Update on ATM/Bancomat

I believe this is referred to as DCC (Direct Currency Conversion). In addition to ATM's offering this "service", stores and restaurants now prompt this option in many cases. They are asking if you want the transaction to take place in your native currency. Simply decline that option as indeed it always includes a terrible commission/exchange rate.

Best,
wvdthree

However MANY now want to make the exchange rate at the time of money extraction.

Yes, that really surprised me........I've seen that (DCC = "dynamic currency conversion") at retail stores before, but never at a banking machine. Interestingly, everywhere else I've used my card has not offered DCC, and the only place that's offered it as an option has been a bank. I declined, of course. (I've used them twice in Italy, only one machine asked me if I wanted it.)

Glenn, we saw this at all four bancomats we used in Italy this year. Also in Canada. I believe that foreigners traveling in the US get the same opportunity at our ATMs. There are people to whom I have explained the extra cost impacts to, but still choose to get the transaction done in USD because they cant or won't comprehend thinking in euro terms.

I don't consider it a scam. The bancomat is offering you a service, if you're one of those people. Just as the currency exchange shops offer a convenience for a fee. The scam is when they default to DCC automatically as they sometimes do at restaurants.

We ran into the same situation earlier this month. However, I did not see any exchange rate approaching a 12 to 15% exchange mark-up. The numbers I saw always were within a 2 or 3% range of what I thought the exchange should be. We always declined it with no problem. I actually thought it was kind of handy because it confirmed my mental exchange rate as to the the final dollar charge.

Dynamic Currency Conversion is indeed a scam -- or, more accurately, a tax on those who don't know about it or are not paying very, very close attention.

If they were honest about it, and the screen said something like "For this convenience, you will pay an extra 15% needlessly. Still want to do that, sucker?" then OK, that's a service. The part I object to is the dishonesty of it all (or if you prefer, the "lack of transparency").

There's also the case (which I have experienced personally) where DCC is added to your bill in a restaurant without being asked and without your consent, but in fine print on the receipt you are handed after the transaction is complete says that you did request and agree to DCC...and all restaurant employees profess complete ignorance about it and claim they have no way of charging you without DCC. I was watching carefully (incessantly) throughout this exchange and there was never any choice offered. (Fortunately in this case the bill was small, so the amount stolen by DCC was quite small; cafe employees appeared to all be immigrants with limited language skills so it wasn't worth arguing the point very long - YMMV).

The DCC scammers are getting extremely deceptive about hiding their trick, and it's spreading far and wide. Any time you see anything about dollars or currency choice or nationality, anywhere, watch out.

Many North Americans, and foreign tourists in general, come to Italy fearing they will be scammed by a pickpocket on a bus or a dishonest taxi driver or merchant..

In reality they should be careful not to be scammed by the biggest gangsters of all: banks and other large corporations.

I once asked a friend whether I should continue paying every month for the home security company or if I should take the risk and go without home security. My friend’s answer was: “it is a choice between which thief you want to be robbed by: the burglar that might enter your house once in a blue moon, or the one that robs you every month”.

More details on legal credit card theft, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/travel/overseas-credit-card-fees.html?searchResultPosition=1

Italians don't know what Atm means, guess who's the "target" of machines that say only ATM and not Bancomat? Those customers who know what ATM means, have foreign credit/debit cards and that can make them earn with conversion fees. I.e. : You.

Yes, while dynamic currency conversion is not new, what is new (and all over Europe, not just Italy) is that it's being offered at ATM's and not just on credit card transactions. When I went to Switzerland in 2014, it wasn't offered at the ATM's; when I went in 2017, it was offered at all of them.

So, one must be ever vigilant. And I agree with David; calling it a "service" would only be accurate if the full cost for this was disclosed, and it's not. If, knowing the extra cost and the lack of real benefit, people choose to use it, that's fine. But when the actual cost difference between using DCC and not using it are not disclosed at the time you have to make your choice, that's a rip-off, not a service.

The point exposed by Dario is true. If a machine is named Bancomat, it works under a network of Italian banks - bancomats are Italian debit cards issued to Italian bank accounts holders. Bancomat machines mostly work under all the international networks as well, but are used mainly by Italian customers.

If a machine is named ATM, its home network will likely be one of the international ones and the machine will be catering to tourists - and that is not necessarily a positive point.