Millennials spend millions on international ATM fees

Australia is a nation that loves to travel, and millennials are living large spending a whopping $11.3 billion overseas per year1.

But it’s not all souvenirs and sangria, with $183 million spent on international ATM fees alone.

Research from Westpac’s 2016 Travel Finance Report reveals, while millennials are responsible and budgeting ahead of their overseas trips, they are not considering the price of international ATM fees. In fact, most millennials believe international ATM fees cost around $3 per transaction; in reality fees are closer to $7 per transaction3.

Considering millennials who use overseas ATMs do so an average of 10 times per overseas trip, the price tag of these fees can quickly add up.

Ashley Gray, Westpac’s Head of Youth and Millennial Markets said, “The research shows millennials don’t know the cost of using international ATMs, a cost which can quickly chew through their budget, but can be reduced through some simple research.”

When told how much money they were spending on overseas ATM withdrawal fees, millennials who used overseas ATMs said they would rather spend that money on food and drink (61 per cent), shopping (42 per cent), gifts for others back home (32 per cent), visiting more attractions (30 per cent), more souvenirs (27 per cent) and extreme activities like bungee jumping, skydiving or white water rafting (11 per cent).

“Interestingly, the research also found that in order to save money on international ATM withdrawal fees, millennials’ overseas withdrawal amounts are more than double what they are in Australia and carrying this extra cash makes them feel vulnerable and worried,” said Mr Gray.

The average millennial traveller further indicated they would be willing to sacrifice 177.6 minutes of holiday time to walk an extra 8.7 minutes each way just to use an ATM where they were not charged an ATM withdrawal fee.

“I encourage millennials to thoroughly research their destination in advance and create a daily travel budget that takes into account current exchange rates, the cost of food and drinks, transport and sightseeing expenses. It’s important to be realistic when planning a budget. To help, Westpac has an online budgeting tool to get you started.

“Once overseas, a simple way for millennials to save cash is to take advantage of Westpac’s Global ATM Alliance which offers over 50,000 ATMs worldwide with no withdrawal fee. Use the Westpac mobile banking app ATM locator to pinpoint the exact locations of the Global ATM Alliance ATMs in the area you’ll be travelling to. If you do this ahead of departing, you’ll know exactly where to go as soon as you land and won’t need to rely on an internet connection,” added Mr Gray.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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