You always need to pay attention when withdrawing cash or using your credit or debit cards overseas. Most of the ATM and card terminals offer to convert the charge from the local to the currency of your card (for a fee).
Then there is always a possibility that the ATM is a fake one or has a skimming machine installed in it, like what happened to me in Rio de Janeiro back in March (read more here).
When I arrived to Krakow, I decided to take some cash and used one of the ATMs inside the airport. It seems that this ATM operator had made an exclusive deal with the airport operator as there were no ATM machines from banks.
Couldn’t believe my eyes when they actually disclosed that their conversion would be off by 13%! Why anyone would pay such a ridiculous fee when their bank or card company would do the conversion without a fee or for a much modest one.
Decided to pull up the rate from the Google and the rate offered by the ATM was indeed off by 13%.
Conclusion
Why anyone able to read and comprehend the ATM screen would willingly pay 30 euros for the ATM operator to do the currency conversion for them?
Have to give them a credit though that there was no fee attached to the withdrawal like some ATMs do.
I had a similar encounter at Tokyo where the conversion fee came to an astonishing 19%! Stopped using ATMs for cash withdrawal in Tokyo and just charged everything my credit card as the fee/rates offered by my bank were surprisingly much better!
Why is that surprising? For years now major banks have not been charging foreign transaction fees and use the interbank rate for the currency conversion. A(least that is the case for U.S. credit cards.)
Are you sure that happened in Japan…or that the fees were charged by the ATM rather than your own card issuer? As a frequent global traveler, I have found Japan to have the lowest ATM fees anywhere by a large margin, and Japan is the only country I can fully trust that there won’t be “airport markups.”
Virtually all Japanese ATMs seem to charge a JPY108 (a bit under US$1) flat fee, although it can increase (to under US$2…which is still not a big deal at all) late evenings and weekends. The exchange rate, too, is usually quite favorable @ w/in 1% of the market rate. Considering the foreign transaction fees most credit cards charge–usually in the 3% to 5% range, even w/ the interbank exchange rate, using credits cards can end up costing you more.
Same here. I wonder where this atm was.
Well at least they gave you the option to instead withdraw and get charged in local currency. At Paris Orly Airport I tried withdrawing Euros with a UK credit card and the only option the machine gave was using the Dynamic Currency Conversion at a similarly ridiculous rate. When I refused this then the ATM returned my card and issued me with a receipt saying “transaction aborted”. I tried it with another one with the same result – just like at Krakow all ATMs at the airport were also operated by some third party (I believe it was Travelex) instead of a bank. What a rip off – so I ended up getting some cash in Paris instead.
Euronet ATMs are prevalent throughout tourist-heavy areas in central Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, etc.). Avoid them like the plague. In Prague, the minimum amount of the pre-selected options (i.e. when they show a bunch of amounts and you press a button to pick one) was 5000 CZK, or about $200 USD. My friend had no idea and withdrew that much his last night in Prague, thinking it was something like $20 USD.
I’m based in Kraków, and while the Euronet atms (which quite a few local banks use) do have a ridiculous exchange fee, you do have the right to decline it and they do disclose it. Unlike many other atms…
These Euronet ATMs have occupied almost all of public places in Eastern European countries and even if you use a multi-currency wallet card such as Revolut you would still get charged 13PLN just for withdrawing cash while Revolut offers free cash withdrawals around the world! When in Krakow after declining the conversion and going ahead to withdraw and getting charged 13 PLN as withdrawing fee, I contacted the Revolut to complain and I was warned to stay away from any ATMs that are not bank owned, especially Euronets!
Totally agree, I only use bank owned ATMs when travelling. I might hit up an airport ATM for a modest amount if I have zero local currency upon arrival, but that’s it.
These bank conversion rates are actually real scam, i wonder why governments still allow the banks to do this!
Euronet @BUD arrival ATMs is 20% off mid-rate if you choose home currency. Absolute ripof
No fees when accepting the ripoff rate, but there’s a fee if you decline it and opt for local currency
Can confirm these awful Euronet ATMs are located in Portugal as well around toursty areas where you need cash most. Stay away from these like the plague or pay the ridiculous fees. Can’t understand how these are even allowed.
I saw multiple ATMs in Venice a couple weeks that tried to hit me with a 12% fee. All but one atm was able to process it without doing the conversion for me. The other just gave me my card back and I walked away.