It’s easy to avoid paying ATM fees in Macedonia. When it comes to making cash withdrawals it’s a very tourist-friendly country.
I lived in Macedonia for a month and never once had an ATM machine try to hit me with any withdrawal fees. Having said that, I didn’t try ATMs from all the banks. I only used three:
- NLB
- Halkbank
- Stopanska Banka AD Skopje
I have no idea if any of the other banks are likely to charge fees but if you use ATMs that belong to NLB, Halkbank, or Stopanska Banka AD Skopje you should be able to avoid paying cash withdrawal fees in Macedonia.
Another good thing I noticed with these banks was their machines don’t use dynamic currency conversion to try and trick people into accepting an unfavourable exchange rate. Macedonia is the first country I’ve been to where the ATMs never presented me this undesirable option.
UPDATE (September 2022): Unfortunately, NLB appears to charging ATM fees now. According to a comment posted by an anonymous site vistor, the feee is 300 MKD per withdrawal.
UPDATE (April 2024): Stopanska Banka appears to be charging fees now as well. It’s 250 MKD per withdrawal. Halkbank has jumped on the same gravy train but, at 150 MKD, its the cheaper of the two. Hopefully there may be alternative options that are still free to use but Banks all over Europe appear to adding or increasing fees. Options that don’t charge are now few and far between.
Halk ATMs are charging fees now – 150 MKD.
Stopanska charges 250 MKD.
Thanks for the information Mike. I’ve updated the post to let other people know.
I’m in Skopje now and two separate Stopanska ATMs I’ve been to were charging a 250mkd fee
Hi Gina,
Thanks for the update.
Halkbank is still free, also with langer amounts.
Thanks Erik. That’s good to know.
Thanks for this, there are a bewildering array of ATMs at Skopje Airport and as someone mentioned Halkbank 3 months ago I decided to go with it and there were still no fees.
It may be helpful to add that it only gives out 500 denari notes. Not sure if other banks or ATMs do other denominations.
Hi John,
Thanks for the update 😉
I used Silk Road Bank in Ohrid and there were no withdrawal fees. Thanks for writing this!
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the information, it may help fellow travellers. Silk Road! That’s quite a pleasant-sounding name for a bank.
I’m currently in Ohrid and unfortunately NLB charges 300 MKD per withdrawal now.
Thanks for the update. Hopefully, the other two options I suggest will still be fee-free.
I can confirm Halkbank is still fee free, used it several times in the past week.
Thanks Daniel. That’s good to know.