Where to Exchange Currency (It’s Not the Bank!)
Where to Exchange Currency (It’s Not the Bank!)
January 13, 2023
A few weeks ago, I walked into Chase Bank in Florida and asked to withdraw cash from my checking account in the form of Australian dollars for an upcoming trip. The branch manager smiled and quoted me a currency exchange rate that was seven percent worse than the accepted market rate. As if that weren’t bad enough, he also told me I’d have to wait 2 business days to get my devalued money.
This type of inefficiency isn’t unique to the Chase foreign currency exchange. Almost all major banks are dinosaurs when it comes to financial technology, which is why Lauren and I go elsewhere for things like fee-free investment accounts, higher-interest savings accounts, and now — international currency conversion.
Using these four strategies, you can exchange currency without high fees or long waits in nearly any country on Earth.
1. Use Your Credit Card as an Automatic Currency Converter
Unless you specifically need cash (which we’ll get to shortly), the most convenient and efficient way to convert US dollars into foreign currency without fees is to just use a credit card for all your purchases. This is one of the few things that major banks like Chase actually get right. You just swipe your card abroad, and the purchases show up on your statement in US dollars, magically converted at the right exchange rate.
But before packing your bags, make sure you have a card with no foreign transaction fees. Our Citi DoubleCash card is great for everyday purchases in the US, but we’d never use it overseas, since Citi imposes a 3% surcharge on all international DoubleCash purchases.
Personally, we use our Chase Sapphire Preferred or IHG Rewards Traveler cards abroad; they don’t charge any fees for international transactions. And in our experience so far, they’ve automatically converted our purchases in other currencies to US dollars to within ~1% of the correct foreign exchange rate. We earn cash back and other rewards as normal, too!
There are tons of good cards out there with no foreign transaction fees, so you might already have one in your wallet without knowing it. If not, you can always find an updated list of our favorite credit cards on our Recommendations page.
By the way, when you swipe a US credit card abroad, the merchant may ask if you’d like to pay in US dollars or in the local currency. As a general rule, you should always choose the local currency and let your credit card company do the foreign currency exchange for you. Merchant terminals typically impose unfair exchange rates.
As always, make sure you follow the basic rules of using any credit card responsibly, too.
2. Exchange Currency at a Foreign ATM
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