webfact Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Experts: British tourists routinely ripped-off in currency conversion scamLONDON, England - Brits traveling abroad are being routinely ripped-off when using their bank card to pay for meals and hotels by choosing to be charged in sterling rather than the local currency.Debit and credit card transactions are amassing an additional £300 million every year in Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) rates which benefit both the bank and the seller.However, the customer ends up being ripped off - with as much as four per cent being added to a bill when the person paying accepts the option of being charged in pounds.The issue arises whenever chip-and-pin terminals or ATMs gives users the choice to have their transaction processed in either the local currency or pound sterling.Pressing the Yes button means customers give the bank the green light to apply Dynamic Currency Conversion to the sale - their own inflated exchange rate.The fee adds a further four percent to the transaction, even on top of the charges already imposed by the card company.Andrew Hagger of Moneycomms.co.uk told The Times: 'It means you are open to being charged at a higher exchange rate.Full story: http://www.eturbonews.com/62921/experts-british-tourists-routinely-ripped-currency-conversion-sc-- eTN 2015-08-24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven100 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 well then don't choose to pay in pounds ... choose the local currency ... DUH ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Op is correct, but not just Brits, all foreigners. I always tell my guests this, especially for ATM's, and surprisingly this is nearly always new to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 well then don't choose to pay in pounds ... choose the local currency ... DUH ! I recently did a trip and when asked this, wasn't sure what to do! Luckily, the vendor told me the local currency was the best. Sometimes, I wasn't asked. I'll have to pay more attention in the future! And I'm a seasoned traveler....I should know better!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noitom Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 American Express and Visa have been and continue to gouge its customers on currency exchange rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisY1 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What's wrong with using local currency...?.....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What's wrong with using local currency...?.....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy!Same applies to ATM withdrawals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amras Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What's wrong with using local currency...?.....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy!Same applies to ATM withdrawals. Not really. The Mastercard/Visa exchange rate is fine. The 2.5% currency conversion fee is the killer, which makes it not worth it. Unless of course you have a credit card that has no overseas transaction fees. Then it's negligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) What's wrong with using local currency...?.....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy!Same applies to ATM withdrawals. Not really. The Mastercard/Visa exchange rate is fine. The 2.5% currency conversion fee is the killer, which makes it not worth it. Unless of course you have a credit card that has no overseas transaction fees. Then it's negligible. Which has nothing to do with what I said.When making a payment with Cc or withdrawing money from an ATM you get a choice: this is xx in your currency, do you accept? Always say no, because that will be a bad exchange rate, and continue in lical currency. This process is called DCC, which is what this article is about. Ah, see where you're coming from. My 'same' referred to DCC also being applicable for ATM withdrawals to be able to pay in local currency. Edited August 24, 2015 by stevenl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amras Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What's wrong with using local currency...?.....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy!Same applies to ATM withdrawals. Not really. The Mastercard/Visa exchange rate is fine. The 2.5% currency conversion fee is the killer, which makes it not worth it. Unless of course you have a credit card that has no overseas transaction fees. Then it's negligible. Which has nothing to do with what I said.When making a payment with Cc or withdrawing money from an ATM you get a choice: this is xx in your currency, do you accept? Always say no, because that will be a bad exchange rate, and continue in lical currency. This process is called DCC, which is what this article is about. Ahh sorry, in my haste, I quoted the wrong statement. .....using credit cards for food and minor purchases while overseas, is crazy! That was what I was replying too. Apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven100 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 well then don't choose to pay in pounds ... choose the local currency ... DUH ! I recently did a trip and when asked this, wasn't sure what to do! Luckily, the vendor told me the local currency was the best. Sometimes, I wasn't asked. I'll have to pay more attention in the future! And I'm a seasoned traveler....I should know better!! yes, always pay for anything in the local currency wherever you are, also when sending money overseas always try to send the money in your originating currency and let the bank at the receiving end do the conversion ... To change money in your home country before you leave or before you send will always cost you and you will get a bad exchange rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdiddly Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjackson Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ... Which UK bank is that issued with and which specific account is the CC issued against. I'd be interested in the FREE ATM aspect. Only my USA Schwab account has that feature. None of my UK accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ...DCC is not an ATM or transaction fee. Sounds like you're one if the ones being duped without even realising it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjackson Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Op is correct, but not just Brits, all foreigners. I always tell my guests this, especially for ATM's, and surprisingly this is nearly always new to them. Very ethical of you and customer service centric. DCC is a scam. When the banks tell me it's for my convenience, it raises RED flags immediately. In bank speak, 'convenience' usually means 'profit/fee' generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCM Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 The Thai banks here are pushing merchants to advise customers to pay in their home country currencies because the Thai banks are keeping the spread. I've talked with several store managers here in Bangkok when making purchases with credit cards and they've told me they thought it would be cheaper for me to pay in U.S. dollars because their Thai banks (Kasikorn Bank and Bangkok Bank) that handle their credit card processing told them this. Once when purchasing a ticket from Bangkok Air, the staff told me their banker told them to try to get customers to always pay in their home currencies because it will be cheaper for the customer. I bought the ticket in baht then signed in to my credit card account to see what the cost really was to me in dollars. My cost by paying in baht was around $15 dollars less than the dollar price that Bangkok Air would have charged. The Bangkok Air staff was surprised and realized that their banker was being dishonest. She said their banker had visited recently and the main thing he talked about was telling them to always try to charge in customer's home currencies. Yesterday I made purchase for 3,760 baht and the dollar amount I was offered was almost $110. I paid in baht and the charge on my credit card is $105.73. The rate I got through my credit card was 35.56 baht/dollar. The rate I would have paid had I paid in dollars would have been 34.28. You should always pay in Thai baht instead of your home currency when using your credit card in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltingpot2015 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) well then don't choose to pay in pounds ... choose the local currency ... DUH ! I recently did a trip and when asked this, wasn't sure what to do! Luckily, the vendor told me the local currency was the best. Sometimes, I wasn't asked. I'll have to pay more attention in the future! And I'm a seasoned traveler....I should know better!! You should always be offered the choice, and if in doubt always pay in local currency. A hotel in Australia didn't even tell me they were using Dynamic Conversion (payment in Foreign currency). When I told them I like to pay in local currency they kept putting each payment through (every week) using Dynamic Conversion (DCC). Finally, I was sick of this that I wrote on the receipt "pay in local currency please. Australian Dollars" because I was never offered the choice (they never offered the chip and pin terminal to me to choose). Still they put it through DCC. I complained to my bank asking for a chargeback, so I could pay the hotel again using local currency. Bank refused. I complained to the Financial Ombudsman. The bank had said to the Ombudsman that they were: "the passive party in the transaction and if there was an exchange difference it would be for the retailer to identify and refund. It said that a chargeback would have been entirely inappropriate as I did not challenge the legitimacy of the transaction and that, if it had made a chargeback, this would have damaged his relationship with the retailer." The ombudsman said that I had: "on the copy of the receipt provided [to the ombudsman], expressly wrote that he wanted the transaction undertaken in local currency and did not tick a box agreeing that it should be processed in pounds sterling. Although it was the retailer that ignored these instructions, I considered he was entitled to ask HSBC to take up the matter on his behalf, especially as he had been unable to resolve this directly." Ombudsman found in my favour. And asked HSBC to pay me 100 GBP in compensation. Do not allow this DCC scam to continue, complaint, complaint, complaint, whenever you come across it. There are countless threads on this forum about it. Ask TVF members nidieunimaitre and Pib they will tell you all about it. see: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/803611-paying-by-debitcredit-card-fixed-exchange-loading/#entry9124022 Its a disgraceful racket. see http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/776216-clarity-credit-card/#entry9304283 http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/803611-paying-by-debitcredit-card-fixed-exchange-loading/#entry9124584 That's everything covered I think. Back to what I was doing. Edited August 24, 2015 by meltingpot2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cats4ever Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Surely the morality of banks is the issue. Socialism is (fortunately) dead; capitalism is now a race to a bonus for the top execs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltingpot2015 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) Surely the morality of banks is the issue. Socialism is (fortunately) dead; capitalism is now a race to a bonus for the top execs. China and Vietnam are socialist countries. So is Cuba. Vietnam is doing well economically. Depends what your definition of Socialism is. This website (a peer-to-peer lending site) says Denmark, Finland...Canada and New Zealand are socialist. Edited August 24, 2015 by meltingpot2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12DrinkMore Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Surely the morality of banks is the issue. Socialism is (fortunately) dead; capitalism is now a race to a bonus for the top execs. Morality and banks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgma Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Banks, the legitimite crooks on the planet. Positive Money UK.......on facebook in fact explains the mechanism of fraud and rogue banking. I recommend connecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonmarleesco Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I assume, as is the case when offered the option in Bangkok outlets, that they can check the rate being offered. Not a major chore to then compare it to the local rate, which they should wisely have pre-checked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baerboxer Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Surely the morality of banks is the issue. Socialism is (fortunately) dead; capitalism is now a race to a bonus for the top execs. I remember a time when Banks were thought of as highly moral pillars of the community and bank managers and executives as beyond reproach. Another historical myth exploded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evadgib Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Bkk Airways caught me a few years ago. The difference in price when I worked it out was a whopping 15 quid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonmarleesco Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ... '... my bank pays for all ATM fees.' It does? Do share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltingpot2015 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ...'... my bank pays for all ATM fees.' It does? Do share. Schwabb Bank. They promise to refund all Bank fees. only available to Yanks. Edited August 24, 2015 by meltingpot2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCM Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ...'... my bank pays for all ATM fees.' It does? Do share. Schwabb Bank. They promise to refund all Bank fees. only available to Yanks. I've had the Schwab account for years, and they've reimbursed every ATM fee I've had. You also get a very good exchange rate when using their ATM card. By the way, the account has no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerostar Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 For every ATM withdrawal I make in Thailand I pay that bank a fee for the withdrawal. Then when I get back to Oz I find the ANZ has charged me a hefty fee on the same withdrawal ! If I'm over the limit I get charged an extra $20 fee. Nobody had to do anything, the computers do it all automatically ! Banks give themselves's a licence to print money and governments are too weak to stop it. No wonder their yearly profits are in the billions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBWG Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What is crazy is carrying large amounts of cash.. My credit card has no international transaction fee and my bank pays for all ATM fees.. You guys need to shop around for Banks and credit cards ... For Brits my Nationwide Flexplus account allows and I quote "commission free cash withdrawals at ATM's worldwide" of course still get caught for local ATM fee. Downside is account costs £10 a month but has other benefits like currently paying 3% interest on first £2,500 on deposit in the account and other free insurance benefits. So if you travel a lot could be cost effective. TBWG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meltingpot2015 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) You can receive up to 75 pounds cashback if you open nationwide bank account through quidco or topcashback in addition to the free medical insurance etc. Although, Nationwide bank could do with improving their service. Reviews on trustpilot are dire. One review says they are Mindless. Edited August 24, 2015 by meltingpot2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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