Epassporte conversion rates
 

Where do they come uo with their conversion rates? They seem to be consistently higher than anywhere else.

example:

just went to the atm and got some cash, my statment shows
If I check conversions online (xe.com) I get

So I'm paying epassporte $7,5 for this transaction :helpme

You certainly pay 5$. Now for the rates..i got no clue. Maybe Michael could answer this :Pimp

currency exchange rate comes from the atm itself...and then there is a $2 epass fee

you never get the "market" rate

I was going to post about this myself. I've done a couple of transactions over the last couple of weeks and it seems they charge 9% commission on top of the ATM fee.

Thats right 9%!!!

Not only that, they seem to choose the best part of the day (for them of course) to pick the conversion rate.

I took out HUF40,000 (about $187) one morning in October because the dollar was really strong, it slipped back down towards the end of the day, so when I checked my epassporte account about 2 weeks later they had taken another $18 of me for the transaction.

Won't be using them to withdraw cash anymore, because 9% is just been a little bit too greedy.

this shit already been discussed here like 100x times... VISA is setting the exchange rates not epass

We only charge $2 for ATM withdrawals
VISA sets the exchange rate for the top 25 currencies based on the average rate the day before and charge 1% for their trouble.

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.

maybe because you always take out the same amount?

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%.

Haha.. Someone actually thought the current rate was requested by an ATM for that particular moment... Ever read the bullshit they give you when you got your ATM card at a bank? Nothing is done the moment of. If somehow the dollar fell to one penny what kind of pandemonium would ensue? Think about it!

I have an ATM by my house and when I use it I get zero charge from Epassporte or the ATM... Kinda nice.

I just did a withdraw 15 minutes ago.
I also added a screen shot I just took from the same banks website showing what I would have gotten if I had walked into the bank with the exact same amount in US$. The difference is about 8 DKK which is about $1.50 (already deducted the $2 fee we charge.)

I will be happey to update it when the transaction settles which probably won't be until the beginning of next week.

http://michaelo.dk/nordea.jpg

This is from xe.com
Difference is now about $12

http://michaelo.dk/xe1.jpg

Using a VISA card issued from one coountry in an ATM in another country will always have exchange rate issues. This isn't epassporte overcharging you it is the banking system in general.

Instead of moaning about the rate being different from a real time rate posted on an exchange site that you can't actually get anywhere from an ATM, you should compare the costs and benefits of using epassporte with the costs and benefits of not using it.

If you can get more local notes in your pocket by getting whoever pays you to wire funds to your local bank account then surely organising that is a better use of your time.

I guess though that with the bank wire fee, the FX rate the Hungarian bank charges you, and the extra time before you see the money, you will probably start to appreciate the epassporte ATM withdrawals.

epassporte is not the cheapest way to get money out of an ATM overseas but its one of the quickest and easiest.

Previous post aimed at Hungary guy but principle remains the same whatever currency of course

and that right there is a fact :2 cents:

Absolutely they charge a higher rate, as they should, just like any other credit card company. They're not in futures and with a possible swing of a few percent on any given day or week they deserve extra for their efforts. My advice would be if you don't like the conversion then switch yourself to USD wires :)

Brad