If you're like me, you probably use a bank card to withdraw local currency from foreign ATMs. More often than not, your restaurant, hotel and shopping bills are settled with a swipe of a credit card. But for all the safety and convenience in a magnetic strip, woe is the overseas traveler who uses plastic.

MasterCard and Visa charge issuing banks a standard fee of 1 percent of the total price for items purchased outside the country. Most banks pass this ''currency-conversion charge'' on to customers and even add a couple of percentage points for good measure. All this, purportedly, is to convert your foreign-currency purchases to U.S. dollars.

For ATM bank card (and debit card) transactions, banks impose a similar currency-conversion fee. But they also charge a ''transaction fee'' of up to $5 per withdrawal. These fees can really add up -- especially if you're traveling to countries like Venezuela and Argentina, where multiple transactions are often necessary because of low withdrawal maximums.

DO THE MATH

In Buenos Aires, for example, I used my Bank of America debit card to withdraw 1,200 pesos (about $400) from a local ATM. Because ATMs allow Bank of America customers a maximum withdrawal of only 300 pesos ($100) per transaction, I had to make four withdrawals. With each transaction, my account was assessed a $5 fee, plus a 1 percent currency-conversion charge.

But there are ways to minimize foreign transaction fees or eliminate them altogether. It all depends on where you bank, which ATM you use and where you are when you use it.

Citibank customers traveling in 46 countries can use Citibank ATMs and pay a 2 percent conversion charge but no transaction fee. (Because Citibank allows a higher withdrawal maximum in Argentina, customers can extract $400 in one transaction. Rather than pay $24 in fees as I did with Bank of America, a Citibank customer would pay only $8.)

Nevertheless, Bank of America belongs to the Global ATM Alliance. Customers can withdraw local currency from ATMs in eight foreign countries and pay absolutely no transaction fees. The alliance includes Barclays Bank (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand).

During the year I lived in Paris (from July 2006 to September 2007), I used my Bank of America debit card exclusively at BNP Paribas ATMs and never paid a dime in transaction fees.

But at other banks in Global ATM Alliance countries, and at all banks elsewhere in the world, Bank of America customers pay a $5 ATM withdrawal fee in addition to a 1 percent currency-conversion charge. Citibank account holders pay $1.50 and 2 percent respectively.

Fee-conscious travelers may consider opening a checking or savings account at Capital One. A financial services company serving customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, Capital One absorbs the currency-conversion fee that banks typically impose on customers. At ATMs worldwide, you'll pay only $1.50 per transaction.

With a Capital One-issued Visa or MasterCard, there's no currency-conversion charge either. Commerce Bank -- a regional institution with offices throughout the East Coast -- is the only other large bank to waive the fee.

CHECK IT OUT

American Express provides another alternative. Cardholders can walk into any of 2,200 American Express Travel Services locations worldwide and write a personal check for as much as $1,000 per card. The emergency check-cashing service, which I've used on several occasions, is free of charge.

As the sagging U.S. dollar makes overseas travel more expensive, why put up with currency-conversion charges and maddening ATM transaction fees? Apply for fee-free plastic. And don't leave home without it.

For more information, go to www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20050624b1.asp.

Elliott Hester is the author of Plane Insanity and Adventures of a Continental Drifter. He lives in Buenos Aires. Contact him at elliotthester@gmail.com or visit www.elliotthester.com.

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