles]

The shops generally give a slightly worse rate than the banks. On KTLN it indicates that the shops are giving 2.85 - 2.89TL for £1. Try feeding the sterling into the ATM at Isbank. Here's a (slightly modified) post I put up on 25 June.

I drew out about £1,000 in sterling from Garanti Bank's ATM on my Nationwide debit cards over 6 weeks, the charges were nil.
I then changed the sterling into TL at the Işbank ATM and got a good rate at that time, (much better than any of the shops were offering.) The Isbank charge for each of about 4 transactions was around 1 - 2 TL and this is taken before the TL are given out. Compared with the shop rates, doing the exchange this way was up to 15 kurus per pound better at that time.

Just worked out that by doing it as above, I saved enough to pay for a crate of Efes! Whoohoo

[MartynE]

On the face of it Babs, if your daughter  has an HSBC account in the UK then it would appear an attractive way of getting TL out here. One disclaimer I need to add to my earlier posts, however... although there was no mention of a charge for withdrawal either on the screen or on the receipt, I haven't actually seen the transactions appear on my online statement yet, so it is still possible that they might add a charge for the withdrawal. Obviously if that happens I will let you know as it would make this method less attractive. 

The current rate in the shops is about 2.87 by the way - so not that big a difference anyway.

[Babs]

Thanks Martyn.......she's a big girl so she can make a decision armed with the facts and as you say there's not much difference in the rates......which are probably the best we've ever known them!

[Lizilu20]

We bank with Barclays and rang them to ask if it would be free withdrawals if we withdrew sterling rather than TL (to then change the cash to TL).
All they could say was that there would be a charge for withdrawing foreign currency. We explained that we would be withdrawing sterling. They then said that turkish ATM's did not give out sterling!!! We politely said that this was not the case but they wouldn't have it.
We tried twice on the phone and once in branch and none if the advisors knew if we would be charged for withdrawing sterling! 

[littlelin]

Earlier this year I drew out sterling from our First Direct account using a Garanti ATM and was charged £5. Glad to know I'll be able to use the HSBC ATM in future and not get charged. Be interesting to see if MartynE gets charged for withdrawing TL.

[suzyq1]

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied

I know what you mean Lizilu, no one in my local branch would categorically say I wouldn't be charged for taking out sterling, even though I showed them their own current account leaflet stating that there were only  charges abroad for taking out non sterling!  I too had to convince  them that I could take out sterling from certain Turkish ATMs.

Thanks for being our guinea pig Martyn. We will await the outcome re charges for taking out lira.
Might be a stupid question, but when taking out lira do you  input the amount you want in pounds?

Its Friday night so I guess you will be singing your heart out perfecting your set for your special guests on the 13th! Look forward to meeting you.

Suzyq1

[suzyq1]

Hi MartynE,

I was wondering if you have had a chance to look at your bank statement yet to see if you incurred any charges for withdrawing the  sterling and lira from the HSBC ATM?

[kalkan4eva]

Like littlelin, we were also charged for withdrawing sterling from our First Direct account at Garanti ATM (£2.50). It is apparently charged as a foriegn transaction whether you withdraw sterling or lira....well thats what was told when I challenged it. I have also been charged for withdrawing sterling from the HSBC in Fethiye. On those occasions the charges were not deducted at source, nor was there any warning on screen to inform me of charges, it was simply shown on my statement weeks later. If HSBC have now decided not to charge for customer withdrawals abroad from their dedicated ATM's they haven't made that obvious to customers so please let us know how you get on Martyn E 

[MartynE]

Still not appearing on statement

[amber]

I have withdrawn lira from both my HSBC Fethiye and UK accounts with no charge.However it may depend what account you hold in the UK.
It wasnt offering sterling this week,just lira or euros.

[MartynE]

Bad news... I got charged £1.75 for each transaction!

Conclusion: don't withdraw small amounts (either TL or GBP) from a UK account using the HSBC ATM. Larger amounts may be more cost-effective, but you need to do the maths.

Overall, I think it has already been established that there are cheaper ways of getting your hands on your  wonga, in either currency 

Shame.. I think HSBC have missed a trick there.