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this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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Asklemmy
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I’ve heard the following rule of thumb:
Your bank has an existing customer relationship with you, so they have more of an incentive to make you a good deal on currency conversion, lest you pack up and leave.
The ATM operator’s relationship with you is literally transactional. They don’t give a crap who you are and even less of a crap once the ATM dispenses the money.
Thus, your bank is less likely to fleece you than the ATM operator, so you’re better off leaving the conversion to your bank.
Banks will still fleece you on the exchange rate. Ideally you would have a multi currency card so you decide which exchange rate to use and have the cash in the account in the local money.
It’s not hard to find a bank that only charges a 1% fee on the spot exchange rate. You shouldn’t be using a debit card (“cash in the account”) almost anywhere. Credit is so much better.
But the exchange rate is where they fleece you not the card usage fee.
Maybe if you have a bad bank, I’ve checked mine and it’s competitive. April 17 I did a Bandcamp transaction in GBP, charged my Chase card and got <1% difference in USD compared to the mid-market exchange rate on that date. It’s $90.21 on my statement, $89.92 when I calculate it, so +0.3% off the mid-market rate.
If you’re getting anything worse than this, you’ve got a shady bank, and there’s no lack of competition.