The cash machine that swallowed 30 CHF
Arrival in Thailand. Anna is tired, hungry and overwhelmed. She quickly withdraws money for a taxi and a snack. She enters 2’000 baht into the cash machine, which is equivalent to around 50 CHF. Later, she checks her account: 80 Swiss francs have been debited. What? The ATM offered to debit her account in Swiss francs instead of baht. Sounds convenient, but it’s expensive. That’s because the ATM sets its own exchange rate – which is usually terrible – and adds additional fees. On top of that, there’s the ATM surcharge and your own bank’s fee. The result is the most expensive 10 seconds of her life!
Anna is not alone. Every year, tourists in popular holiday destinations pay millions too much in foreign ATM and currency exchange fees and this is completely legal. However, there are ways to avoid this. Read on for our top travel money tips and find out how to save money while enjoying your trip.
Anna is not alone. Every year, tourists in popular holiday destinations pay millions too much in foreign ATM and currency exchange fees and this is completely legal. However, there are ways to avoid this. Read on for our top travel money tips and find out how to save money while enjoying your trip.
How to turn your dream holiday into a fee nightmare
Different countries, different currencies and unfortunately different types of rip-off. If you live in Switzerland, you have the privilege of paying with one of the most stable currencies in the world. But as soon as you leave the country, your beloved Swiss franc is not worth much. Over 160 different currencies are waiting out there for your card and your travel budget. We’ll show you how to make smart payments, reduce currency exchange fees and avoid ATM charges abroad, so you can relax and enjoy your trip.
7 ways to pay smarter abroad
Where to find the best mojito? No idea! But we know all about fees. Whether you’re in Bangkok, Barcelona or Belize, paying abroad can be expensive if you make the wrong decisions. That’s why we’ve put together 7 simple tips on how to avoid unnecessary costs, get a fair exchange rate and make more of your travel budget with the Yuh app.
1. Change currencies easily, thanks to the Yuh app
The best thing about your Yuh account is that it comes with 13 currencies already pre-set in the app – so you can change currencies as easily as you change your clothes. What does that mean for you? It means you pay a fixed exchange fee of 0.95% of the converted amount for CHF – USD – EUR – GBP – JPY – AUD – CAD – SEK – HKD – NOK – DKK – AED – SGD. Simply go to Pay > Exchange, then enter the currency and how much you want to convert. Click Continue and you’ll immediately see how much the conversion will cost. Plus, you can always see the latest conversion rate, which is updated regularly (roughly every 20 seconds) for you. Everything is fully transparent, so you know immediately how much you’ll get for your money.
Maybe you have a sweet old uncle in Australia hiding some cash under his mattress and he’s happy to exchange your Swiss francs for free because you’re family. Otherwise, we hate to break it to you, but it’s practically impossible to exchange currency free of charge. Often, conversion fees are somewhere between 2% and 3% – not exactly cheap. In extreme cases, you might even have to pay 10%. If you’re curious about the rates on a particular day, simply head to Google. An extra tip from Yuh: Sometimes extenuating circumstances make it impossible to avoid shelling out more than you’d like to change your money – that’s why it never hurts to plan for exactly this type of situation and have a little extra cash on hand. Just saying …
Maybe you have a sweet old uncle in Australia hiding some cash under his mattress and he’s happy to exchange your Swiss francs for free because you’re family. Otherwise, we hate to break it to you, but it’s practically impossible to exchange currency free of charge. Often, conversion fees are somewhere between 2% and 3% – not exactly cheap. In extreme cases, you might even have to pay 10%. If you’re curious about the rates on a particular day, simply head to Google. An extra tip from Yuh: Sometimes extenuating circumstances make it impossible to avoid shelling out more than you’d like to change your money – that’s why it never hurts to plan for exactly this type of situation and have a little extra cash on hand. Just saying …
2. Set your desired exchange rate
With Yuh, you get to feel like a finance expert: If you believe that the conversion rate will improve in the near (or distant) future, meaning that you could get more for your money, you can set your own personal target conversion rate in the Yuh app whenever you like. Simply go to Pay > Exchange and click Target exchange. Yuh will automatically make the exchange when your target rate has been reached. All you have to do is kick back and avoid foreign transaction fees while you’re at it. This feature is ideal if you’re focused on how to avoid foreign transaction fees when rates aren’t in your favour. You stay in control of your exchange, wherever you are.
3. Pay with the local currency
When you pay by card, foreign card readers will always ask you if you want to pay in the local currency or the currency of your home country. Make sure to choose the local currency, no matter what! This way, you’ll only pay your bank’s conversion fees. If you go for the tempting option of paying in your home currency instead, the cost can quickly add up. On the one hand, this requires dynamic currency conversion or DCC – this service comes with fees that can be up to twice as high as your bank’s conversion fees. On the other, the merchant can also charge their own fees or add a surcharge on top of the DCC for these transactions. In the worst-case scenario, you can really get swindled – especially if you’re paying abroad by card in the wrong currency.
4. Pay with cash abroad
Nowadays, boomers are pretty much the only ones still paying for things with cash. Paying cash for your cappuccino is practically postmodern. If someone happened to be filming you, you’d probably go viral on TikTok for it. Okay, we’re clearly kidding, but all jokes aside, it’s not a bad idea to be ready for anything when you’re travelling abroad. No matter where the journey takes you, you might be tempted to forget about cash and rely solely on plastic. However, sometimes there are situations where paying by card is simply not feasible: In some countries, you might have to pay for your entry visa in cash; it’s possible that restaurants, shops or the national park you’ve always wanted to visit only take cash; and some days, it might even be the case that the nearest ATM is out of order (or out of cash), and that, by the time you find one that’s working, the queue goes on for – what feels like – miles. It makes sense to have a few euros or dollar bills with you so you’re covered in these and other, similar situations. Last but not least, there may be times when you can’t pay by card or with a major currency. Now what? Be sure to do your research before your trip and find out if it’s worth having banknotes in the local currency with you at your destination. An insider tip from Yuh: If your research indicates that it would be better to cancel your flight than to show up without cash in the local currency, we recommend going to Change Migros. They can help you change your money into more than 80 currencies at attractive rates. Try it for yourself and let us know what you think!
5. Stay away from dodgy ATMs
Sometimes it can’t be helped and you need cash there and then. As in, right now. But be careful: The more tourists there are in a particular location, the greater the chances that you could end up at an ATM that will take much more money out of your account than you could ever imagine. When travelling abroad, be wary of most ATMs to avoid ATM fees abroad and inflated exchange rates – like the yellow-and-blue Euronet ATMs, for example. If you don’t have any other options, make sure to select refuse conversion when taking money out. This is the only way to ensure that you’ll get the conversion rates at the terms offered by your home bank. It’s not unusual for shady ATMs to charge hefty fees of up to 35%, meaning you’ll need to pony up an additional 35 EUR when you take out 100 EUR. Ouch! But even if you only use trustworthy ATMs (from major banks), it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on the fees (always read the fine print!). After all, if you have to pay Yuh’s fee of 4.90 CHF for foreign withdrawals plus a local ATM fee, it could cost you a pretty penny by the end of your trip. Plus, make sure to stay away from any scammers who approach you on the beach offering to convert your cash, and always be sceptical of exchange bureaus at tourist hotspots.
6. Save for your holidays
If you’re the kind of person who scrimps and saves months in advance for your well-deserved holidays, then Yuh has a special treat for you. If you go to Save in the app, you can add your own personal saving project. Once you’ve done that, you can see exactly how much you need to set aside every day, week or month in order to reach your goal by a certain date. Your grandmother in Germany is sending you some euros to beef up your holiday budget? Then you might be interested to know that these euros will be credited to your Yuh account just the way they are. They won’t be automatically converted into Swiss francs. Instead, they will end up in the euro dashboard in the app. And all with zero fees. By the way, this applies to all 13 of the pre-set currencies in the Yuh app.
7. Plan your trip in advance
In any case, it’s always a good idea to read up on your holiday destination before your trip. There’s no need to shell out on a fancy guidebook – you can learn a lot for free from blogs or on social media and, in the best case, maybe even make some new friends. If you really have to use cash while on holiday abroad, don’t forget to google the best and/or cheapest ways to take out money or where you can find the most trustworthy exchange bureaus.
The more tourists there are in a particular location, the greater the chances that you could end up at an ATM that will take much more money out of your account than you could ever imagine.
What is the best way to exchange money abroad as a Swiss resident?
The key is to avoid the most common traps, such as foreign ATM fees and hidden currency exchange fees. How? Use a smart financial app like Yuh. It lets you convert 13 different currencies directly within the app at a transparent fixed rate of 0.95%, with no hidden costs.
You can set a personal savings goal for your trip and even set your desired exchange rates in advance. Say goodbye to stressing out over dubious exchange offices or dodgy ATMs. With Yuh, your wallet will stay (at least) as cool as your holiday drinks.