Iāve been using my card quite a bit in jordan - ATMs and shops have accepted it. However, I do keep having a problem with incorrect currency charges at ATMs. I am often charged as If my transactions have been in US dollars to UK pounds rather the Jordanian dinars to UK pounds. This is quite costly. Today i took out 200 Jordanian Dinars which should have cost approximately Ā£226.46. However, I was charged as if I had taken out dollars and so the transaction cost Ā£233.26. Has anybody else had this experience? Thereās no way of predicting which ATMs will lead to this problem and so sometimes I am charged in dinars and sometimes dollars. I always select the local currency if given the option and today I withdrew from the Jordanian Islamic Bank. Thanks for any help from the community.
FYI, Iāve changed the name of this post from āIncorrect currency conversion in Jordanā to āMonzo in Jordanā (you got it right the first time 
), as this will be the start of Monzo userās travel tips for Jordan.
Iām afraid I havenāt been so I canāt help you there. If you were making the transactions in a restaurant, for example, you should be able to ask the merchant to set the currency but Iām not sure what you can do about ATMs 
ATMs can have a DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) option but you should either be charged in local currency and Monzo convert to GBP (best option) or charged in GBP where local machine converts currency (not ideal)ā¦I canāt for the life of me see why anything coming thru in USD
Iāll be here next week. Iāll see if I get an USD charges too.
ATMs are indeed charging in USD. I asked for 15 JOD and the machine charged 1 JOD for the privilege. Showing in my feed as $21.92.
No indication on the machine that it would charge in dollars, I.e. not like a EFTPOS machine in a shop where you often get a choice of currency.
Thanks JPiz for confirming that. It is very odd their machines donāt bother to tell users with an on screen message.
Just to add, Uber will quote you the Jordanian Dinar price and charge you in USD too. Maybe bigger places just prefer dealing in US Dollars.
Hi So Iāve worked out that if you use the Arab Bank Jordan then it charges in JOD so look out for those. Some of their ATMS charge a 1 dinar user fee but it is still cheaper to do it this way than pay in dollars. Iāve not been charged in US dollars on any other services In Jordan apart from ATMs and the last time i tried using my natwest card I was not charged in Us Dollars (though that comes with other fees). To the last comment re Uber, Careem (online app) is a good alternative service. It charges in Jod and there are more cars available.
I just got back from Jordan. I, too, got stung with an ATM withdrawal in JOD but which was actually a conversion from USD with a JOD5 fee added. There was an on screen warning before I got the cash. I had to get the cash at the airport to pay for my visa. Transactions at shops etc were fine.
FWIW, the airport visa desks now have card machines but that seems to be new. If Iād known I would not have drawn the cash.
The ATMs at the Visa on Arrival lounge in Queen Aliya airport belong to the Arab Jordanian Investment Bank (AJIB) and as stated above take a hefty 5JD fee for each withdrawal AND have a truly horrible, horrible rate of exchange. I was charged in USD despite selecting the right option on the screen. Do avoid this bank when using Monzo if you can. I also used Arab Bank Iāve out of the airport and was pleasantly surprised by the relatively low withdrawal free (2JD, stated on the screen) and the fantastic rate of exchange. Essentially at par with the market rate on Xe.com.
I have just been in Aqaba and pretty much every single shop accepted my card. I only had difficulty paying in one shop where the transaction was declined.
The cashiers all loved the colour of the card and it drew a lot of attention!!
On the card reader, I was usually presented with the options to pay in JOD or GBP. It is best to select JOD as it works out cheaper. I suspect it is an extra charge applied to each transaction by the card reader handling company.
I also used several ATMs around town and 3/4 ATMs prompted me with the cost of the transaction before continuing. The Arab Bank in the centre of town charged a 3JOD transaction fee when I withdrew 60JOD. Blom Bank (also known as the Lebanese Bank) was much cheaper and only charged 1.75JOD for 50 JOD withdrawal and 2.80JOD for an 80JOD withdrawal. When I used an ATM within the Marhaba shop (a stand alone ATM), there was a warning that there would be a charge for the transaction however this was not stated beforehand. I withdrew 80JOD and was charged a total of $116.62 for the withdrawal. When I tried to withdraw cash from the Arab Land Bank the transaction was declined, which was the same evening the transaction in the supermarket was declined. I am not sure why, however I know the card was not frozen.
Overall the rate was excellent with cash withdrawals and in store transactions. I will definitely be using and travelling with my card more often. Since I know most shops accepted the card, I will not withdraw as much cash I think. But obviously you need some for certain things.
Excellent - good to know as Iām heading to Jordan tomorrow 
Good thread, thank you, although not traveling until early next year
Every bank I tried charged me a withdrawal fee of either 3JD or 5JD (for withdrawals of around 50 to 100JD). This seems to be new. The last time I was in Jordan (2 years ago), no banks charged fees.
Has anyone found any ATMs without fees in Jordan?
I used Arab Bank in Weibdeh, Amman a couple of weeks ago, and their fee is 3JD now.
Hi, thanks for the interesting thread. Iām off to Jordan soon and may steer clear of atms! Do shops/restaurants charge for using cards to pay?
No, but not many places accept card.
Most ATMs in Jordan charge you for withdrawing money. You need to be careful as some of them do not even mention that they are going to charge you before withdrawing money.
Just got to queen alia airport in Amman. We tried all the Atms available.
Arab Jordan Investment Bank would charge 6.5
Bank of Jordan 5
Housing Bank 3.5
Arab Bank 3.
Suffice to say we withdrew from Arab Bank. They charged in JOD, not USD. Will post again if we learn anything else.
Update, we just tested a few more
Ahli said fees would be applied before we chose cash withdraw and we were afraid to continue
Capital bank said 5 jod
Bank ABC said 5 jod
Jordan Kuwait Bank charged no fees! However, it charges your card in usd at 3.4% higher than the rate shown on Google (1.4577 usd per jod)