My maximum ATM withdrawal got boosted!

[DandyDon]

I really do not withdraw cash at ATMs other than on my trips to Cozumel so I have no idea when this happened or how. Last year I had a $300-something limit, my bank told me that I could not get that changed, so I pulled $6,000 Pesos out a day until I got enough for my hotel and other expenses for the trip. I think I have about $1,000 MXN left from last year to take back with me which will help with little things until I get to a bank ATM there.

I have no idea as to how it got changed, but on today's call to alert my bank of my expectation of usage in Mexico next week I asked what my limit was, and it's now $710. Wow, I can pull $15,000 MXN the first day, keep most in my room safe, and not have to revisit the ATM every day. My hotel is booked in Pesos, but I like a cheap hotel downtown so that one withdrawal may get me thru the nine days.

For any newcomers to the Cozumel forum, just in case: Only use bank ATMs, not the independent machines that have a bad reputation for selling your card info, and beware Dynamic Conversion as seen in photos here: More photos of the bank ATM scam

So does anyone know how this got changed? Or does anyone know which ATMs are giving the best rates for the lowest fees?

 

[flyboy08]

I get all my atm fees refunded so I don't fret about where I go but Mega is the place I usually get cashola...i got 21.5 peso to to the dollar from the Santander money store

 

[sefuchs]

Not exactly sure when the banks up’d the ATM withdraw limit but believe it was June. I have 3 different banks and they all increased my w/d limit (w/o any notification) so believe it was across the board with all major banks.

 

[horn34]

Your ATM withdrawal limit is not some magical ethereal fluctuating matrix.

It's a very straightforward combination of your banks daily limit and another banks daily limit.

If your bank has a daily withdrawal limit of $500, that is your daily limit.

So if some bank in Utah/Cozumel/Ibiza/Moscow has a $1000 daily account limit, you're still only getting $500 from you account per day.

If your bank has a daily withdrawal limit of $1000, that is your daily limit.

So if some bank in Utah/Cozumel/Ibiza/Moscow has a $1000 daily account limit, you can get $1000 from you account per day at any of those banks.

Now if some bank in Utah/Cozumel/Ibiza/Moscow has a $500 daily account limit and your bank limit is $1000 per day, you can easily get your $1000 by going to the ATM of 2 different banks.


Again, not magical. Your bank has daily limits. Other banks have daily limits. You need to know both.


PS, If your bank says your daily limit is $300 and they can't change it, the person you're talking to is an idiot. Or lying. And your bank blows goats. Or you are really poor.

 

[mediumone]

Your ATM withdrawal limit is not some magical ethereal fluctuating matrix.
PS, If your bank says your daily limit is $300 and they can't change it, the person you're talking to is an idiot. Or lying. And your bank blows goats. Or you are really poor.

Absolutely correct - on all points.
Quoted the PS because it was funny, and worth repeating.

 

[DandyDon]

PS, If your bank says your daily limit is $300 and they can't change it, the person you're talking to is an idiot. Or lying. And your bank blows goats. Or you are really poor.

Banks can be such assholes at times. At least the employees are nice. Texas used to have horrible banking laws rooted in our days of a bankrupt republic seeking to join the Union, designed to encourage local developments by preventing Yankee banks from taking over later so no branches, no tellers in locations not physically connected to the banks, etc. Those finally changed and Yankee banks have been taking over since, but at least we have ATMs now.

 

[cozcharlie]

I haven’t been to Coz ATM for a few weeks , but there were more issues than normal the last time I was there so even old Coz hands might get thrown for a loop

1). The individual limits on some of the grocery store ATMs (Chedraui/Mega/etc) were lower on a per transaction level than pre-pandemic (6,000MXN on some ). Not certain if this was true at all bank brands and/or bank branch ATMs. Certainly don’t use the ones on the street, but usually the large grocery store ones are OK. I am pretty sure Dave D said he had his PIN number stolen at one in a grocery store ATM once, but the bank branch ATMs aren’t 100 percent safe either
2). I think most know this , but a lot of ATMs have transaction limits below your home bank accounts daily limit, so you have to do multiple transactions in order to reach your daily limit (the ATMs transaction limit is in pesos , so as Horn34 noted you kind of have to do the math in your head ). If you want more than the individual transaction limit from an ATM, a lot of times you don’t even need fo switch to the ATM of a different bank company, you can just hit same ATM over and over. Lower transaction limits may be the banks way of collecting more service fees for the same amount of peso withdrawal. Note some ATMs don’t even tell you the limit prior to requesting money , sometimes there is trial and error involved if you aren’t choosing one of their preset amounts (1,000, 2,000MXN etc ).

3). Be careful of transactions that end up with a data error (says something about can’t connect with your bank ). I was at a reputable grocery store ATM from a major international bank (starts with Sant...). I have probably used a dozen times before. Tried to withdraw cash on 2 different days, it gave an error about not connecting after I had entered my PIN desired amount of pesos etc. I didn’t really think anything of it , especially given i had to hit 4 different ATMs to get money those days due to various bank errors (probably six or 7 different tries). Note I have been getting money from ATMs in Cozumel for decades, this was not a user error issue. Later I realized later the desired pesos had been deducted from my account for the transactions that “failed” due to a connection error. I called my bank and they reversed the charges after a 10 day “investigation “ I am hoping the reversal is permanent since the reversal was six weeks ago. I might take a snapshot of the ATM screen if you get a data connection error. Was really kind of weird. I am used to the risk of someone skimming my card and stealing my pin etc, wasn’t used to the risk of what looked like a computer code driven issue where it tells me transaction failed but they deduct the money anyway. I am hoping the card skimming stuff that has been a risk for years is less of an issue with chip embedded cards.

 

[DiverN2H2O]

Chip cards are easily skimmed . The only way to avoid having this happen is always before inserting your card grasp the card insert ring and pull.
Skim readers are applied using either 2 sided tape or magnets.
Also look around the key pad for small cameras, especially at gas stations above and shield the pad with you other hand.
Pay attention for anyone close by that seems to be loitering, sitting in the car Or let’s you go ahead of them while they fiddle with something.

 

[ReefHound]

I might take a snapshot of the ATM screen if you get a data connection error.

Great idea! Never thought of that though I do it in many other situations. might as well snap a pic on the fees and amount screen as well.

 

[cozcharlie]

Chip cards are easily skimmed . The only way to avoid having this happen is always before inserting your card grasp the card insert ring and pull.
Skim readers are applied using either 2 sided tape or magnets.
Also look around the key pad for small cameras, especially at gas stations above and shield the pad with you other hand.
Pay attention for anyone close by that seems to be loitering, sitting in the car Or let’s you go ahead of them while they fiddle with something.

I try to watch for people/cameras/add ons to the card reader etc, but I am sure I could miss things .

I am sure there is a still risk, but I just have a plain ATM card (not a debit card). Best I can tell is they can’t really steal all the chip data since it generates a new code each time. They do have something called a shimmer that goes well inside the ATM slot (paper thin) that steals data from the chip, but it sounds like that is the same data on the strip (not the algorithm/whatever that generates the new code each time).

Without debit/credit card functionality, seems like it would be difficult for them to get much use out of it (can’t just buy stuff/gift cards over the internet like credit card scammers). Could create fake ATM card, but if bank ATM just accepts the stripe data for a card that is supposed to have chip, kind of their fault if they get ripped off (though it may wind up my headache). Not sure if gas station ATMs have all upgraded to chip or not (haven’t used one in a decade or more).

Would be interested in any further comments from anyone that happens to know a lot about this issue

Article on skimming/shimming :
[What’s the Difference Between Skimming and Shimming? - CStore Decisions]