List of Foreign currency fee-free ATMs
Raphaels Bank: 
link to locations, 
Picadilly Circus & Canary Wharf (Note: to be confirmed if they debit your account in the foreign currency)
CitiBank: & Canary Wharf
Let me know of any others. Looking for ATMs where you can choose to be debited in the withdrawn foreign currency (without DCC) to make use of 
amazing rates.
If you use these, does the ATM owner set the exchange rate, or is it done at the MasterCard rate?
Hmmm as far as exchange rate is concerned I’m not sure foreign currency ATMs in the UK work the same way as withdrawing local currency abroad.
My suspicion is you’ll always be charged the owning bank’s exchange rate. It may or may not also come with a flat fee, but if it shows ‘no fee’ you’re almost certainly taking more of a hit on the exchange rate to cover this marketing sleight of hand.
I don’t think Mastercard’s rate ever comes into play when withdrawing foreign currency at an ATM in the UK, but happy to be told otherwise. I think @GalaxyMergirl has some knowledge, perhaps?
Yes! At least some foreign currency ATMs do allow you to opt out of DCC. For example the ones in TfL stations. They try to encourage you to DCC but not even as aggressively as many I’ve seen abroad.
I’ve used the Raphaels Bank ATM at South Kensington station to withdraw Euros. Unfortunately I can’t comment on the exchange rate because I used my Revolut card and I only had a EUR balance (i.e. no GBP). It did ask the DCC question though. I declined and the amount I received matched the debit from my account as expected.
With the impending doom of the pound thanks to brexit, I would like to start slowly accumulating Japanese yen for my next trip, rather than waiting until I can afford the full amount, so one of these ATMs would be great, but I’m guessing none of them do yen 
I’d say to anyone planning a trip, regardless of what you might think the exchange rate might do, it would be advisable to buy roughly half of your planned spending money as and when you can afford it. You’ll benefit less if the rate moves in your favour, but lose less if it goes the other way.
Also, although Brexit may have an effect on the exchange rate, don’t forget to factor in anything which may affect the perceived value of the currency you are buying.
Thing is, I can afford to buy roughly £100 a month, and trying to buy that little spending money online is expensive when you account for massaged exchanged rates and postage, so I’d probably be doing it every few months instead. However, if I could use an ATM to buy smaller amounts more regularly and cheaper, that would be more worthwhile.
As for perceived value, not sure what you mean, but considering I know roughly how much spending money I want, and it’ll stop me from spending pounds on other things, it seems like a worthwhile investment to me…
Can’t you store it in TransferWise or Revolut instead?
What I meant was, that just because the pound might drop in relation to a basket of currencies, the same could happen to the Yen. Which could leave them relatively unchanged towards each other.
You are correct that transaction costs are an issue. I usually buy £150 of Euros every three months, and generally use my Monzo card for most spending in Europe.
Have a great trip!
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.