credit card exchange rate - tourist or interbank?

Why not? It doesn't cost you anything (no fees) and you can keep the card for subsequent trips. Their rate is consistently within 0.5-1% of interbank rates in my experience (Europe, N America, Far East). Most other cards charge 2.75% 'Foreign Exchange Fee', which is usually based on interbank rates. But people have found that by using two different cards on the same date, they were charged different rates when statements arrived, so the base rates clearly vary among card issuers. Yes, even with that charge, it's cheaper to use your card abroad for purchases, but not for cash advance on a credit card, but rates fluctuate daily and you are charged the rates ruling on the day that your transaction hits your account, which can be up to a few days after purchase. So you may lose or gain by using your card, depending on rates movement. Also in some countries (notably Ireland), many service establishments, through their card handler, do a 'dynamic currency conversion' and bill your card direct in sterling, using a rate which is 2-3% worse than interbank. It hits you in the pocket if you have 'no foreign fee' card like Nationwide and Liverpool & Victoria.

Alec

Can anyone confirm whether or not retailers in Ireland in particular where I've been stung with this "Dynamic Currency Conversion" technique:

(a) Have to ask you first whether you want your card billed in GBP or EUR (b) If they don't, you can instruct them to charge the card in EUR?

Thanks

They are supposed to, but often they don't (in many cases the till operators know nothing about it!). Yes, you can demand they void the transaction and resubmit it in euro (or whatever the local currency). I hear Harrod's in London do this with non-UK cards, but customers are asked first.

Alec

In message , Alec writes

Yes, but this is insufficient evidence to be sure you are correct. The intermediate variables, i.e. retail outlet, merchant service, foreign bank and time of day, etc., all need to be the same as well before you can deduce that rates are *clearly* different.

Quite. Thats just happened to me! but after a good meal and, er, a drink or two, I wasnt in the mood to really argue the toss. Annoying, none the less.

I don't know about Ireland, but I've done that in Thailand. I refused to sign a charge slip which had been converted to GBP at a ripoff rate and they just did me another one in local currency. The saving when it was eventually converted to GBP by Nationwide at a very reasonable rate was quite considerable.

Chris

That's what happened last time I got caught out. Sales assistant was oblivious to the way the card terminal charged my card in GBP rather than EUR.

It was too late in this case. The transaction got authorized both slips printed off and completed on the card terminal before I signed the slip. Therefore too late to void the transaction.

"Phil Richards" wrote

Hmmm. *Who* was it who authorised this transaction, on your card?? :-(

Without a hint of irony, Phil Richards astounded uk.finance on 12 Jan 2005 by announcing:

Not at all. The transaction can be reversed within a certain period (transacion effectively never happens), or refunded if outside this period.