Trustworthy ATMs?

[Brees264]

Hi! Curious what are your go-to trustworthy ATMs in Guanajuato? And their withdrawal limit?

Saw a thread here from several years ago about skimmers on the ATMs near Plaza de la Paz, not sure if that is still an occurring issue. I'm not concerned about atm withdrawal fees, just which ATMs are more safe/protected from skimming.

Also, regarding ATMs at BJX airport - are there ATMs in the baggage/claim arrival area or do you still have to walk over to the departures area to find an ATM?

Thank you so much!

[doncoulter]

I haven't heard of any skimmer devices being used here in quite some time. Which doesn't mean it never happens, of course.

Nor am I aware that any ATMs here are more "trustworthy" than others. The best advice, I think, is to observe the precautions one would observe anywhere. Use ATMs that are inside banks. If you can close a door behind you, do so. Don't use ATMs where you're exposed to the street. Never use free-standing, non-bank ATMs, such as you might find at gas stations or convenience stores. When you enter your PIN, use your free hand to obscure what you're doing. If anything about the ATM looks fishy, go elsewhere. It's best to use the same ATM(s) regularly, so you'll recognize any change.

Withdrawal limits vary from one bank to another, may depend in part on your own bank, and change constantly.

Keep in mind that Guanajuato is a tourist town. ATMs sometimes run out of cash on weekends.

Finally, some ATMs here will offer to convert the pesos you're withdrawing into a dollar amount, so you can see exactly how much money will be deducted from your account back home. This is called "Dynamic Currency Conversion," though those words may or may not show on the terminal. The thing to do is to press the button to "Decline Conversion." You'll still get your pesos, but you'll avoid paying a 5% markup to the local bank. There is more on this subject at this thread.

[roberb7]

I'll second what Don said. I had some ATM issues seven or eight years ago, haven't had any since.
His advice about non-bank ATM's is useful anywhere.
ATM's running out of cash on the weekend (or Monday mornings) doesn't happen often, and when it does, all you have to do is go to a different ATM down the street. I can report, however, that this is almost a weekly occurrence in Real de Catorce, SLP, and it's probably commonplace in small towns, especially ones where there is only one machine in the entire town.
I got burned once by an HSBC machine. Unlike all the other ones, the HSBC machines don't return your card until you answer "no" to the "another transaction?" question. So, it's easy to grab your cash, then walk away from the machine without getting your card back. And, once the machine swallows your card, it's gone for good. You have to request another one from your foreign bank, which is a medium-size nuisance.

[Mikel1]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wikihow...er%3famp=1

[DonJuane]

Knock wood but I've only been scammed once by an ATM located on a tourist street in Guatemala and was out of cash and no banks with ATMs in this small village where it was the only one in town. Normally I always use bank ATMs and the brand bank ones at supermarkets as last resort. The blue tooth app sounds hokey presented in the link above but it works as the techs often tap into the internals of the ATM and they have a bluetooth signal from the printed circuit board that is located inside the machine that broadcasts a blue tooth signal. Initially this was a BT signal named "FreeToMove" but that may not be a prevalent as it once was and I'm sure the name has changed. In general, ATMs do not have blue tooth device connection options. This is where the scammer often hooks into them machine to download the memory of recent cards used.