Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato1
No Peter - that indeed is the actual buy rate!!!!
I was skeptical when GE Money told me that the xe.com rate was the actual buy rate used on my card.
So I went to an on-line shop in Britain, bought a Trumpers shave soap puck for 10 pounds with the card, took note of the xe.com rate in the subsequent days, and that was what I was charged on my card.
Then I went to Italy for three months, kept loading my card up with Aussie dollars (so that I wouldn't have to pay interest on withdrawals), and going to ATM machines and withdrawing Euros, while keeping tab of xe.com rates. The cash withdrawals were always converted at the xe.com rate.
Same thing with all my payments for hotels and car hire.
But good things don't last. At the start of this year, GE introduced a 3% fee for cash withdrawals from ATMs. I suspect that too many people were doing what I was doing.
But even with that 3% fee attached to the xe.com rates, the result is that GE is better than that of any bank which charges up to that 4 cent differential that you mention (not to mention their international processing fees on top of that). The worst differential I've seen so far is that from the Qantas Cash Mastercard. It's a great card at home for earning Frequent Flyer points, but one would have to be nuts using it overseas.
Don't forget, GE Money is part of GE - which was the world's biggest company before Microsoft overtook it. Its current market capitalisation is as big as that of our four major banks combined. And everywhere one goes around Europe, one sees a GE Money shopfront. I think we are just getting the same sort of good deal their customers get in other countries.
Regards,
Renato
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Yes Renato, I can see how you think that. You need to be careful that you don't perpetuate a myth here.
Using a credit card you do get that rate, however, if you have a closer look you will also find a International Transaction Fee.
However, when you actually buy cash from a money exchange, or a bank, you buy at a lower rate, to cover their fee. Although, some exchanges also charge a set fee, so you need to watch that.
Make no mistake Renato, you don't get the exact amount, as there is a cost for that exchange, whether through a separate fee (International transaction fee) or a percentage of the rate. But you do pay to exchange money.
Try ring your bank and ask that if you want to buy US dollars, what rate will I buY it at. Or, check Forex, as they state that is not the rate you buy at.
However, in the event that you have found a way to bUy a US dollar for the 86 cents mentioned, without
any fees, then please let me know, for I will be there in an instant.
I loaded a US credit card with US dollars, but when I bought those dollars the exchange rate was around 98, but doing a simple division between what it cost and what I actually got, the exchange rate received was closer to 95 cents. however, I might add, by having a credit card in US dollars, I don't pay that International Transaction Fee, because I get around that by having a US credit card.
Cheers Peter