Dynamic Currency Conversion with examples - guide for travellers

[nanos]

@Avishai

It’s worth reminding that ATM withdrawals via Monzo have a fee after withdrawing £200

It is my understanding that that only applies to ATM withdrawals abroad. Withdrawing EUR or USD from an ATM in the UK shouldn’t count towards that limit.

[nanos]

Now, this must be the most entertaining article I have read in a while:

The proof you should always pay in local currency on holiday 

In an experiment run by Starling Bank, identical twins Heidi and Alice, 29, travelled to Berlin for a weekend.

I am so glad they used identical twins for that experiment, to rule out any other influence. But now I want to know: Do attractive women get better rates, than men? Or do attractive men get better rates than women? Or do attractive women get better rates than unattractive ones? Or …

Too many possibilities! I demand scientific rigour!

In the worst case, the difference was almost 10 per cent — which means you would lose £100 if you spent £1,000 over the course of your holiday.

Thanks for doing the math for me! I always struggle calculating 10% - especially if such awkward numbers as £1,000 are involved…

Also: cocktail, scarf, top, trainers, box of chocolate - any more stereotypes you could fish out of the drawers regarding women’s holiday spend?

The best part, though, as always is the comments section. Oh, how I love DM’s comments section…

[anon44204028]

and I was hoping Alice would buy a looking glass!

[anon23935806]

Do attractive women get better rates, than men? Or do attractive men get better rates than women? Or do attractive women get better rates than unattractive ones?

To the eyes of DCC, everyone (or rather everyone’s payment card) looks attractive.

[urban]

I just got forced to use DCC at Trattoria Milano in Sabiha Gocen Airport in Istanbul.

They told me it was 40 Turkish Lira, I entered my pin on the pin pad (it was a separate pin unit without a display that shows the amount). And it was only when I got the notification from Monzo that I realised they cheated me.

I paid £5.70 instead of £4.70!

[anon23935806]

Dispute the transaction.

[redshift]

Is it possible for Monzo to detect if DCC has been used? It’d be nice to get a notification with a note on how to avoid it.

[o99]

Or even better is it possible to have an option to automatically decline DCC transactions?

[Peter_G]

Or - and we’re in dream territory now - select DCC or not from the app, rather than on a terminal (some of which seem to be either convoluted or can change from native currency to DCC after a transaction )

[Avishai (Marta)]

There’s a rather lengthy discussion here.

Configurable DCC prevention

How about offering people the chance to automatically decline DCC (dynamic currecny conversion) transactions. i.e. if the transaction type is a face-to-face environment (get from POS entry mode?) and the merchant country (get from card acceptor name/location) does not equal the relevant transaction currency and the customer has chosen to decline such transactions. I would love this. For something that is apparently a benefit to consumers, DCC makes me sad whenever I realise I’ve experienced it. …

[urban]

Monzo are telling me to contact the retailer (the retailer helpfully doesn’t have contact details on the receipt and are elusive online!)

[anon23935806]

Get back to Monzo then and tell there is no way to contact the retailer. They’ll raise it with Mastercard next.

[jzw95]

Did you get anywhere with disputing this transaction @urban?

[urban]

Monzo said they can’t. They said they can not “raise a dispute with the retailer in my behalf” and that I’d have to do it - which is impossible since I’m no longer in Turkey.

[daniel (Daniel Chatfield)]

Can you DM or email (daniel@monzo.com) me the email address on our account. We are able to raise disputes for this, do you have any evidence?

[urban]

Thanks Daniel. I’ve just emailed you the receipt.

[urban]

Thanks @jzw95 for the nudge. @daniel and team just went way beyond what I expected and they’re disputing it now ️Brilliant service. Thanks for impressing me again.

[jzw95]

Very good to hear, you’re more than welcome!

[Shae (Shae Scott)]

Hi All please excuse my naivety. So I’m travelling to Greece soon. I understand I have to always pick no DCC and I can withdraw up to, is it £200 or €200 per month for free. I also have a Transferwise account which I have been depositing savings into for our holiday. (I heard about Monzo through Transferwise). Would it be cheaper converting the bulk savings into Euros and spending Euros on my Transferwise card, or just convert each transaction?
Or should I transfer all my holiday savings back to Monzo and just use Monzo abroad?? Looking for the cheapest route.

[Anarchist (Press ‘Help’ search ‘Contact us’ or email help@monzo.com or call 0800 802 1281)]

@Shae

Would it be cheaper converting the bulk savings into Euros and spending Euros on my Transferwise card, or just convert each transaction?

This depends on what the exchange rate will be in the future. If you know that, you should be a millionaire soon!

Seriously, it should make very little difference. I’d be tempted to hedge your position by converting half of your money to Euros in TransferWise now. This is just my opinion based on experience, I claim no expertise.

It’s £200 per rolling 30 days foreign ATM withdrawals for Monzo, and the same for TransferWise, if I recall correctly.