If I walked into a Swiss bank with €500 in paper currency and exchanged that amount for Swiss Francs, how much do you think I would net?

Right now €1.00 = 1.6217 chf.
Therefore €500 converts to 810.80 chf at the wholesale rate.

I know that rate is unattainable at a bank by a guy who just walked in off the street, but would I net as little as 770 chf? That would be knocking off 5%, which hits me as being quite possible.

I have been following the discussions about obtaining money from foreign ATMs and the possible fees that one might be forced to pay.

I, too, am one of those unlucky Bank of America customers who face a $5.00 fee for each cash withdrawal from an ATM because BOA has no affiliate or correspondent in Switzerland.

I get clipped about €40 for exchanging €500 worth of currency, I would be better off making up to 8 withdrawals at $5.00 per swat.
Perhaps I need to go find a credit union somewhere that does not soak me as much.

Hi B,

>Perhaps I need to go find a credit union somewhere that does not soak me as much.

An excellent idea.

My local bank charges $0.75.

Does your bank tack on an additional 3% "Foreign Transaction Fee"?

Bank of America charges me 3% for a credit card transaction overseas.

I have not paid anything beyond the 1% Visa conversion fee for ATM withdrawals in the past because I got two free uses per month. I have two accounts, and between the two I got 4 free transactions. By using Barclays in the UK and by traveling in late August - early September I got a total of 8 transaction at no extra charge.

As I stated earlier, I called B of A and was told that the $5.00 fee for ATM transactions applied totally, no more two free usages. B of A even charges $5.00 for a balance inquiry at an off-net ATM.

But all of this does not answer Brookwood's question. I don't know how much he would net, but my guess is that 5% shrinkage might be uncomfortably close to accurate.

Come to think of it, $50 to convert about $665 worth of euro notes seems like an easy way to profit.

Some people recently on here didn't think that fee was so bad, as I recall. I wouldn't change banks over it if I had a very good reason for having that bank in the first place, but I don't know what would be so great about being a BofA customer that you think other banks couldn't match. They liked them for some reason I can't recall.

Anyway, my local bank doesn't charge me anything for foreign ATM withdrawals using my ATM card -- zero, zip, nada. I do have a preferred account that requires some min. deposits at the bank, though, but I have my checking and a CD there, so that's no problem for me. My bank even refunds any ATM fees that those for-profit ATMs charge, on top of them not charging their own fee, which I recently found to be true. Just a couple weeks ago I went skiing at Lake Tahoe, CA, and I couldn't find a single ATM in the whole town that was a simple bank ATM (at least not around my hotel and the casinos and the ski base lodge, I'm sure if you had a car and drove elsewhere, you could) so I used one once and my bank did refund the extra $3 that one charged me. They don't add on any percentage for the foreign currency conversion, either.

What you can do, (if you're really smart ) is open two accounts at the swiss post bank. They will charge you 1 Fr per month, for the secound account. One is in € and the other in francs. You can then transfer between the 2 accounts using the interbank rate, and withdraw money (Fr. or € at many Postbank offices. It works, but for just a few €s is the worth it? Of course to avoid further fees, don't forget to close the account when you leave. ;-).

My bank - Wells Fargo - charges the $5 per ATM withdrawal. If I travelled overseas a lot, then I would likely change banks. But I don't - I am looking at 1 trip every 1-2 years for 2-3 weeks at a time. So that $5 fee doesn't add up to much in the grand scheme. On the other hand, in my area, WF branches are on practically every corner, so getting cash at home, with no fee, is really easy. I am willing to pay a little extra on overseas trips for the convinience at home.

How do I get the money into the Swiss Post account without converting from one currency to the other?

I have no source of money that is not US dollar denominated. If I open a Swiss account, don't I have to transfer US $$ into it in order to fund it? And if I transfer US $$ don't I have to pay for it?

And when I close the account, I get either euros or Swiss francs. Neither currency will not me much good when I get home. Kroger does not take euros the last I looked.

For a 9 to 10 day trip, it hardly sounds worthwhile.

>money into the Swiss Post account
Welll, they aren't as backward there as in many other countries. You take cash of course, no need to convert it, you just deposit say 500€ in cash in your €-account. Now you have 2 accounts there . You then transfer your money to your Fr. account over the internet without charge. Then you take your banking card to get your francs from the ATM. I'm quite sure they take USD in cash too.
It sounds silly, but it works.

Oops, didn't mean to give money laundring tips here ;-)

Why aren't you simply taking CHF out of an ATM once you are in Switzerland? Why exchange euro an extra time needlessly?