Is Bangkok Bank Cheating?

[lopburi3]

So at the current 55.1310 pound rate you would only get 54.30 after the 1.5% loss and you would still have to pay a fee from 100-6,500 baht? Sound like a sweet deal for them - not for anyone else. The current exchange rate for TT transfer to Bangkok Bank is 54.935 and the only baht change would be in range of 200-500 baht max. Yes there may be a home bank fee but highly doubt many will result in paying more than above site (as long as pounds are sent).

For both UK and USA the option to directly transfer with little or no fee is available to Bangkok Bank - which will be far batter.

[fiddlehead]

The still cheapest way is to transfer money from any account in a foreign country to your Thai Baht account is done by Transferwise, and then deduct the money from your account here. They use the 15 minutes delayed Reuters rate, which is similar to the XE rate. The charge is 1.5% of the amount changed, plus THB 100 up to 6.500 THB. No foreign or local bank fees. Does anybody know a cheaper way? Probably not. Try https://transferwise.com/u/59199

I withdrew 20,000 baht yesterday with my Charles Schwab card.

They (ATM) deduct the 180 baht but, I know from experience, I will get reinbursed for that in a few days.

So, If I add the fee, I got 35.82 baht per dollar.

Almost the highest rate of the day yesterday. (of course, I won't know for sure until I get the reinbursement)

But, I don't know how you could beat that..

[fxe1200]

The still cheapest way is to transfer money from any account in a foreign country to your Thai Baht account is done by Transferwise, and then deduct the money from your account here. They use the 15 minutes delayed Reuters rate, which is similar to the XE rate. The charge is 1.5% of the amount changed, plus THB 100 up to 6.500 THB. No foreign or local bank fees. Does anybody know a cheaper way? Probably not. Try https://transferwise.com/u/59199

I withdrew 20,000 baht yesterday with my Charles Schwab card.

They (ATM) deduct the 180 baht but, I know from experience, I will get reinbursed for that in a few days.

So, If I add the fee, I got 35.82 baht per dollar.

Almost the highest rate of the day yesterday. (of course, I won't know for sure until I get the reinbursement)

But, I don't know how you could beat that..

That rate truly is amazing. Unfortunately not all of us have a Charles Schwab card, or even get reimbursement for the 180 THB fee. I must say, you hit the jackpot. But as you know, we all can only write about our own experiences. Sometimes I trade Euros to THB with a Thai importer from Bangkok. That always happens using the actual XE rate at the time of the transfer, and there are no costs involved whatsoever . If I cannot do this, I use transferwise. I calculated and tested the costs of various banks for the transfer of 7.000 Euro, and always ended up with amounts of 198 to 214 Euros for the transfer (fees, plus the difference of the XE rate versus their selling rate).With transferwise it is just 1.5% or 105 Euros. Considering, that I get a far better rate, transferwise is the solution. Find out by yourself.

But I have to admit, receiving at a rate of 35.82, when the highest rate at that day is 35.88, that hit the spot!

Edited August 29, 2015 by fxe1200

[Pib]

The still cheapest way is to transfer money from any account in a foreign country to your Thai Baht account is done by Transferwise, and then deduct the money from your account here. They use the 15 minutes delayed Reuters rate, which is similar to the XE rate. The charge is 1.5% of the amount changed, plus THB 100 up to 6.500 THB. No foreign or local bank fees. Does anybody know a cheaper way? Probably not. Try https://transferwise.com/u/59199

I withdrew 20,000 baht yesterday with my Charles Schwab card.

They (ATM) deduct the 180 baht but, I know from experience, I will get reinbursed for that in a few days.

So, If I add the fee, I got 35.82 baht per dollar.

Almost the highest rate of the day yesterday. (of course, I won't know for sure until I get the reinbursement)

But, I don't know how you could beat that..

I think you did some math wrong. Per the Visa exchange rate page, the Visa rate (Schwab card is a Visa card) for 28 Aug was 35.58 and for 27 Aug 35.49. Today, 29 Aug it's 35.61. I have one of those puppies also.

[meltingpot2015]

The still cheapest way is to transfer money from any account in a foreign country to your Thai Baht account is done by Transferwise, and then deduct the money from your account here. They use the 15 minutes delayed Reuters rate, which is similar to the XE rate. The charge is 1.5% of the amount changed, plus THB 100 up to 6.500 THB. No foreign or local bank fees. Does anybody know a cheaper way? Probably not. Try https://transferwise.com/u/59199

I withdrew 20,000 baht yesterday with my Charles Schwab card.

They (ATM) deduct the 180 baht but, I know from experience, I will get reinbursed for that in a few days.

So, If I add the fee, I got 35.82 baht per dollar.

Almost the highest rate of the day yesterday. (of course, I won't know for sure until I get the reinbursement)

But, I don't know how you could beat that..

So, right now (before you receive the reimbursement) you were charged 563.37 USD by Scwabb. i.e. 20180 / 35.82. Of course you would have done the calculation 20180 / 563.37.

@35.58 (visa rate on 28/08/15 - with 0% bank fee loading and assuming that is the relevant rate depending on when the ATM pull was done) the transaction would come to 20000/35.58 = 562.11. If you are refunded the 120 bhat at the same dollar rate for 28 Aug. i.e. 35.58. The transaction would cost you, 563.37 - 3.37 = 560.00 USD.

That's actually beating the visa rate. But when the transaction actually appears on your statement, the rate the bank uses can go up/down. If the bank uses the same rate 35.82 when the transaction appears on the statement then they have definitely beaten the visa rate.

I've noticed, the rate when it appears on the statement can be higher/lower than the one at the point of transaction. I've always wondered the reasons for this.

Edited August 29, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[Pib]

For a debit card transaction the rate should not change as the transaction is completed immediately, from authorization to posting. So, the exchange rate you initially see hitting your bank account (like seconds after the transaction) will be the same as when it finally posts to your account. I've never seen it any different in the many, many times I used my no foreign transaction fee debit cards, to include the Schwab debit card.

However, it's different with a credit card transaction since the final settlement usually takes an additional business day or two (maybe more sometimes). The charge initially hitting your account will be today's rate but until the the settlement process is completed which requires the merchant/dispensing bank to accomplishment settlement (call it crossing the T's and dotting the I's), the final exchange rate will not be known. I also have a no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance credit card which I prepay to avoid any interest charge which I use almost monthly to do a counter withdrawal....the rate that initially hits the account is today's rate and on the posting/settlement day, which is almost always 1 business day later...sometimes 2, then the exchange rate for that posting date is used to charge my account.

Yeap, debit and credit card transaction are processed a little differently...debit card transaction finalize immediately but credit card transactions take an extra business day or more. What ever day the finalize (i.e., settle, post to your account) is the day that sets the final exchange rate/the final charge to your account.

[meltingpot2015]

With the debit card pulls I have done, my bank Halifax do use the Visa rate. I have looked it up a couple of days after the pull and its exactly the same as the visa rate published.

Unfortunately, the card I have with them is really bad for overseas withdrawals (charge a non-sterling transaction fee and withdrawal fee also...something like 2.75% a piece), so I stopped using it.

Applied for a Santander zero credit card sometime ago, and that card does not charge overseas withdrawal fee. (similar to the Halifax Clarity card). I could have applied for a clarity card, because I already bank with the halifax, but when I visited one of the websites that allows you to check if you are eligible for a particular credit card (something like moneysavingexpert.com) it said I was not eligible for the Clairty card.

The santander zero offers a good rate. I usually do a quick check on xe.com for the most recent rate, then do the ATM pull. The transaction amount after the pull come very close to the xe.com rate and even after its posted in two days, it comes close to the xe.com rate. Give or take. Unfortunately, Santander does not offer the zero card to new customers. But there are other UK banks that offer no fee overseas withdrawals. Halifax Bank and then there's a card by the Peterborough Building Society (but that card is a debit card).

[meltingpot2015]

For a debit card transaction the rate should not change as the transaction is completed immediately, from authorization to posting. So, the exchange rate you initially see hitting your bank account (like seconds after the transaction) will be the same as when it finally posts to your account. I've never seen it any different in the many, many times I used my no foreign transaction fee debit cards, to include the Schwab debit card.

However, it's different with a credit card transaction since the final settlement usually takes an additional business day or two (maybe more sometimes). The charge initially hitting your account will be today's rate but until the the settlement process is completed which requires the merchant/dispensing bank to accomplishment settlement (call it crossing the T's and dotting the I's), the final exchange rate will not be known. I also have a no foreign transaction fee and no cash advance credit card which I prepay to avoid any interest charge which I use almost monthly to do a counter withdrawal....the rate that initially hits the account is today's rate and on the posting/settlement day, which is almost always 1 business day later...sometimes 2, then the exchange rate for that posting date is used to charge my account.

Yeap, debit and credit card transaction are processed a little differently...debit card transaction finalize immediately but credit card transactions take an extra business day or more. What ever day the finalize (i.e., settle, post to your account) is the day that sets the final exchange rate/the final charge to your account.

Happen to read in a previous post visa debit card transactions uses the rate from the previous day:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/803418-fed-up-with-bank-fees/page-2#entry9136203

Looked at one of the transactions done on my Halifax visa debit on Friday 12 December 2014. (Not a Saturday or Sunday, as my Statement clearly says 12 December 2014)

As soon as I completed the transaction, worked out the rate using the available balance. It was an ATM pull for 15000 THB, with 180 THB for ATM fee. So 15180 THB altogether.

Transaction at that point had cost 296.50 GBP. so 15180/296.50 = 51.197 rate.

Of course, when the transaction was posted, I think around Monday, Tuesday, this was worked out: (appeared on statement)

Non-stg cash fee = 1.50 GBP

Non-stg trans fee (2.75%) = 8.13 GBP

Transaction 15180 @ 51.30285 - 12 Dec 14 = 295.89 GBP

Yes, the rates are different, but like you say, this is due to the rate used at the point of transaction being different to the Visa rate used (published) at the close of business (but would this matter, if the previous days rate is used for all visa debit transactions??? - How come the bank has to wait till the close of business only to use the previous days close of business visa rate?). However, when I look up the rates for 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 Dec using the link you posted:

11 Dec 14 = 0.019513 - the inverse of this = 51.25

12 Dec 14 = 0.019520 - the inverse of this = 51.22

13 Dec 14 = 0.019455 - the inverse of this = 51.40 (Saturday)

14 Dec 14 = 0.019455 - the inverse of this = 51.40 (Sunday)

15 Dec 14 = 0.019455 - the inverse of this = 51.40 (monday)

16 Dec 14 = 0.019577 - the inverse of this = 51.08

None of these rate match the rate appearing on the statement 51.30. According to this post you receive the previous days rate with visa.

So for an ATM pull on Friday I receive Thursday's visa rate.

Even then the visa rate was 51.25, I've ended up receiving a higher rate than the visa published rate. The visa webpage says

Your bank may or may not assess foreign transaction fees on crossborder transactions.

where it says "enter bank fee - 0-5%" I enter 0.0 % loading, but I would need to enter a negative loading to end up with 51.30.

I cannot believe that the Halifax is charging a negative loading on the transaction, when they are charging almost 10 GBP for a 15000 THB (~300 GBP ATM pull). I always figured banks had to charge the visa/mastercard rate. Here they've used a higher rate. Not complaining, but tough to keep track.

Not a big deal because the rates come close, there is not much in it, when you compare 51.30 (appearing on statement) with 51.25 (visa rate for 11 Dec) or 51.22 (visa rate for 12 Dec). But the rates should surely match after the crossing the T's and dotting the I's.

Edited August 30, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[Pib]

You sure you didn't do the ATM pull on early 13 Dec in Thailand while it was still 12 Dec in the UK...and with it still being 12 Dec in the UK they logged the transaction with a 12 Dec date although actually occurring on 13 Dec in Thailand. Visa-Europe shows a 13 Dec rate of 51.30 which matches what you said appeared on your Halifax account.

[meltingpot2015]

You sure you didn't do the ATM pull on early 13 Dec in Thailand while it was still 12 Dec in the UK...and with it still being 12 Dec in the UK they logged the transaction with a 12 Dec date although actually occurring on 13 Dec in Thailand. Visa-Europe shows a 13 Dec rate of 51.30 which matches what you said appeared on your Halifax account.

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Realised that there is another visa (rates) website for visa card issued by European bank:

http://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/exchange-rates

The rates I quoted before were Visa (Global except Europe ?)

BTW, are you saying that the Bank uses the time where you carry out the pull or where your bank is located to work out the rates?. (or both??) it seems you are saying where the bank is located comes in to play, but then they've used the 13 Dec rate, presumably because the transaction was done on 13 Dec?? (because that was the time where the ATM pull was done??), but posted it on the statement as 12 Dec because it was 12 Dec in UK. So in effect, I am receiving the visa (europe) rate for 13 Dec, because the transaction was done on 13 Dec (in Bangkok) but its posted as 12 Dec because that was the date where my bank is located??. Not possible because:

You are correct the 13 December rate is 51.30. But I am pretty sure that the transaction was done on 12 December 2014, because, I make a note of the details of each transaction: date and amount it costs soon after the pull to compare what it costs when it appears on statement.

Even if I had made a mistake and noted the date as 12 December when I made the withdrawal on 13. I would have had to make the pull before 6-7am on Saturday 13 December 2013 (7 hours time difference in December). I made the ATM pull at MBK centre in Bangkok. I have never been there before 10am on any day. Actually that mall only opens at 10am each day.

Edited August 30, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[Pib]

I think UK bank issued Visa cards are covered under the Visa-European bank exchange rate, not the global rate for everyone else.

I just know when I use my Schwab (US) debit card to do an ATM withdrawal (and I always do the pull late enough in the morning or after lunch) that it's the same date in both Thailand and the U.S. (Eastern Time/New York time) the rate hitting my Schwab account within seconds of doing the actual pull (shows up as a Pending action) and when it finally posts the next day are the same. Same thing happens for another no foreign transaction debit card I have with another U.S. bank.

And many times what I do before going to do the withdrawal since I usually take both cards and do two, Bt30K ATM withdrawals, is check the Visa rate in effect....if I like the rate then I go do the ATM pulls....and the rate that hits my bank accounts is the Visa rate I looked up just before I ran off to the local mall to do the ATM pulls.

One of these days I need to do a pull early in the morning when it still the previous day in the U.S. and see what rate I get...to see if the Visa rate is tied to U.S. date/time or date/time at the actual withdrawal location such as Thailand.

It's only been within the last few months that you could even see Visa Global rates "before midnight U.S. Eastern Time (East Coast time)," which meant if you were in Thailand you couldn't see the rates for the current day until 11am or high noon Thailand depending on whether the U.S. was on daylight savings time or not. But now it appears Visa Global posts next day rates around around 5 to 6 hours earlier than before...like around 7pm U.S. Eastern Time which would be 6am next day in Thailand right now with the U.S. still on daylight saying time. And I don't know if that is when the rate official changes or it's still midnight....or it's the day of the transaction at your location. Don't want to guess about the magic hour for Visa-Europe rates. I've googled to my fingers have almost fell off tyring to find out a magic "time" the rates change...one magic time like tied to U.S. Eastern Time or whatever time. Seems a person just needs to experiment with their own transactions to see what exchange rate date they get.

[Pib]

Yea, I expect UK bank Visa cards are covered under the Visa-Europe rates and not Visa Global rates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Europe

[meltingpot2015]

Yea, I expect UK bank Visa cards are covered under the Visa-Europe rates and not Visa Global rates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Europe

Still dosent alter the fact that the (visa Europe) rate for the following day was used. Not the date of the pull or the previous day's. So, we cannot come to a conclusion that all visa (Europe) debit pulls are processed at Visa (Europe) rates on the date of the pull or the previous day's.

[Pib]

When you do an ATM withdrawal, do your press Savings, Current, or Credit?

[meltingpot2015]

For the Halifax card. Its always current. because I hold a Halifax Current Account.

[meltingpot2015]

Here's the relevent section from the Halifax website about using their card abroad:

Our exchange rates for card transactions are determined by the payment scheme provider for the card. For further information and other exchange rates and currencies see MasterCard or Visa. For travel money, the exchange rate is determined by us.

I followed the link for Visa and it does take you to the Visa Europe Rates calculator page.

That page says:

"1. Rates apply to the date the transaction was processed by Visa; this may differ from the actual date of the transaction."

So in my case, transaction was done on 12 Dec, but processed by visa Europe on 13 Dec, so 13 Dec rate used.

So,

For a debit card transaction the rate should not change as the transaction is completed immediately, from authorization to posting. So, the exchange rate you initially see hitting your bank account (like seconds after the transaction) will be the same as when it finally posts to your account. I've never seen it any different in the many, many times I used my no foreign transaction fee debit cards, to include the Schwab debit card.

Not necessarily. Debit card transaction can be processed (by visa europe) the day after with the rate for that future date. I say processed (by Visa Europe) as opposed to appeared (on the bank statement). Mine actually appeared on the statement on Monday 15 December 2014.

I don't think we can make the simple distinction between debit and credit cards. I am able to guage what an ATM pull would cost with a credit card (santander zero) more accurately than I would with the Halifax debit card, because Santander has said they use the Exchange rates at the time of the pull (not the Mastercard rate, which appears two days after).

here is what Santander says about using the Zero card abroad:

What if I have a Santander Zero credit card?

You are charged absolutely no foreign exchange fees ­ so what you see is what you pay. This will be the £
Sterling equivalent, depending on the exchange rate at the time of the transaction.

and yes, they do closely match the xe.com rate I have found. At least its not a future rate that I have no idea about.

the rate hitting my Schwab account within seconds of doing the actual pull (shows up as a Pending action) and when it finally posts the next day are the same. Same thing happens for another no foreign transaction debit card I have with another U.S. bank.

The visa global site says:

"Rates apply to the date the transaction was processed by Visa; this may differ from the actual date of the transaction."

In your case the rate seems to hold, in my case the rate has changed to the rate prevelant when (visa Europe) processed the transaction, by the looks of it.

By the way Visa Global gives todays rate (so does Visa Europe). Have you done an ATM pull immediately after checking the rate on Visa Global, when the date in U.S (the state where your bank is based) and thailand is the same. How does that rate compare with the transaction rate soon after the pull and rate when transaction appears on the statement.

Edited August 30, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[Pib]

The rate you get is indeed based on the "Visa/Mastercard settlement date" like your Visa quote say...and that settlement date may be different than the actual transaction date. Now how fast that occurs for a debit or credit card will vary....a credit card settlement will take longer since it's handled differently. For my U.S. Visa debit cards ATM withdrawals they hit my bank account immediately...and the rate reflected at that time does not change when the transactions move to the posted area of my statement.

For my two U.S. no foreign transaction fee debit cards the settlement is pretty much immediate....as mentioned earlier sometimes I check to see what the Visa rate just before going to the mall to do an ATM withdrawal, I then go do the withdrawal, get back home within an hour, check my bank account and the charge has already hit my bank account at the same exchange rate as shown on the Visa site. And within a day or two when debit transaction moves to the posted area of my statement the exchange rate is still the same as when it first hit my account on that actual transaction date.

Now for a credit card cash withdrawals (I use a no foreign transaction and no cash fee credit card which is prepaid to avoid any interest charge), the cash withdrawal hits my account immediately at the exchange rate reflected at the Visa exchange rate in the Pending area of my statement, but it takes one or two additional business days (usually one day) for the "settlement/posting" and I get the exchange rate for that settlement/posting date and not the actual transaction date. Actually, the real settlement/posting date is a business day or two later than the posting date they reflect on my statement....they do this to make the posting date and transaction date appear the same so interest can immediately start accruing from the transaction date...just the way they keep their accounting books...and a person just needs to know from experience from looking at old transactions the actual exchange rate they got will be a day or two later than the transaction/posted date on the statement. Now purchases are reflected different on my credit card statement....they will reflect the actual transaction date and a different/later posting date since interest and accounting is handled differently on purchases than cash advances.

The reason I asked you earlier do you select Savings, Current, or Credit when during a ATM withdrawal with your debit card is because apparently some bank cards apparently allow a person to press Credit even with a debit card (for a purchase or ATM transaction), the transaction is handled a little differently with some additional protection from Visa/Mastercard network, but the money still ends up coming out of your bank account. Maybe when/if selecting Credit the cash withdrawal takes longer to settle/post since it being processed differently...."if" you were pressing Credit.

But yea, maybe Visa-Europe and Visa-Global transaction get processed at little different speeds...could be something to do with different banking laws in different countries.

And regarding Mastercard exchange rates, what they post on their website is always a day behind...but this does not mean they don't have established exchange rates for the current day...it's just they don't post them. Different that Visa who post current day rates.

[Pib]

Was googling a little more and ended up at this page that talks about how Mastercard settles cash transactions via a Single or Dual Messaging System, which based on my other other googling is the same way Visa does it via a Single or Dual Messaging approach.

Normally, debt card cash transactions are settled under the "Single Messaging" system (except for Europe) and credit card transactions under the Dual Messaging System which takes a little longer for settlement. Apparently for Europe the Dual Messaging system is used for debit and credit card transactions which would drive getting next day (or later) exchange rates. I'm assuming "except for Europe" applies to European-issued cards vs meaning only transaction occuring within the boundaries of Europe. However, I guess for non-European bank issued cards like U.S. bank issued debit cards those transactions are handled under the Single Messaging system which settles faster/same day....I sure know my debit card cash transactions settle/get same day Visa rates.

Here's the webpage link and a few partial quotes from it.

Dual-Message vs. Single-Message System

MasterCard operates two distinct types of payment networks on which card transactions are processed. The first one is the dual-message system, which was initially designed for credit cards but today it is also used for MasterCard debit card transactions. This network typically relies on a cardholder signature to authenticate the transactions.

The second payment network is the single-message system, which is designed for automated teller machines (ATMs) and point-of-sale (POS) Maestro (a MasterCard-owned debit card brand) transactions. In most situations, this system requires cardholders to enter a pre-selected personal identification number (PIN) as a way to authenticate the transaction.

Clearing of Single-Message Transactions

Except for Europe, all MasterCard transactions for which a PIN is used for cardholder authentication are single-message transactions. (Europe uses dual messaging for all card transactions, whether they are authenticated with a signature or with a PIN.) With single messaging, the authorization and clearing are performed in one dispatch and all the information necessary to post the transaction to the cardholders account is communicated right at the time of each transaction. As you see, this eliminates the batch processing, which the dual-message process requires. In single-message processing, transactions are entered directly into clearing and only monetary settlement is then required.

Guess European issued debit cash transactions can settle/post a little slower due to the dual messaging/batch system they use.

[meltingpot2015]

The rate you get is indeed based on the "Visa/Mastercard settlement date" like your Visa quote say...and that settlement date may be different than the actual transaction date. Now how fast that occurs for a debit or credit card will vary....a credit card settlement will take longer since it's handled differently. For my U.S. Visa debit cards ATM withdrawals they hit my bank account immediately...and the rate reflected at that time does not change when the transactions move to the posted area of my statement.

For my two U.S. no foreign transaction fee debit cards the settlement is pretty much immediate....as mentioned earlier sometimes I check to see what the Visa rate just before going to the mall to do an ATM withdrawal, I then go do the withdrawal, get back home within an hour, check my bank account and the charge has already hit my bank account at the same exchange rate as shown on the Visa site. And within a day or two when debit transaction moves to the posted area of my statement the exchange rate is still the same as when it first hit my account on that actual transaction date.

Now for a credit card cash withdrawals (I use a no foreign transaction and no cash fee credit card which is prepaid to avoid any interest charge), the cash withdrawal hits my account immediately at the exchange rate reflected at the Visa exchange rate in the Pending area of my statement, but it takes one or two additional business days (usually one day) for the "settlement/posting" and I get the exchange rate for that settlement/posting date and not the actual transaction date. Actually, the real settlement/posting date is a business day or two later than the posting date they reflect on my statement....they do this to make the posting date and transaction date appear the same so interest can immediately start accruing from the transaction date...just the way they keep their accounting books...and a person just needs to know from experience from looking at old transactions the actual exchange rate they got will be a day or two later than the transaction/posted date on the statement. Now purchases are reflected different on my credit card statement....they will reflect the actual transaction date and a different/later posting date since interest and accounting is handled differently on purchases than cash advances.

The reason I asked you earlier do you select Savings, Current, or Credit when during a ATM withdrawal with your debit card is because apparently some bank cards apparently allow a person to press Credit even with a debit card (for a purchase or ATM transaction), the transaction is handled a little differently with some additional protection from Visa/Mastercard network, but the money still ends up coming out of your bank account. Maybe when/if selecting Credit the cash withdrawal takes longer to settle/post since it being processed differently...."if" you were pressing Credit.

But yea, maybe Visa-Europe and Visa-Global transaction get processed at little different speeds...could be something to do with different banking laws in different countries.

And regarding Mastercard exchange rates, what they post on their website is always a day behind...but this does not mean they don't have established exchange rates for the current day...it's just they don't post them. Different that Visa who post current day rates.

For my two U.S. no foreign transaction fee debit cards the settlement is pretty much immediate....as mentioned earlier sometimes I check to see what the Visa rate just before going to the mall to do an ATM withdrawal, I then go do the withdrawal,...

Didn't realise you were using the visa global exchange rate checker. I figured it was some other tool you used before going to the ATM.

And regarding Mastercard exchange rates, what they post on their website is always a day behind...but this does not mean they don't have established exchange rates for the current day...it's just they don't post them. Different that Visa who post current day rates.

The reasons I said:

Santander has said they use the Exchange rates at the time of the pull (not the Mastercard rate, which appears two days after).

was because in the past when I checked the mastercard rate (two - three days after the pull) using the m/c tool, it did not match the Santander rate.

I did a pull 17 Aug 15, the rate that was offered by Santander although comes close to M/C rate is not exactly the same. I checked the dates around the 17 August, but not the same. (I checked from 17 Aug to 21 Aug 15, the settlement date was I think 19 August - because that was when it appeared on my recent transactions).

Whereas, with the Halifax Visa, we can actually match exactly (even though its a rate from a future date) to the visa europe published rate.

The rates on the m/c tool from 17 Aug to 21 Aug 15 are all slightly higher to the one offered by Santander. Its not a biggy, but I used to think that all cards have to match the respective visa or m/c rate (depending on if the card is visa or m/c). But in this case, with Santander zero its not matching. It's definitely not the DCC, because if I see that I would probably throw a fit, and the difference is very slight (unlike DCC which takes a big bite).

Edited August 30, 2015 by meltingpot2015