Comment on FOREX is not for the faint hearted
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 6 days agoThe guy you’re replying to, is saying the opposite.
Using an ATM usually gets you your banks exchanging rate, which depending on your bank, can be damn near free. (If the ATM tries to do the exchange for you, refuse, let your bank do it).
Same goes online. Paying with paypal, I never ever use their exchange service. Charging my card directly with the foreign currency is ALWAYS a better deal due to how good the exchange rate provided by my bank is.
frog@feddit.uk 6 days ago
I did not know this. Thank you for the info. Next time I will be looking for ATMs that do this.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
Most modern exchange services are semi-scams.
Most banks will let you use your card in other currencies, directly, and just do the exchange on their end.
And it’s usually really favorable too. If you’ve used your card abroad “like normal” for stuff like a restaurant meal, then you’ve used your banks currency exchange service.
It’ll still add up if you make a ton of small purchases, and it would be good to check what your bank actually charges for exchabges.
But, lots of places will pretend to offer to do the exchange for you, at sky-high rates, when really you can just charge your card directly, and get a much better rate via your bank.
Once saved a friend like 50 bucks when she bought an leather jacket on the expensive side during a cruise. The shop offered to do the exchange for her, as if that was necessary. I saw the rate and immediately told her to refuse, knowing our bank charges almost nothing for foreign currency charges. She would have fallen for it.