Quote:
Originally Posted by thunder99
So why does it consistently work out at around 9% for me so?
I take out Hungarian forints within the EU, where it's illegal for a bank's ATM to charge extra without having it clearly displayed on the machine.
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Like you said in your original post you took out money because the rate was high that morning the ATM rate you get is not instant.
The pending transaction placed on your card is based on the previous days rate.
Then when the transaction settle 1-4 days later the actual rate used is the rate on that day.
So if you go to the ATM today, the Pending will used the rate from yesterday then when the transaction settles on Monday or Tuesday the amount actual charged to your account will be the rate for that day.
Because the US$ exchange rate goes up and down a lot at the moment you will see big differences in the amounts.
This is also why accounts can go negative, why the balance changes and so on.
We ony charge the $2 and the exchange rate you should compare with is the exchange rate you would have gotten going into you bank with US$ cash.
Rates on XE.com is not the rate you will get at your bank it will be slighty lower.
I have done tests myself over the last 4-5 years and every time I have done the test the difference between me going into my bank and withdrawing using my Electron card have been less than 1%.