Maximum Withdrawal Amount at ATMs

Could anyone tell me the maximum withdrawal amount (in Jamaican Dollars) from the ATMs in Negril? I am mainly interested in Scotiabank and NCB.
If I remember correctly, the last time I was in Negril, the maximum withdrawal was $30,000 J at a Scotiabank machine. The problem being, a hefty fee (IMHO) attached to each withdrawal.
And $30,000 J just doesn’t carry you too far in Negril these days:(. I would need two, probably three withdrawals of 30K to get through a week in Negril, so I would rather not enrich the banks too much.

The JMD 30K limit is what I recall. But the transaction fee is not what I consider "hefty" - last year it was JMD 545., which if is $3.88; if you withdraw the JMD 30K it's 1.5%. For that, you get the actual interbank exchange rate, which is more than enough better than cambios to offset the cost. One way or another, you're going to be covering the spread between the buy and sell rates on currency exchange, whether it's as an explicit fee or just built into the exchange rate you get. Here's a post on the topic from 3 years ago; while the exchange rates have changed, I think the conclusions are still valid.

https://negril.com/forum/showthread....l=1#post174566

Note that you may need to ask your home bank to bump up your daily ATM withdrawal limit; my bank defaults to $200. and that would not be enough to allow the JMD 30K withdrawal.

Personally, I prefer to make two or three withdrawals a week rather than have too much cash in my pocket or my room.

Thanks wrtiii! I reread the thread from 2016. In the thread it was said NCB does not charge a withdrawal fee. The question then becomes how would their rate of exchange compare to Scotiabank (net of withdrawal fees).
And I agree it is not the best policy to have too much cash on your person or in your room at any one time.
I may have to make a withdrawal at Scotiabank and NCB and compare the net exchange rates. As you stated you are probably paying for the service one way or another. Maybe one is better than the other.

Well, if you are willing to deal with the money-changers, you can withdraw $500 US (or whatever limit your bank establishes) and then go to one of those guys who hang around near the ATM's. Last time I was there they were offering 130 as an exchange rate, so 500 should become 65000 JMD. But if you do that, count your change (and don't hand over the US dollars until after you've counted the JMD!). You can also change US dollars at most supermarkets ("Mr Chin's"). I prefer that because they don't try to short-change you.

I have to remind myself to call my card company to let them know the exact dates I will be there otherwise probably wont work and also call to see what the fees are. Merrill Lynch/ Bank of America and Scotia have some affiliation so I use them and like wrtiii said I just did the 30k and the fee was very little and got more then a cambio. I ended up getting several 5000s..but that's ok I guess

I agree with most info in prior replies. One clarification - although there may be a $30k JMD limit at ATMs, you can do 2 withdrawals one right after the other. Maybe more depending on your account daily withdrawal limit.
IMHO there is no advantage to getting USD from ATM if planning to exchange. One - never do it with the money changers - quick change scammers. Two - you pay same withdrawal fee then get worse exchange rate at cambio or Chinashop, than ATM would give. Just withdraw JMDs.
Lastly, I routinely withdraw from both NCB and Scotia (NOTE: am US tourist with no Scotia account). BOTH have same withdrawal fees, $546J last time there.
BUT I have found I get a better rate at NCB ATMs (not much, like $2-3USD less is deducted from my account by NCB, but if both are available why not get better rate). I have tested by getting $30,000J at both ATMs within
a minute or two of each other.

If you need larger amounts of cash, and dont want to pay 2 ATM fees every day... have you considered XOOM to send money to yourself. Just a $4.99 flat fee and is instantaneous. Easy to setup so can transfer from any of your bank accounts. Can do by mobile app, once setup. But do it before you leave, takes some time to confirm setup - verify phone, email, account, etc.

I use ALLY bank, where they only charge me a 1% foreign transaction fee (plus ATM). I pull out 2 consecutive withdrawals of $30,000JMD (their transactional max) at a time (my bank only allows a daily max of $500US to be withdrawn). With the current exchange rate at $140JMDto $1USD, I'll get about $138JMDto$1USD in value from my bank. Since the $60,000JMD is worth $425USD, I won't take out any more since I don't want to incur another ATM fee for only $75US worth of Jamaican money ($10,500 JMD)

I'm really confused about what to do. I also don't like the idea of carrying a large amount of cash on me and don't want to make multiple trips to the ATM / Scotiabank for 30000 JMD because I agree, I don't think that will get us very far.

1. Could the ATM be sucked dry? (Dec 24th) I've heard concerns expressed on this board that during Christmas the ATM's could actually be empty. We arrive on the 23rd too late to go to an ATM, so the 24th would be the first opportunity to go to the bank. We bank at Scotia so it makes sense we would go there.

2. Credit cards? Some have said to use them, others have said not.

3. Jamaican, US or both? I'm Canadian so I would have to exchange to both Jamaican and US currency.

4. Restaurants and bar posted prices in US dollars. I've seen a lot of menus etc where the prices are in US funds. But if I have all JMD then what??? Will both currencies be posted?

What ever happened to Travellers cheques!!!! :confused:

I'd say both US and Jamaican dollars.

Alix....I'm Canadian, but I've been living here full time for over 12yrs. I've used many currencies including Euros with no issue.
Americans of course, are used to using their own currency & many places are priced in US dollars in the tourist areas, because of the influx of American tourists.

But, this is easy peasy...all you need to do is ask for the Jamaican dollar price (if you see the price set in US$) and the business will give you the Jamaican dollar price...this IS after all Jamaica.
In many cases you'll get a better "deal" using Jamaican money rather than US.

Change your Canadian currency to Jamaican or get Jamaican currency from the ATM/ABM...it's truly easier as a Canadian to convert straight to the Jamaican dollar.

Credit cards are fine in the major areas; ie. hotels, popular tourist attractions etc. Just as anywhere you would travel...give your bank a heads up on where you'll be visiting & for how long...due diligence!

I guess you miss understood, you can take out whatever is your bank daily ATM maximum (usually $500 in the US). So I'll do 2 transactions of $30,000 (for a total of $60,000) every time I visit a bank (worth about $425 US). Since the Canadian $ is close to equal of $100 Jamaican, as long as they accept your canadian money at the small places, I'd just use Canadian currency. The reason I don't do it with US dollars (and convert my US to jamaican) is that the small places tend to treat a US $1 like $100 when they give back change on a transaction and I'm losing 25 cents for every dollar. If I was staying at an all-inclusive and just using US $s for souvenirs and a few transactions, I wouldn't bother but since I'm spending cash the whole trip for everything, That'll add up to a few hundred dollars lost in transactions.

Attachment 53829

Google maps is showing a Scotia ATM on Seven Mile. Is this information correct? Comments were only as recent as 2017 so I'm thinking it's no longer there?

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Originally Posted by alix

Attachment 53829

Google maps is showing a Scotia ATM on Seven Mile. Is this information correct? Comments were only as recent as 2017 so I'm thinking it's no longer there?

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I believe that's the Scotia ATM at the times square plaza. It's there but it frequently runs out of money. The more reliable ATM in Negril is at the bank in town, by the traffic circle.