Citibank Plus - No Fee No Overseas Transaction Fee Account

[theblank]

I'm in a dispute with Citibank at the moment over two ATM withdrawals in India. On both transactions at the same ATM I declined the conversion. Citibank is telling me that results in DCC. The image shows part of what Citibank is telling me.

It woud appear that the dispute is over less than $10. It may be easier to forget about it. The likely hood that the Indian ATM deliberaty scammed you is extrmely low. Its more likely you just pressed the wrong button.

otherwise everyone would be complaining about it. This is not even a Citibank issue, they are just passing on the info Mastercard has forwarded them,

You might be better off reporting this in the "TravelinIndia" forums. if this is a common thing there, then you will get somewhere.

 

[Danger]

It woud appear that the dispute is over less than $10. It may be easier to forget about it. The likely hood that the Indian ATM deliberaty scammed you is extrmely low. Its more likely you just pressed the wrong button.

otherwise everyone would be complaining about it. This is not even a Citibank issue, they are just passing on the info Mastercard has forwarded them,

You might be better off reporting this in the "TravelinIndia" forums. if this is a common thing there, then you will get somewhere.

Between the poor exchange rate that wasn't disclosed and the service fee that wasn't disclosed, I estimated I am out between $14 and $16.

What is the "wrong button" to you? I selected "Continue without conversion", as I've done multiple times at overseas ATMs and received the favourable Citibank exchange rate. The reason for undertaking the second transaction of just INR100 (the minimum amount that could be withdrawn) just a few minutes later was to assure myself that I did indeed press the 'correct' buttons. On that transaction, I took this photo of the ATM screen:

 

[ozfflyer]

Coles platinum mastercard has no international fees either. Though they might sting us on the exchange rate but no, that was good too.

From memory no annual fee for 1st year, then $99/year. Earn flybuys points which we dump into Velocity.

Citibank "manages" the Coles Mastercard.

 

[theblank]

What is the "wrong button" to you?

I am suggesting you mistakingly pressed the wrong button.

Otherwise if these ATM's are scamming people, then other people would be complaining about, but it wouldnt be here, its not a Frequent Flyer topic. you ought to raise this in a travelling forum where its more likely you will come across people that have used these atms

 

[Duffa]

India - Citibank and State Bank of India - (SBI) don't charge a withdrawal fee but at all other banks the fee was 200 Rupees ($4) for the maximum 10,000 withdrawal.
Best rate was 0.2% above the XE spot rate on Citibank card. SBI was 0.4%. The 200 Rupees pushed out the effective rate to about 2.3% for most of the other ATMs
You can churn your card at the same ATM up to YOUR daily withdrawal limit at home
There are ATMs everywhere and Indians are happy to take rupees contrary to the dud advice I received from a friend warning me to take US dollars

 

[daft009]

whirlpool has a good wiki on tried & tested ATMs on a per country basis for this card.

Citibank Plus Transaction Account

whirlpool.net.au

 

[Flashback]

Albania - Credins Bank, no fees. Other banks had a charge and quite a hefty one at that!

 

[Flashback]

Taiwan - no fees at the following ATMs: Union Bank of Taiwan (usually can easily find these at the airport or the train station at the airport, next to the ticketing machines), Far Eastern International Bank, Taiwan CoOperative Bank.

 

[stoney]

I have just signed up for HSBC everyday global Visa linked debit card. It has no annual fees, no ATM fees, no foreign exchange fees, can hold 10 currencies and favourable conversion fees. I will use it around the world in June to August this year and report any difficulties.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have just signed up for HSBC everyday global Visa linked debit card. It has no annual fees, no ATM fees, no foreign exchange fees, can hold 10 currencies and favourable conversion fees. I will use it around the world in June to August this year and report any difficulties.

This is not the same type of card as the Citibank. With Citibank you don't pre-load currencies and the rate you are given is a 'true' conversion rate, using the inter-bank rate (or close enough), not the 'buy and sell' spread that is used for small commercial transactions.

For example, using my Citibank card, USD1000 would cost me approximately AUD1438 at today's rates. If you were to load your HSBC global card with USD1000 today you'd be paying AUD1469. So about $31 difference. My transactions would be subject to any daily fluctuations in the exchange rate, while yours would be 'locked'... but I also don't pay for any currency I don't use (if I end up spending $800 instead of $1000, I'm not out of pocket for later converting the left over $200).

With citibank I don't have to worry about pots of currency becoming exhausted... I just spend in any country to get the same inter-bank rate.

For $1000 to difference might not seem much... but if you are spending $10000 for holidays and other spending it can start to add up.

 

[The man with no name]

This is not the same type of card as the Citibank. With Citibank you don't pre-load currencies and the rate you are given is a 'true' conversion rate, using the inter-bank rate (or close enough), not the 'buy and sell' spread that is used for small commercial transactions.

For example, using my Citibank card, USD1000 would cost me approximately AUD1438 at today's rates. If you were to load your HSBC global card with USD1000 today you'd be paying AUD1469. So about $31 difference. My transactions would be subject to any daily fluctuations in the exchange rate, while yours would be 'locked'... but I also don't pay for any currency I don't use (if I end up spending $800 instead of $1000, I'm not out of pocket for later converting the left over $200).

With citibank I don't have to worry about pots of currency becoming exhausted... I just spend in any country to get the same inter-bank rate.

For $1000 to difference might not seem much... but if you are spending $10000 for holidays and other spending it can start to add up.

You may be overthinking the issues with the HSBC card methinks. I took the following 3 cards with me on a recent 2 month trip : Citibank plus; The HSBC card; ING Orange Everyday.

On one occasion in Peru and another in Mexico I made identical withdrawals with all three cards only minutes apart at the same ATM and found all to have an exchange rate so close to the XE.com rate that there would have been only a few cents between them. As discussed earlier, the main difference is that ING refund the ATM fees.

On the HSBC card specifically, I simply loaded it with AUD and withdrew from foreign ATM's the same way I would any other card. The Forex side of the card is used only if you feel the need to lock in an exchange rate before you travel. If you have foreign currency left after your trip you can go to a HSBC branch and deposit it directly. Do not that not all branches do this but I'm certain that Glen Waverley in Melbourne does.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Fair enough. I was specifically referring to the 'loading of 10 currencies' - which is usually not so good value.

 

[stoney]

I guess the reason you would load currencies is to lock in an exchange rate but I personally do not see myself spending huge amounts in cash when OS but use the debit card, which, with HSBC and others there are zero fees. As for refunding the ATM fees by ING it sounds a little messy. The HSBC name is a world identity and is attached to visa which is also taken almost everywhere. Still, I stand to be taught by those who have more experience than I have. I have travelled to over 60 countries now but have not worried about the pros and cons, however I am getting older and a little more conscious of my money.

 

[Long_20]

ING is automatic. You get the rebates within a few days max. There's nothing you need to do on your part except meet the monthly conditions - 5 purchases & $1000 transfer

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I gotta give a shout out to Citibank Plus.

Needed to pay for some Christmas presents in Europe but the retailer only took local 'iDeal' payments (credit card not possible).

Contacted the retailer who kindly drew up an invoice with IBAN number etc for me to transfer funds.

Used the Citiplus account to make the payment... on €65 I was charged a total of $108.30... a rate of .60 against the official interbank rate of .613. (Apparently for international transfers they use their buy/sell rates instead of the usual interbank rate for normal transactions.)

Compared that to Westpac... they wanted $112 for the €65, a rate of .58 plus they levy a $10 charge, total of $122.

bottom line: Citi $108.30, Westpac $122.

(ING's page says 'you are unable to transfer money internationally from your ING accounts, you will need to use a third party service.)

 

[Flashback]

I had similar experience many years ago trying to pay a tour operator in Peru in USD. Never had any fees or ForEx put on top of it, even though there should have been a SWIFT payment fee. Happy days.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I had similar experience many years ago trying to pay a tour operator in Peru in USD. Never had any fees or ForEx put on top of it, even though there should have been a SWIFT payment fee. Happy days.

It was a bit confusing... I had an IBAN number, but they also wanted the SWIFT code. They said fees may be charged by the receiving bank... but I dunno who’s going to cover those if there are any.

 

[Chicken]

They said fees may be charged by the receiving bank... but I dunno who’s going to cover those if there are any.

Always the receiver. Some of the money submitted by your bank could be taken by the receiving bank, or any intermediary bank. There is basically no way of controlling that, since you won't really know how is the money going to route until the money landed on the other end.

Which is why I also like to use companies like Currency Fair and Transfer Wise, as they effectively do local bank transfers instead of cross border for most popular countries, so they completely avoid any fees associated with cross border settlements.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Will be interesting to see how it goes. Obviously if there’s a $25 fee or whatever the company will come back to me for more money And i’ll be paying the fee twice with the second transfer! But I guess Westoac would have been the same.

 

[Chicken]

Will be interesting to see how it goes. Obviously if there’s a $25 fee or whatever the company will come back to me for more money And i’ll be paying the fee twice with the second transfer! But I guess Westoac would have been the same.

I worked at an organization where nearly all customers were outside of Australia, and this happened all the time, we would just write off and balance their accounts out. It is very difficult for the customer to predict how much would be lost during the process, and for something like 25 € , like as if, you are not even going to bother with chasing or following up, it's not worth the effort; but that was international trade, so the dollar value was much higher.

Having said that, you sent to the Netherlands, surely Citi would have local settlement in the Netherlands, won't need to go via intermediary bank? Let's start praying!