How ATM Can (AND WILL) Trick You When Traveling

In Belgium, fees for withdrawing money are illegal. That's why we don't have Euronet ATM's :)

So essentially, all the conversion button does is convert 100% of your money into 87% of your money?

I don't understand how these aren't illegal yet. The touristy area's in Portugal are also littered with Euronet ATM's. Great job pointing this scam out 👏

This video has saved me thousands of dollars over the last year just by simply declining the conversion, you my sir are a great man

One time I was using my Dutch card to pay for a dinner in Poland, and the waiter selected the option that I wanted to pay in EUR rather than the local PLN. I was like "Whoa, what are you doing? I want to pay in PLN." And the waiter said that he was instructed to always select EUR (or USD, or ...) in the case of foreign bank cards. I made him cancel the transaction and do it again and explained him the story. These Euronet practices... should be subject of investigations by district attorneys. Seriously. It's embezzlement.

When I was in Prague last year a kind person had placed a large sticker on an ATM in Rumunska which said in English, German and Russian "WARNING - This ATM will rob you!"

Literally 1 minute ago I used this tip in Italy to withdraw euros, and I saved 13% by doing it your way. Grazie Mille!!

The worst thing about Decline is the fact any sane person without knowledge of this would not click Decline as it looks like it will cancel the transaction. It looks like you don't have a choice. Things like this exist all over the world and this is a great video to educate people.

This is just so sad how they are stealing money legally. You are doing a great job by showing to all of us where to be careful. Amazing videos. Thank you.

The fact that they now have to state "12% markup" is a big win. Good to see EU regulations at work.

Just used your trick (in Mexico) to not accept the conversion rate and it worked! Best exchange rate I've gotten in two months! Thank you for sharing!!!

A lot of cards here in the United States, usually charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. You might think that Banks here charge a fee also so there’s no point to declining. But when I saw that these ATMs are charging 15%, 3% is still way more preferable to 15%

I'd also recommend to ALWAYS examine the ATM before putting in your card. Sometimes thieves install this device on top of the place where you put you card and it is there to gather information about your card. It's kinda an oldschool trick, it ofc does not happen all the time, but it's good to be mindfull

Funny: EURONET is an american company

To be honest, I live in Slovakia and every time I'm going to Czech Republic I'm always having problems in paying with my card. A good 30/40% of the shops or restaurants I went in cities close to the border, or southern of Brno are refusing card payments at all. In Poland I never encountered the same problem and never needer to withdraw Zlotý.

In england the only reason someone taking out £120 is for a half ounce

The honest guide back at it again to helping us on our travel ventures 😁

Be careful! It is worth highlighting his point that it’s not just ATMs. Some merchants are also doing this when you pay with a foreign card at a restaurant, gift shop, or even at the airport. This is including at reputable stores. When you insert your card, the staff may ask you “do you want to pay in (your home currency)?” I have a U.S. credit card with no foreign transaction fees and typically competitive exchange rates. If I were to accept this, the restaurant or shop’s card processor would do the conversion for me at a terrible rate. So always decline and say you will pay in your local currency. I asked the cashier once why they confuse people like this, and they shrugged and said “it’s just for your convenience.” It’s not for your convenience, it’s for their company’s pocketbooks and even well known department stores do this.

Hi Janek and Honsa, Thank you for this channel. We just went two weeks to Liberec, camping. Now I knew what to do at the ATMs. In our region cash was needed. Great channel! Love czech republic. Gr wouter

This is one of the best travel channel. He teach us how to protect ourselves overseas and avoid scammers.