ATM's and Exchange Rate

[ShokWaveRider]

I felt 3% was a small price to pay for the convenience at the hotel. I brought the cash to use it. I only cashed a small amount for the busses. Today I will check the banks when we go downtown for our exploratory trudge.

Our Credit union CC does not charge for cash withdrawals or foreign transactions, so it is a good backup.

We used it to pay for our tours for the week.

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider Except I did not try any ATMs.

I think Dixonge was referring to my experience described in my original post. I'm delighted to have figured it out. So I should be able to avoid the 5% hit by declining the offer to lock in the rate. It ends up being about a $35 hit for us-not the end of the world of course, but annoying nonetheless.

Your $18.50 isn't too bad a hit vs. the $19.11 from yesterday's xe quote.

[audreyh1]

If trying to pinpoint conversion rates for VISA debit/ATM cards or credit cards, you need to look it up at VISA, not use xe.com. Their daily foreign exchange conversion rate is based on the prior day range. For credit cards you’ll get the rate they quote for the day the transaction posts, which is a day or two later than the actual transaction. ATM is same day. You can check it yourself for a specific date at https://usa.visa.com/support/consume...Exchange+Rates . Enter 0 for bank fee if you have a no foreign exchange fee card.

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 If trying to pinpoint conversion rates for VISA debit/ATM cards or credit cards, you need to look it up at VISA, not use xe.com. Their daily foreign exchange conversion rate is based on the prior day range. For credit cards you’ll get the rate they quote for the day the transaction posts, which is a day or two later than the actual transaction. ATM is same day. You can check it yourself for a specific date at https://usa.visa.com/support/consume...Exchange+Rates . Enter 0 for bank fee if you have a no foreign exchange fee card.

Good site to have Audrey. Thanks. I've just added it to my home screen. Of course the difference in the rates today on VISA and XE yesterday are nearly equivalent(less than .01). I assume there is a similar website for Mastercard?

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden sunsets KCowan on this board lives in PV during the winter. Keith, if you're reading this, have you encountered this new ATM gouging phenomenon?

Yes the first time it happened, I thought the No answer would cancel the transaction but it went through properly after that.

I am a TD bank client and they started charge 3.5% to get my money so I quickly stopped using them entirely. We know use our no fee Visa card or our Intercam debit card.

In GDL last week, one department store would not take our Intercam card while Pottery Barn not only accepted it but was offering 30% off on everything. (We are shopping for our new condo - tabula rasa and spent 155000 pesos even with the 30% off half of it.)

This bulge in purchases is forcing some liquidation of equities - sure hope we are at a relative peak? I view it as an asset allocation shift into real estate.

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan Yes the first time it happened, I thought the No answer would cancel the transaction but it went through properly after that.

Right; I hadn't remembered "accepting" the quoted fixed exchange rate. I'm sure I thought if I decline, then the transaction would be cancelled. Thanks for responding Keith. I now have my plan for withdrawal.

[dixonge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden sunsets Right; I hadn't remembered "accepting" the quoted fixed exchange rate. I'm sure I thought if I decline, then the transaction would be cancelled. Thanks for responding Keith. I now have my plan for withdrawal.

It is a truly confusing option, on purpose no doubt.

The last ATM withdrawal I made I also made a note of the dollar amount they would take from my account. I hit decline, then within 5 minutes I checked my bank account from my phone. The difference between what they *wanted* to take out vs. what they actually took out after I declined their 'generous' offer was $20 USD. That is one HELL of an 'ATM fee!'

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixonge It is a truly confusing option, on purpose no doubt. The last ATM withdrawal I made I also made a note of the dollar amount they would take from my account. I hit decline, then within 5 minutes I checked my bank account from my phone. The difference between what they *wanted* to take out vs. what they actually took out after I declined their 'generous' offer was $20 USD. That is one HELL of an 'ATM fee!'

So happy to here your input. I will know how to master the ATM's when I arrive in PVR. Thanks again Dixonge.[emoji3059]

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden sunsets Good site to have Audrey. Thanks. I've just added it to my home screen. Of course the difference in the rates today on VISA and XE yesterday are nearly equivalent(less than .01). I assume there is a similar website for Mastercard?

I’m not exactly sure how MasterCard does their exchange rates.

VISA takes advantage of some arbitrage in exchange rates as I’m pretty sure they use the most favorable rate for them during a given day (which then becomes the next day exchange rate). If the daily fluctuations are small you won’t really notice anything.

Anyway, I occasionally check the VISA rate calculator page against what a given credit card charged me and it’s always within rounding error. You’ve got to get the date right.

[dixonge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden sunsets So happy to here your input. I will know how to master the ATM's when I arrive in PVR. Thanks again Dixonge.[emoji3059]

de nada

I finally remembered what this is called - DCC. Here's a good explainer:

https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/cho...at-foreign-atm

[audreyh1]

Ah yes, dynamic currency conversion. So it is exactly the same as merchants offering you the option of paying in USD instead of local currency.

[Golden sunsets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixonge de nada I finally remembered what this is called - DCC. Here's a good explainer: https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/cho...at-foreign-atm

Great resource. Thanks again. I didn't notice a date on the article. I presume this is a relatively new change? I encountered it in January 2019, but not January 2018, so the change must have occurred in that time frame. We were in Europe in September of both 2018 and 2019, but I didn't notice as I was only withdrawing a $100 Euros or less and wasn't charging much on our cards as we were on a river cruise for a majority of the time.

[audreyh1]

DCC has been around for years. But it’s been in the last few that it’s been offered more aggressively, increasingly so. And I personally had never seen it at an ATM, only at points of sale.