Currency exchange/ATM at train stations?

SBB, bless their hearts, just have exchange booths in the larger stations to make some extra money with lousy exchange rates. But there are regular bank ATMs so you can get Swiss Francs by making a withdrawal from your own bank account. Make sure to decline Dynamic Currency Conversion.

Thanks Sam, I was hoping that was the case.

In my visits to Switzerland, I have never had any issue finding an ATM. There always seems to be one in every train station or not more than a block away in the smallest stops.

Cindy, a currency exchange is a manned office with a counter like a bank. Nothing like an ATM.
While exchanging money at a currency exchange is the most expensive way to do it (somebody has to pay for office space, wages, transporting the foreign cash securely etc.), the currency exchange in SBB stations have a reputation for being less expensive than some other currency exchanges.

But, the cheapest way to get local money is to use an ATM, Don't bring your own home cash and try and change it. ATM's are common in Switzerland, including at many more stations than have currency exchanges.

RE: ... a currency exchange is a manned office with a counter like a bank. Nothing like an ATM.
While exchanging money at a currency exchange is the most expensive way to do it....

I have not tried to use a out of system ATM to make a deposit. If I have excess foreign currency for countries I hope to revisit, I don't mind returning home with some extra Euros, GB Pounds, Norwegian Kroner, Yuan/Renminbi, Lonnies etc.

However, when I overestimated the amount of Czech Krona and no return trip on the horizon, We were connecting at AMS heading for Oslo. I used the staffed AMS FX exchange kiosk to sell most of my excess CZK to NOK but they would only convert the CZK to EUR or USD, then would convert the EUR or USD to NOK, a double hit. I just sold the excess CZK buying USD, then got my Norwegian Kroner from an ATM at the Oslo Airport.

Two take away points. First is cash management. Try to keep enough FX for transport to the airport and a drink or snack. Minimize excess FX that your would not have a way to use.

Second. You will need to sell your excess FX (hopefully to a friend at no mark-up) or bite the bullet and get usable currency from the staffed FX kiosk unless you want to keep the excess as a souvenir. That is, unless there is a way to deposit the local currency into the local ATM and have it credited to your home account in home currency.

Edgar,

The idea of having the ability to redeposit your leftover bills at a foreign ATM is brilliant. Since they have figured out ways to let you get cash from those same ATMs, it should be a simple process to implement the reverse.

The old days when you had to put your deposit into an envelope with a deposit ticket that all had to be manually verified before you received credit are gone. Most banks let you feed in your cash and checks for deposit and verify them on the spot giving you instant credit to your account with them. I see no reason why an ATM anywhere in the world could not take in local cash and do the exact reverse of what it did to give you that cash when you made a withdrawal.

Of course I don't know the rules and laws covering this for countries outside the US. I'm sure many of them have some form of restrictions that would make this difficult. And the FX booth owners and even Western Union would object mightily since it would cut into their lucrative business. I could see this expanding to where a foreign worker has an ATM card and uses it to put money into the account of a family member back home without paying the outrageous fees currently required when sending money home through wire transfer.

why don't you just use your excess currency to pay for your hotel bill as you check out? Cover any remaining portion of the hotel bill with your credit card. That's usually an easy way to get rid of it w/o the added expense of currency exchanges.