Are you asking about what would be best for a traveller or for a resident of a country? They are not one and the same.

When you write, "My goal is something with easily accessible ATMs both here and abroad so I don't have to search forever for fee-free ATMs while away and don't have to walk forever to get to my bank here.", I have 2 questions. First, where is "here"? Since you are posting in the Portugal forum, should we infer you are currently resident in Portugal?

Second, why are you seemingly connecting fee free ATMS with "overseas branches"? I have a UK bank account that gets me fee free ATM usage at pretty much any ATM in the world (excepting private non-bank ATMs). It also gets me zero exchange loading as well.

Banks charge fees when you use an ATM in another country, in several ways. Not all are transparent. Some charge a flat fee each time you use an ATM to withdraw cash. Some add a percentage on to the exchange rate and some do both. It sounds like you are only aware of the fee for 'using' an ATM and think that if you have an account with a bank with branches internationally, that is the way to avoid that fee. It's one way but it isn't the only way. I can withdraw as I said, from pretty much any bank ATM in any country without paying a fee to 'use' that ATM.

More importantly to me, if someone travels frequently or spends extended periods of time in various countries, what matters more is what exchange rate is being used. Barclays for example charges a couple of percent on exchange every time you use an ATM even when it is their own or a partner banks. So why would anyone use them that knows better?

There are banks in many countries that charge no ATM user fee and add no exchange loading. Those are the banks you should be looking for, not just a bank that has branches internationally.

For an example, take a look at http://thriftynomads.com/best-travel-credit-debit-cards/ on which you will find a list of such banks. Look at the columns for debit cards under 'Foreign Transaction Fee'(that's the exchange loading) and 'ATM Withdrawal Fee' (usage fee). There are others as well.

To see how much using your Barclaycard cost you check moneysavingexpert.com which under travel lists the best and worst UK banks to use. Every time you used our Barclaycard to withdraw foreign funds in the past, it was costing you money.

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