Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Exchanging US Dollars for Euros at Citibank Branch in USA

At my branch here in NY they charge $5 per transaction which in itself is reasonable. However, they give you a conversion rate of $1.3765 per euro. As I look online today, the conversion rate is $1.2946. (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EURUSD=X).





If I wait to get to Paris and withdraw cash in euros using my Citibank bank card, I believe they give the %26quot;true%26quot; conversion rate plus a 3% fee plus an ATM fee of less than 5 euros for the withdrawal.




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.... and if you got a Capital One Debit card, and go to a Paris ATM to withdraw cash, they%26#39;d charge you the interbank %26quot;true%26quot; rate, and a $1.50 fee. Unfortunately, you have to open your free checking acct at a branch (in person). I have relatives in Texas, so did that when I was visiting them last year.





700 Capital One Bank branches in Connecticut, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Texas





Many credit union debit cards only pass the 1% Visa fee and no ATM fee.




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%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;If I wait to get to Paris and withdraw cash in euros using my Citibank bank card, I believe they give the %26quot;true%26quot; conversion rate plus a 3% fee plus an ATM fee of less than 5 euros for the withdrawal.%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;





If one checks all aspects of the transaction throughly, the following Paris bureaus will exchange dollars for euros at a cost somewhere around 2-3% with no fixed or additional fees:





http://www.bureaudechange.fr/



http://www.ccopera.com/



http://www.fcochange.com/





For those needing large sums in euros (to pay for an apartment for example), the above offer an excellent alternative to exchanging dollars elsewhere.




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Sarastro is right. I%26#39;m so glad he gave me those links last October. They sold euros at 1.31 when the official rate was 1.29, charged no fee and as long as you need less than 10 000 E at a time they don%26#39;t ask for any id.



Thanks again Sarastro.




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And one of those places is right next to Restaurant Chartier where I plan to be spending a majority of my time in Paris! LOL!




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If you%26#39;re exchanging large sums, might want to check the rate of all three, on their websites, before heading over.



Have a great trip!




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If posible, wait until you reach Paris and use an ATM. I have always found that the cheapest way if you have no cash. If you bring cash to exchange, go to Notre Dame, take the side street to left as you face it, go down along cathedral some 50-100 meters and look for Chinese restaurant on right. I always exchange all currencies there, best rate I%26#39;ve found in 10 years.




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That%26#39;s terrible, as bad as American Express. In the past they charged a very modest premium if you ordered in advance and were a gold customer. Either you are not a preferred customer or they are chiselling any way they can now that they are a zombie bank.




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