Brits charged more than £1 per EURO when using ATM machines in Europe thanks to ‘cynical’ fees
BRITS are facing being charged more than £1 per Euro when using ATM machines abroad.
Holidaymakers in Europe have been feeling the brunt of poor exchange rates plus added fees at ATMs operated by US-based EuroNet.
One North London resident was outraged after coughing up £53 for a 50 euro withdrawal while travelling in Italy.
With a pound worth 1.2 euros at current exchange rates, his charge should have been more around £42, the Mirror reports.
The 40-year-old said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the message saying I’d been charged £53.
“I felt like my pocket had been picked.”
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Another Londoner, who is a seasoned traveller, stumbled across the highest fees they’d seen yet during a trip to Greece.
Donal Kane used an ATM at the resort of Ouranoupoli on the mainland in northern Greece, east of Thessaloniki.
Mr Kane wanted to withdraw €240 and found the Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) invited him to pay £233 – a rate of €1.03 to each pound.
The DCC is offered by foreign ATMs, shops and restaurants, allowing them to make an extra charge if you choose to convert the transaction into pounds.
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He shared on Twitter: “14.15% markup on the Mid Market rate (as well as a €3.95 fee but that’s hard to avoid in Greece).
“Not sure I’ve ever seen a higher markup than this anywhere.”
Mr Kane said the “golden rule” was to always reject the suggested DCC.
With a €3.95 fee applied to all transactions, unwary travellers withdrawing €80 would end up paying more than £1 for each euro.
He told The Independent: “Not sure I’ve seen a double digit percentage mark-up quoted, at least openly, before.
“High single digits is more normal, and still awful value.”
Consumer rights specialist Martyn James was surprised to learn of rates exceeding the pound-to-euro threshold.
He said as tough as the “deeply unfair” rates are, he expects many tourists will put up with them in the moment.
Mr James said: “People will see it, roll their eyes, and be angry but will exchange anyway because the kids are crying, everybody’s tired and you’re in a queue at the airport with all your luggage.
“It’s a cynical move and there’s no excuse when they know the exchange rate isn’t anywhere near that and they add additional fees.”
Dealing with foreign currencies can be confusing, with exchange rates difficult to keep on top of.
‘NOT AWARE’
By being aware of the risks, you can make sure you aren’t getting ripped off every time you want to take out cash abroad.
In a video on TikTok, user Kybe Travel revealed how accepting the conversion rates offered to you by cash machines when withdrawing money could end up costing you as much as £10 per transaction if you aren’t careful.
In the video, she explains: “Here I’m withdrawing €100 from my Monzo card and being shown what the conversion from pounds to euros is.
“As you can see, €100 will cost me £98.83. But instead of accepting the conversion, I’m going to click ‘accept without conversion’.
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“As soon as that’s been processed, Monzo lets me know that the transaction which was going to cost me £98.83 actually cost me £88.04, saving me just over £10.”
Lots of users were thankful to Kybe Travel for their advice, saying that they were not aware of the difference between the two prices.