Visa Europe Exchanges Rates seem MUCH WORSE since Apr/May 2015 WHY?

[JimGant]

Pib,

That will be an interesting experiment. I have a feeling, however, that the rates you get -- pre and post 11:00AM Thai time -- will be the same, i.e., Visa has, for some reason, seen fit to roll the effective daily rate 6 hours earlier now.

But, you could be right about the online published rate not becoming effective until 6 hours later. However, I bet a beer things have changed. (At least, as this is a PIN ATM transaction, it will be real time, so no gap between transaction and settlement dates, as with a swipe and sign "off line" POS transaction.)

[Pib]

Jim,

I did the test today, unfortunately, it turned out to be an inconclusive test...the reason why revealed at little later.

Me and my two U.S. no foreign transaction fee debit cards depart for my nearby Lotus store this morning where I was going to use them in a Krungsri ATM and do a Bt30K pull with both cards...one pull before 11am and one pull after 11am....which U.S. Eastern Time would be before and after midnight U.S ET when the Visa exchange rate changed based on my previous pulls. Did the first withdrawal at 10:36am/26May/Tue/Thailand time which was 11:36pm/25May/Mon U.S. ET....then went a little shopping in Lotus and then used the other card at 11:08am/26May/Tue Thailand time which was 00:08am/26May/Tue U.S. ET.

Got back home and checked the charge hitting my debit card bank accounts...both accounts reflected a charge of $906.76 which at this point on the transaction processing represented Bt30,180 since the Bt180 was included in the total amount....later on it gets broken out separately on my accounts. Anyway, doing some math that works out to an exchange rate of Bt33.2834 for both withdrawals done on different days "when referenced to U.S. ET date/time."

I then go look at the Visa Exchange Rate site. The exchange rate for 26 May/Tue was 33.2833 matching the rate I got to 3 decimal points. Oh my goodness, I'm now thinking I got the 26 May/Tue Visa rate for both withdrawals as if referenced to Thailand date/time or as you mentioned maybe Visa central processing time has switched to around 6pm ET. However, when I checked 25 May/Mon, 24 May/Sun/ and 23 May/Sat the Visa rate is also 33.2833...then on 22 May/Fri it did have a different rate. Summary: the Visa exchange rate has been the same for 23-26 May (Sat thru Tue)...that's why my test was inconclusive in trying to determine the bewitching hour for the rate change...maybe it's still midnight...maybe it six hours earlier now...maybe it tied to local date/time although based on my previous withdrawals it was was not referenced to local date. Plus, to tell the truth, I knew Visa rates for Sat thru Mon frequently stay the same and I shouldn't do a test during those days, but I went to do my test this morning thinking it was Wed in Thailand and still barely Tuesday in the U.S...a case of a retiree losing track of time. Seems me and the wife both frequently look at each other and ask is it Mon or Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, etc.

Will be a month or so before I possibly do a similar test and hopefully the exchange rate will change a little between the two days. And if it has switched to 6pm ET which is 5am Thailand time right now, I definitely won't be doing a test at that time in the morning.

Now I wish I had not done the test "today" because I bet the 27 May/Wed Visa rates jump up around Bt0.3 from around 33.3 to 33.6 based on looking at the FX rates and Thai bank TT Buying Rate which jumped up today by around Bt0.3/USD from yesterday....Visa/Mastercard usually lag a business day or two FX rates which can work for you or against you....but to make it work for you you need to check the FX and Visa rates before going and doing your withdrawal...I didn't do that today...I got lazy.

And for those listening in who have Visa cards issued by European banks...you fine folks have different Visa rates and probably a different exchange rate switching time so above info is really N/A for you.

Pib

Edited May 26, 2015 by Pib

[JimGant]

Bad luck, Pib. You picked the one three-day weekend where Tuesday's rate also reflects the Sat-Sun-Mon rate:

Every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions.

Now, if I could only pick the top of this dollar gallop for when to send my next ACH transfer........

[Pib]

Bad luck, Pib. You picked the one three-day weekend where Tuesday's rate also reflects the Sat-Sun-Mon rate:

Every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions.

Now, if I could only pick the top of this dollar gallop for when to send my next ACH transfer........

Durn, that's right...Mon/25 May was Memorial Day in the U.S. Oh well, I had good intentions.

[Pib]

Now I wish I had not done the test "today" because I bet the 27 May/Wed Visa rates jump up around Bt0.3 from around 33.3 to 33.6 based on looking at the FX rates and Thai bank TT Buying Rate which jumped up today by around Bt0.3/USD from yesterday....Visa/Mastercard usually lag a business day or two FX rates which can work for you or against you....but to make it work for you you need to check the FX and Visa rates before going and doing your withdrawal...I didn't do that today...I got lazy.

Yeap...I just checked the Visa rate for 27 May and it was 33.54 compared to the Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate of 33.62....and today/28 May the Visa rate was 33.70 compared to Bangkok Bank TT Buying Rate of 33.61. The USD is getting stronger against the baht and other currencies...how long that will last, days, weeks, etc., is anybody's guess. But I just may pull out the Visa cards again over the coming days and top-up my Thai bank accounts some more via ATM/counter withdrawal.