An ATM advertising free Euro cash withdrawals charged me for "buying them."

Damagedcar

The exchange rate was not displayed on the machine it simply said I was withdrawing 500 euros which was what I was expecting.

SnowTiger

Damagedcar wrote: »

The exchange rate was not displayed on the machine it simply said I was withdrawing 500 euros which was what I was expecting.

Make another (small) withdrawal from the machine, taking a picture of each screen throughout the process.

Send pictures and a covering letter outlining the issue to Nationwide, requesting a refund of the extra you were charged.

If Nationwide won't play ball, ask them for a letter of deadlock and take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you withdrew €500 you should have been charged €500. The signage clearly says:

€uro

Free cash
withdrawals
available at this
Autobank.

There's no mention of a dodgy exchange rate.

steampowered

Ah, I recently withdrew euros using one of those machines.

If I recall correctly, you can withdraw straight euros (without using their outrageous rubbish exchange rate).

The problem is that the screens try to steer you towards using their exchange rate. You have to reject their conversion by clicking the right hand button, then reject again when it says "are you sure" - but on the second screen you need to click the left hand button.

You can get euros at these machines without getting a dodgy exchange rate, but you have to read the screens really carefully.

[Deleted User]

bris wrote: »

In the UK I always though the "Free withdrawals" was referring to the fact the don't charge you to use the machine. Lots of machines charge a flat fee of around £1.50 just to use the machine.

I agree that this is what it means by "free cash withdrawals". It just means no fee for using the machine, not that there is no exchange rate mechanism for foreign currency. I would , though, also expect the machine to state this exchange rate prior to acceptance.

CardinalWolsey

All UK based ATM's are domiciled in GBP. An ATM is not able to establish the currency of the account that your card services, as this is not encoded on the card (but may determine the country of origin of the card, and therefore imply the currency). Some cards can service accounts which can be multi-currency. However, because UK ATM's are domiciled in GBP, whenever you use a multi-currency ATM in the UK to withdraw [typically] either USD or EUR, there will always be a cross-currency conversion - sometimes, there might be two cross-currency conversions.

1. You hold a GBP bank account, and withdraw EUR500. You will receive precisely €500. There may or may not be a fee applied dependent upon the ATM operator. If fee free, that EUR500 will be converted in to GBP with a margin applied (by the operator - because the ATM is domiciled as GBP) based upon either the prevailing Visa or Mastercard rates. When this is cleared with your bank, they may well then apply their own foreign currency transaction charge.

2. You hold a EUR bank account, and withdraw EUR500 from a UK ATM. You receive €500, and again they may or may not be a transaction fee applied by the ATM operator. The ATM operator converts €500 in to GBP, applying their margin to the appropriate cross-currency rate. The transaction then clears through your bank, which when applying it to your EUR account, applies both a foreign transaction fee AND their own margin to convert the transaction back from GBP to EUR. Your €500 cash withdrawal from your EUR account has just cost you [for example] €520.

3. You hold a EUR account (or have an account which is multi-currency, e.g. Revolut), and use an ATM which is domiciled as EUR (e.g. you are using an ATM in Paris). The ATM will offer to perform the transaction in GBP (because it is domiciled as EUR, and your card originates from a UK bank), using the ATM's exchange rate. You reject this, and select to do it in EUR. No conversion carried out by the ATM (although it may well apply a charge for the withdrawal). Your bank is presented for clearing with a transaction for EUR500, to be settled from your EUR account. No foreign transaction fee, no conversion rate. Your €500 withdrawal has cost €500.

Number one rule - using a multi-currency ATM in the UK will ALWAYS cost you more than you think - always wait until you get to your destination and use an ATM at the port (air, ferry, train station) with an appropriate card (Nationwide, Revolut etc) so you don't pay charges and get good conversion rates. In all of my travels globally I have never landed on foreign soil where there hasn't been an ATM available before you step out of the [air]port.