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ATM fees


Hud

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3 hours ago, Hud said:

Which ATM has the cheapest peso withdrawal fee?  TIA

Its not the fee its the conversion. Most charge around 25 to 50 pesos. Which is less than $5. However when you pull money the exchange rates are horrible. It could more than 5 pesos per dollar difference than current posted conversion. So when pulling out a few thousand pesos you just gave the bank 500 pesos or more.

When you are pulling the money and the screen comes up to show you the rate and asks to accept or decline make a note of what they are offering then press DECLINE. You will still get your money but it will be at your current bank or card rate not theirs. Visa has a posted Rate. Mastercard has a posted rate. You can see what the current rates are on your internet browser. Open your internet browser (Chrome) enter 1 usd Mxn in the search bar google will show you the current exchange of a dollar to pesos. Many think if you press decline you will not get money that is not true. You are declining their exchange rate. That alone is going to save you ten times what charge is. You can also check with your banks website or call. Many reimburse for the charge here or use a network like "Allpoint" and there are ATMs that will have the allpoint logo. But in reality it is only a couple of dollars.youll spend more than that in gas. But Ive seen so many people go to an ATM that charges 25 pesos instead of 40. A difference of basically 1 dollar. They saved the dollar but then lost a 1000 pesos on the Exchange rate the local bank gave them.

Just remember Press Decline. Compare what you actually received to what they WANTED to give you.

I upload a screenshot of the current exchange rate shown in google chrome

See image its 19.02 right now. It changes constantly. Look at ATM when they ask you accept what they are offering but remember DECLINE

 

Screenshot_2023-03-16-00-11-21-458-edit_com.android.chrome.jpg

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11 hours ago, chicamysterious said:

Its not the fee its the conversion. Most charge around 25 to 50 pesos. Which is less than $5. However when you pull money the exchange rates are horrible. It could more than 5 pesos per dollar difference than current posted conversion. So when pulling out a few thousand pesos you just gave the bank 500 pesos or more.

When you are pulling the money and the screen comes up to show you the rate and asks to accept or decline make a note of what they are offering then press DECLINE. You will still get your money but it will be at your current bank or card rate not theirs. Visa has a posted Rate. Mastercard has a posted rate. You can see what the current rates are on your internet browser. Open your internet browser (Chrome) enter 1 usd Mxn in the search bar google will show you the current exchange of a dollar to pesos. Many think if you press decline you will not get money that is not true. You are declining their exchange rate. That alone is going to save you ten times what charge is. You can also check with your banks website or call. Many reimburse for the charge here or use a network like "Allpoint" and there are ATMs that will have the allpoint logo. But in reality it is only a couple of dollars.youll spend more than that in gas. But Ive seen so many people go to an ATM that charges 25 pesos instead of 40. A difference of basically 1 dollar. They saved the dollar but then lost a 1000 pesos on the Exchange rate the local bank gave them.

Just remember Press Decline. Compare what you actually received to what they WANTED to give you.

I upload a screenshot of the current exchange rate shown in google chrome

See image its 19.02 right now. It changes constantly. Look at ATM when they ask you accept what they are offering but remember DECLINE

 

Screenshot_2023-03-16-00-11-21-458-edit_com.android.chrome.jpg

Just interested in how much the bank charges to use their machine. I guess I didn't make myself clear. Actually 25- 50 is not definitive enough, nor is there a name of a bank (location). I'll try to be clearer next time. :(

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Each one is different. Some are individually owned and branded with a bank yet the bank does not set the fee the owner does. So it is difficult to give you an exact figure. Banorte on Hildalgo and francisco central chapala shows me charges of 40 pesos but there again my bank USAA erases that charge. Others also charge based on what card you put in it. An American, Canadian, Mexican, Or Credit or Debit.

The cheapest in Ajijic is at Laguna across from walmart to the left of Telcel. However they limit how much you can take. Santander in Soriana is 30 pesos with my Debit but maximum pull is 9000. The Banorte in Central that I spoke of earlier will let me take 20,000 maybe more but I have only tried 20,000. I will also note I use 3 US Banks and the Charge is different at each bank. Pentagon Federal I get the biggest charge and Exchange. USAA gives the best Exchange and no fee. Capital One Gives the best Echange rate but a $2.50 fee. 

You havent said anything about what bank you are using. american or Other, Debit or Credit Cash Advance.

When on Guadalajara the Army Bank gives me the best deal. BancoBajio.

Other than that I dont use the one at laguna it is empty a lot and use to limit to 3000 pesos per transaction. So I use Santander if I only need 9000 and I use Banorte when I want more for a large purchase.

Again I personally think the charge is the least of the problem. The maximum i have ever heard of was $5. However I constantly hear about the exchange rates. I don't understand worried about 3 to 5 dollars when they are getting 50 to 100 on the bad exchange rate. I would rather spend the 5 and save the 100.

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Some of this information is contrary to what I have always heard and observed.... that the particular BANK that issued one a card is the entity that sets the Exchange Rate. For example you said: "USAA gives the best Exchange" and "Capital One Gives the best Exchange rate but a $2.50 fee."

My information says that it is not the actual bank where one got the card but the 'card issuer' that determines the Exchange Rate. If using a Visa® debit card from whatever bank gave out the card, it is Visa® that sets the rate, not the bank. Similarly if it is a MasterCard® card, they set the rate. AND that rate is set once daily, not 'hour by hour'. Now definitely a particular bank... that issued the card.... may have different policies about reimbursement for any fees charged by the originating ATM bank OR even add fees like your $2.50 fee from Capital One for using their card at an ATM.

Consider this:  The exchange rate for international purchases and foreign ATM transactions is set by Visa® or MasterCard®, depending on your card's logo. This exchange rate is either the wholesale market rate or a government-mandated rate set every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa and Mastercard calculate the rate for the next day's transactions.

 

 

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Whichever international network passes the transaction from the host country to the receiving country sets the exchange rate. This could be Plus, Cirrus, Maestro, Visa and possibly some new ones I'm not familiar with. Normally the international switches logos are printed on your debit card. 

The surcharge is determined by the owner of the ATM. 

If you let the acquiring bank determine the exchange rate all bets are off. 

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The exchange rate for international purchases and foreign ATM transactions is set by Visa® or MasterCard®, depending on your card's logo. This exchange rate is either the wholesale market rate or a government-mandated rate set every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa and Mastercard calculate the rate for the next day's transactions

You can check the actual exchange rates here

https://www.mastercard.com/global/en/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html?amount=100&fee=0&utcConvertedDate=&exchangedate=04%2F27%2F2022&fromCurr=USD&toCurr=BYN&submitButton=

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For those that are interested I'd like to clarify a couple of points.

First, a debit card can serve 2 functions. One, it can be used to withdraw money from an ATM and two, it can be used in place of a credit card for merchant purchases in a Point-of-Sale device. All routing uses the first 6-9 digits of the plastic card where those beginning with 4 belong to the Visa system and 5 use Master Card. 

There are hundreds of merchant types covering restaurants, department stores, services and many others. Any card that is used in a POS device sends transactions to the authorizing bank using the Visa, Master Card or Maestro networks. A couple of posts back covered how the exchange rates work. These transactions can also cause a currency exchange fee to be assessed. One very odd twist is what they called a dual currency exchange fee. Let's say you're in a touristy part of Puerto Vallarta and you buy something in a store that prices merchandise in dollars. To make it easier on the visitors perhaps. There can be a fee to convert the dollars to pesos and then a second fee to convert pesos back to dollars. Kind of nuts but know to avoid making that type of purchase.

A currency exchange fee will appear as a separate line item on your bank statement as it is technically interest. Surcharges do not appear on your statement, only the ATM receipt.

One other POS oddity is using a debit card to purchase gas although it works the same for a credit card. Once you swipe your card and maybe enter your zip code the POS device at the pump sends a pre-authorization request for an amount determined by the station. It used to be $100 but it could be more now, but it would be enough to cover a tank of gas. No returns allowed. If you have enough to cover the pre-auth then a hold is placed on your account. When you finish the POS sends what's known as a force post message. The bank cannot deny it. The authorization system also releases the original hold. If the transaction never finishes the hold is released after a certain amount of time passes.

While POS devices use the Visa and Master Card networks, ATMs use networks like Plus and Cirrus to complete transactions.

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21 hours ago, Mad_Max said:

now using decline at HSBC - THANKS!!  What a difference in the exchange rate

 

Yes. It does doesnt it. Everyone is worried about the 40 peso charge to use the atm while they are giving the banks hundreds or thousands of pesos on the conversion. Now the old saying of watching the pennies so hard while the dollars are flying out the window. Something like that.

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On 3/16/2023 at 6:09 PM, RickS said:

Some of this information is contrary to what I have always heard and observed.... that the particular BANK that issued one a card is the entity that sets the Exchange Rate. For example you said: "USAA gives the best Exchange" and "Capital One Gives the best Exchange rate but a $2.50 fee."

My information says that it is not the actual bank where one got the card but the 'card issuer' that determines the Exchange Rate. If using a Visa® debit card from whatever bank gave out the card, it is Visa® that sets the rate, not the bank. Similarly if it is a MasterCard® card, they set the rate. AND that rate is set once daily, not 'hour by hour'. Now definitely a particular bank... that issued the card.... may have different policies about reimbursement for any fees charged by the originating ATM bank OR even add fees like your $2.50 fee from Capital One for using their card at an ATM.

Consider this:  The exchange rate for international purchases and foreign ATM transactions is set by Visa® or MasterCard®, depending on your card's logo. This exchange rate is either the wholesale market rate or a government-mandated rate set every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa and Mastercard calculate the rate for the next day's transactions.

 

 

I looked last night I took 20,000 from USAA and 20,000 from Capital One. USAA was 1076.19  and Capital one was 1075.40. I also get the ATM charge refunded by USAA so considering the Refund from USAA it was a little cheaper. But still the exchange rate was better than the 17 peso per dollar offered by the bank. Hitting Decline or now Sin Conversion saved quite a bit. Declining I got 18.59 more or less so I made 1.59 pesos per dollar. Changing 1075 more or less I gained more than 1500 pesos from USAA and Capital one. A little over 3000 pesos just in exchanging money. Just clicking the right button. I roughly rounded in my calculations 

But I did that calculation right... Right????

Let me know

 

 

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2 hours ago, gringolokito said:

"But still the exchange rate was better than the 17 peso per dollar offered by the bank."

Yes, of course and most people... at least those on these Boards... have long known to NOT accept the first rate offered but rather 'Decline... or Sin Conversion these days it looks like'... it for the best rate... your 18.59 in this case.

I didn't quite follow all your numbers, but yes 20,000 pesos @ 18.59 conversion rate costs one about $1,076 US. Would have been $100 US more to get the same amount of pesos if using their 17 rate.

 

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Is this "Decline" or "Sin Conversion" only apply to USA accounts? I draw from a CDN bank and have never been offered another rate.

I have used the Laguna Mall ATM and the Bannomex at Walmart (for the cheapest ATM charge), never seen "Decline".  😕

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At the HSBC in the Laguna Mall, I use my debit card from a Canadian account and always get the option to accept or decline the Canadian dollar exchange rate. When they show the conversion, you are looking at the BOTTOM of the screen to choose decline or accept. To decline, you push the button on the LEFT side of the screen at the bottom and to accept you press the button on the RIGHT side of the screen. If you decline, they do not show you another rate, it has just always been a better rate than what they offered in the first place.

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CIBanco is the one I have used, can draw $10k pesos for $58 peso charge.

Walmart Banamex charges $30 pesos but can only draw $5k pesos.

Only odd question is if I "want to continue with this transaction"....

What does the HSBC charge and what is the max. that can be drawn from the machine?

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I think it's 82 pesos and I withdraw 10,000 pesos at a time. I actually get a breakdown of bills that way. Your limit to withdraw daily is set by your home bank. I've taken out more and less depending on circumstances. Four machines there and I like the openness of the setup. YMMV.

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47 minutes ago, Ferret said:

 Your limit to withdraw daily is set by your home bank.

Your home bank as directed by you... you get to tell them your limit.

But sometimes it is the local ATM bank that also sets a limit. "They" won't let one take out an unlimited amount of pesos in one draw.  

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Thanks Rick. Yes, some machines have a limit but I found that the ones attached to banks generally have higher limits and feel safer. The one at Pancho's in Riberas has a limit of 3,000 peso withdrawal per transaction. Doesn't mean that you can't put your card in again and again until your home bank limit is reached but it's going to cost you. 

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