ftrphb
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ATM help needed
Simple question. How to get the best rate from an ATM?
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RFClark
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If the Bank ATM gives you the option reject the Mexican Bank rate and let your US Bank do the exchange. You do need to find out what your US Bank’s
rate is to see if it’s better.
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boe4fun
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Mood: Circling the drain........
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A Charles Schwab debit card will absorb any fees the ATM charges. Also it’s safer to use ATMs at a bank and not off the street.
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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Bajazly
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As long as you're looking for the worst ex rate possible.
Believing is religion - Knowing is science
Harald Pietschmann
"Get off the beaten path and memories, friends and new techniques are developed"
Bajazly, August 2019
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BeachSeeker
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This is only true if you “accept” the ATM exchange rate. If you select “Decline” then your bank will perform the exchange, usually at a very
favorable rate. My bank is always substantially better than the rates at a cambio. The trick is, you have to select “decline”. It kind of seems
like you are declining the whole transaction, but you are only declining the ATM’s exchange rate.
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Bajazly
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Quote: Originally posted by BeachSeeker  |
This is only true if you “accept” the ATM exchange rate. If you select “Decline” then your bank will perform the exchange, usually at a very
favorable rate. My bank is always substantially better than the rates at a cambio. The trick is, you have to select “decline”. It kind of seems
like you are declining the whole transaction, but you are only declining the ATM’s exchange rate. |
Always decline yes but that is only with the "street" ATMs. IN the bank they control everything and do what they want. Last time I went into the bank
the ex rate around town was 19 plus, the bank was 184 peso transaction fee with a flat 17 peso ex rate. But hey "safety" right?
Believing is religion - Knowing is science
Harald Pietschmann
"Get off the beaten path and memories, friends and new techniques are developed"
Bajazly, August 2019
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BeachSeeker
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| Quote: Originally posted by Bajazly |
Always decline yes but that is only with the "street" ATMs. IN the bank they control everything and do what they want. Last time I went into the bank
the ex rate around town was 19 plus, the bank was 184 peso transaction fee with a flat 17 peso ex rate. But hey "safety" right?
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This has not been my experience. I can only recall 1 ATM that didn't give me the option to decline. It was at the San Ysidro crossing where you get
your FMM. I went across the hall to the HSBC ATM and it had the decline option. All other ATMs across Baja that I have tried gave me an option to
decline, whether it was in a grocery store, on the "street", or attached to a bank. And every one of them gave an exchange rate that was substantially
better than the cambio.
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ftrphb
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substantially better than the cambio.
Thanks
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AKgringo
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Last year about this time, I could not find a bank or ATM in Loreto that would take my cards or US greenbacks in exchange for pesos! I did find a
Cambio that did the greenback exchange.
It happened to me once before in 2016, and it included Mulege that time. It must have hac something to do with a sudden tweak in the exchange rate,
but I don't know for sure.
Local businesses would still take plastic, but not the banks!
[Edited on 10-23-2023 by AKgringo]
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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surfhat
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Here is a way to avoid being scammed by ATM'S. Don't use them in the first place.
A little inconvenience can be worth its weight in gold.
I don't use them up here either. Going into the bank costs a few minutes, but the security factor is worth it to me with all the horror story's going
around.
Adding a security sleeve for your credit cards, passport, drivers license too? is something I will have before my next upcoming Baja sojourn.
Scammers come in so many forms these days and we all should employ whatever protections we can, like walking into a bank instead of using an ATM.
Like paying for fuel at stations directly to the cashier attendant.
The plus is developing a personal experience with your regular banks tellers. That there is reason enough not to use ATMs here or there.
In my opinion for what it is worth.
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AKgringo
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I lost a debit card in La Paz three years ago. It was used several times (run as a credit card) and racked up about $600 in charges.
My card issuer reversed the charges after I called them. If I had lost cash, it would never come back!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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surfhat
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The use of Faraday? protective sleeves for your credit cards, passports, and drivers licenses, is a small price to pay for not having your vital
personal info being able to be read remotely from your pocket should be amenable to all.
If anyone has used these privacy protecting sleeves and been ripped off, I would like to know.
The ripoffs are a creative bunch, so who knows how long these Faraday protective sleeves will continue to be helpful.
Carrying enough pesos may be bulky at times, but consider the alternatives. Stash all but the minimum pesos in case you are targeted like many
gringoes can be in some well known areas.
After fifty years, the times I have been ripped off by law enforcement has amounted to one time back in the 80's by a Fed on the Cabo road to San Jose
when this 5' tall Fed. ripped off my Nikon binoculars.
The lesson learned has served me well ever since. Never let yourself be distracted for a moment of watching closely any search of your belongings.
Always thank the road check soldiers, personnel, etc, for helping keep the road safer. In my experience, they have always appreciated the sentiment
with a smile. A smile can take you far. Showing respect for the job they do is so easy.
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surfhat
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Thanks Lencho for the rfid info. After reports locally of people being ripped off a couple of years ago, the protective sleeves sounded like a good
idea.
I will still choose to not use ATM's here or there by not putting myself into a position where I need to use one.
Keep knocking on wood everyone.
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surabi
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| Quote: Originally posted by RFClark | | If the Bank ATM gives you the option reject the Mexican Bank rate and let your US Bank do the exchange. You do need to find out what your US Bank’s
rate is to see if it’s better. |
ATM exchange rates are not set by your bank- they are set by Visa or Mastercard, depending on which your card is linked to. This includes both credit
cards and debit cards.
As long as you decline that exchange rate shown on the ATM screen, you will get exactly the same exchange rate everyone else does who uses any ATM
anywhere. Has nothing to do with your bank as far as exchange rate goes. It's the ATM fees that vary, and some banks will reimburse the ATM fees or
not charge any at all. For instance, if a Canadian has a Scotiabank acct. in Canada, any Scotiabank ATM anywhere in the world can be used without
incurring ATM fees.
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surabi
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Registered: 5-6-2016
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| Quote: Originally posted by surfhat | Here is a way to avoid being scammed by ATM'S. Don't use them in the first place.
A little inconvenience can be worth its weight in gold.
I don't use them up here either. Going into the bank costs a few minutes, but the security factor is worth it to me with all the horror story's going
around.
Adding a security sleeve for your credit cards, passport, drivers license too? is something I will have before my next upcoming Baja sojourn.
Scammers come in so many forms these days and we all should employ whatever protections we can, like walking into a bank instead of using an ATM.
Like paying for fuel at stations directly to the cashier attendant.
The plus is developing a personal experience with your regular banks tellers. That there is reason enough not to use ATMs here or there.
In my opinion for what it is worth. |
I have used ATMs for the past 20 years in Mexico and Canada without one problem. However, I only use the ATMs attached to a brick-and mortar bank, not
the freestanding ones.
If you want to stand in a 40 minute lineup at a Mexican bank to withdraw at the teller, with whom "establishing a personal relationship with" is a
ridiculous notion with no benefits whatsoever, enjoy.
[Edited on 10-23-2023 by surabi]
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surfhat
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Surabi, my use of banks in Mexico has been limited the last few years, or is it decades, haha, since I try to have enough pesos for a trip beforehand,
but I do remember a couple of years ago going in a bank in GN with my friends in and seeing the long waiting lines that reaffirmed your 40 minute wait
times.
Yes, in that case ATMs make sense. A five minute line up here is long. In Baja, not so much. Another thing I learned that day, the banks do not want
to exchange dollars so bringing them like in the past to exchange for pesos is not happening.
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surabi
Ultra Nomad
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I'm not sure what the bank policies are currently, but up until not long ago, there were only some banks that would exchange dollars, and some
wouldn't.
The best way to exchange money, if you are lucky enough to encounter it, is if you know someone who is heading north and has a bunch of pesos they
want to exchange for dollars. You exchange at the mid-market rate, cutting out the middle-man (banks or exchange places) and it's a win/win for both.
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