I used my card yesterday to withdraw 10000 HUF in Budapest - the ATM offered dynamic exchange - so you know what it will cost in GBP - and offered £12.70 debit. I opted to let the exchange rate work in the background and debit was £11.57 - £1.03 difference.
I know that it’s not Mondo that controls this - is the the ATM provider taking a ‘skim’ on rates for the certainty of exchange rate - but thought others might like to know about this.
Yes - you should always opt to be billed in the local currency. You’ll get very good rates from us, but we can’t stop the merchant from ripping you off on FX.
Martin Lewis of MSE has recently been trying to spread the word on this legalised banking scam.
Not only does it seem more sensible to ‘pay in own currency’ to the average consumer who doesn’t know the difference between how the two options are processed and the hidden charges that may arise, but the ATMs and POS on screen messages actively trick them into picking the option with the massive fee, using large font and preferential wording (eg. We have detected this is a GBP account. Click YES to pay in GBP, or NO to pay in [insert foreign] currency).
Yeah processors need to make money, but to me it is just another example of how legacy banking is just a huge scam tricking people into parting with lots of their money and getting very little in return.
I tested this in Berlin and it works really well - I saved about £4 on a €50 ATM transaction (which did aggressively communicate that its rate was goo - a green button for their converted £, and red for the € option!) It really adds up as a visitor to a country where ATMs are used so much!
I also had absolutely no problems using the card which was great to know (even when verified by signature - oops I forgot to sign it…), it just popped up as usual on my phone.
Looking forward to what is done with the geocoding data!
It’ll be nice if there was an option in Mondo to see the current exchange rate…
I’m just trying to get me head around the FX benefits of using Mondo, and the local currency at ATMs. Will I get a better rate if I withdraw money overseas, than if I were to get cash at a bureau de change in the UK?
Yes, you will normally get dramatically better rates.
Thanks for clearing that up! 
To give an example, my local Exchange shop here in Spain was yesterday offering a GBP->EUR rate of 1.23. The Mondo rate on a transaction I did yesterday was 1.29 (same rate applies for either cash withdrawals or a regular purchase)
Yes, I agree. It’s something we’ll be working on in the near future.
In the meantime, you can see the exchange rates here: Page Not Found
I have before as an experiment done two transactions one after the other at a foreign ATM, one picking to have amount converted to GBP and the other left as EUR, When I decline the dynamic currency conversion option and leave it to my home bank to convert I seem to get better rates, when I accept the dynamic conversion it normally costs me fractionally more.
This is really interesting as I’m going abroad in a couple of months and was considering buying Euros before I leave, however now I’m considering loading that same cash onto my Mondo card and just taking that instead!
This is getting better and better, I’m so impressed with what I’ve seen so far!
Hi guys,
I’m planning to use Mondo abroad for the first time. I’m going to Bulgaria, and I know I’ll need to withdraw cash from an ATM, because there are many merchants who do not support card payments there.
Is there a fee that Mondo charges on cash withdrawals in a foreign currency? Is there also a limit on the amount withdrawn? I know that I get the MasterCard exchange rate, but I was wondering if there are additional costs when withdrawing cash (as opposed to paying with the card directly) in a foreign currency.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Slavo.
No fee, exchange rate is found https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/
Just make sure you choose to withdraw in local currency and not have the ATM charge you in GBP.