Bank Link always unavailable

Hi Kevan - have encountered the same problem in Amandola at times - and have got round it by going to Sarnano [wrong way for you I know] .... have also been told it is "the link" I believe the Communanza bancomats are on the same part of the network as Amandola but can;t recall why I think that perhap the bank told me.....Keep us posted - we are not there all the timeyet, but will be and are intending to rely on the bancomats to get money!

Hi Kevan,Ask Mary she knows the nearest one that'll work for you. She told me that the banks around here (the Provincial ones like carisap, etc) don't pay their subscriptions for certain international services anymore. If you're with Barclays their Visa link is probably not active anymore as it cost them money. You may have more luck with a maestro or similar.

It seems to be a geographical problem - I've been all around to every bank and now know which locations work and which don't -it's not the Bank Name/Tyep but the location of the branch and it's distance from Communanza . CARISAP in Force and Communanza never ever ever gives me money but CARISAP in Ascoli Piceno always does (apart from off-days when it just doesn't feel like dispensing any money at all). There is another bank in Communanza with a branch in Otezzano - Communanza won't pay out but the little bank in Ortezzno will? So it doesn't seem to be that Communanza is a small town - it's probably that they won't pay the bill but how can this be that it's just the branches around Communanza that don't pay... ..I had better stop or I could go on and on and on moaning about the banks and the problems I have never having any money in my wallet and just using a credit card all the time to pay for things...

Kevan,We have a BancoPosta account with Maestro card and have no problems using this in Comunanza. It is €39 a year. Not bad and no hassle!

Hi Sarah and MarkThe problem is that although I work from home here in Le Marche, my company is in the UK and I'm paid in sterling to a UK account so I need to access my UK bank at least 6-8 times a month (which is a pain when I can't use the local banks). I could transfer all the money each month to my �� bank (CARISAP) but they seem to charge me lots of fees just to let them keep my money and up until now I've not wanted to use them for anything other than an account that needs to be kept open but not for normal use. BancoPosto sounds interesting and 39Euros a year is pretty cheap if you get a maestro card too - I'll look into how easy it is to transfer money to BancoPosto.Kevan

We originally had a bank account with BNL and got charged a huge amount each month so someone mentioned BP acount. The fee is per yer no matter how many transfers/ bills paid out. We have a Barclays Euro account in the UK and transfer money through that. Barclays charge £15 per transfer (3-4 days) or £20 express (1-2 days), so if you don't do it very often, its not too bad. They also issue a Euro cheque book, which you can use to py into your BancoPosta account. There is no fee for this, but you do need to plan ahead as it can take up to 3 weeks to clear. Hope this helps.

Your best bet is to get a Nationwide Flexaccount and with that card you can draw money out of the Post Office ATM's. We spoke to our Banca Della Marche branch, and they have said that there are restrictions put on debit cards, but not on credit cards at the ATM's. Perhaps the main banks don't get any commission on debit cards.

The other advantage with using the Nationwide debit is that they don't charge the 2-3% that others do to take out your money - and the exchange rate has always seemed reasonable when I've used it.