So today I had the final confirmation of a suspicion that haunted me i nthe last two weeks...the nagging feeling that Swiss ATMs in general and UBS in particular where really trying something dirty.
first time, I was in zurich. i remember that the change on friday was 1 eur = 1.20 francs. The ATM prompts me a menu that tells me that the change is 1.17. Mah, maybe i do not remember it right, I thought.
that time though I made a mistake. instead of asking the nak to charge my account in euros (they offer this option) I told it to charge me in francs. A second later my mobile buzzes to tell me the amount withdrawn from my italian account - amount in euros of course.
Well the amount my mobile told me (and it is the right one, since it is fed by my bank system) was lower than the amount the machine displayed.
Hmmm...weird
This happened a couple of other times. than today I made a scientifc experiment: I checked the exchange rate and it was at 1.21. I wen downstairs and tried to withdraw 300 CHF, more or less 250 EUR, sInce I have 250 eur limit per day.
The machine told me that the amount was equal to 250.48 euros. And here, I realised I could test it. I selected "charge me in EUR" and it refused the transaction.
Than I tried again. 300 CHF. BUT this time I selected "charge in francs". Magically, 300 CHF come out. And my bank charged me 242.8 euros.
So, let's see...in other words, if I let the bank make the exchange (telling UBS to charge in eur) they charge me a monstrous fee (8 euros out of 250 is a 3.2% FEE!!!). If I ask UBS only to send to my bank the amount in CHF, than my bank makes the change - and does not charge me a dime
Morale of the story: when withdrawing money in Switzerland, ask the ATM to charge you in chf - DO NOT LET THEM MANAGE THE CHANGE TO EUROS - they'll screw you hard and nicely.
i start to understand how this country got so rich...
Luxury Calling
12 anni fa
Don't know if you experienced that, but in Spain, when you have an account at Caja Madrid let's say, and you withdraw money from another bank's atm, they charge you a pretty high fee...
RispondiEliminaStill, this is pretty nasty.
RispondiEliminaI think Federico is too worried with pennies and cents. When will you start enjoying life, friend?
RispondiEliminaSwitzerland is the future. A working but crazily boring system in exchange for richness. And you can always take your car and go running in German highways if you like...
RispondiElimina8 euros on 250 euros is quite a relevan sum of money! and 2 other things:
RispondiElimina1) If there is a fee on the withdrawal, you have to tell your customer about it. In Italy it always does, even if it does not specify the amount. In the US, it tells you the fee for withdrawing at that ATM and also tells you that your bank may make you pay a fee.
2) I have an italian bank account with fee withdrawal everywhere in the world (more or less) so Seba, the problem is the shitty banking services spain provides!!!