DCC, Dynamic Conversion Charge

I've seen mark-ups in that range on occasion. It would add up to a lot of money if you opted for DCC every time you hit an ATM and when offered during a sales transaction. I'm glad you understand what's going on and can be a smart consumer.

One trend I did notice with ATMs (Though to be honest, have not used them much on recent trips) is the declining of DCC is getting to be a bit more of a chore.

Used to be, they asked if you wanted to do the transaction in USD or Euros, then they went to implying that the transaction will be done in USD, with a smaller button to decline, and now, sometimes, when you decline, you get a second screen "warning" you that if you decline, you will not know what exchange rate you will get, forcing you to decline once again.

No, I don't know what the exchange rate will be, but it will be a heck of a lot better than what you are offering.

This is one reason being aware helps, I can certainly see how many, unfamiliar with DCC, get duped by the dire language used, not wanting to risk the unknown.

I used a Reisebank ATM at the Hbf in Würzburg in 2017. At the end, it showed a screen that looked like just a summary of the transaction.

As I remember, the machine was displaying in English. I'm not sure if the button said accept or continue, but it looked like a button to confirm the transaction, like if you pushed the other button you would cancels the transaction.

I thought about it after I left Würzburg, so, a few days later, when I was again passing through, I used the same ATM and pushed the other button. The transaction still went through, and I got more money this time.

Warning: bank machine owners are getting really sneaky about tricking you into accepting DCC.

The ATM was going to give me an exchange rate of 1.18 Euros per Dollar.

I think you have that backwards. With DCC, it would have charged you $1.18/euro.

Lee, I agree, it was going to charge me $118 for 100 Euros.

Thanks for this reminder, Bob. And ugh it is annoying that as Paul said they are getting more and more "menacing" with "warning" you should you dare to decline their (bad) offer !

Thanks for making the note to remind us of just how much one could be losing if one goes for DCC !

In 2018 I twice had an ATM withdrawal fail in Prague at the very end, after I declined DCC. If it had happened once, I'd have assumed the machine was out of money, but twice (in relatively non-touristy areas) made me very suspicious, especially considering I was withdrawing less than $50 worth of korunas.

I had a similar experience to ACRAVEN. While in Colmar I searched out the BNP atm that had an agreement with BofA not to charge a processing fee but when I did not accept the forced convertion rate it declined my transaction. I did not see a way to decline that conversion.

I think this, ATMs refusing transactions unless they are at their higher exchange rate, is something that bears watching. Is it really happening, or not.

If ATMs start refusing to exchange currency at the international rate, and insisting on setting their own, less favorable rates, that is going to make using ATMs more expensive. On the other hand, credit cards could also start insisting on exchanging currency at a higher than the international rate and instead insist on their own rate.

So far, I've only found one ATM in Germany trying to push DCC, and it wasn't a mainline bank. And they weren't refusing to process the international rate, they were only trying to sneak in their own, higher rate.

If this, demanding their own, higher rate, starts to be a trend, we need to lobby our banks to get the EU involved in making the international rate the rate European ATMs have to offer.

There's also the issue of garden-variety ATM fees. That situation seems to be getting worse year by year, though not necessarily in every country.