Timeline for How do I spend money in the US?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2019 at 23:13 | comment | added | JoL | @reirab Still, it might be coincidence but the averages in the home page do coincide with reality by my own experience. Maybe they get the data for that from elsewhere or maybe they only use the recently updated data they have and ignore the rest. There are some prices that were updated just a couple hours ago. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 23:05 | comment | added | JoL | @reirab I saw an example of what you meant, but it seems the data hasn't been updated in years. One example in the 17 range differs in its last update with another in the 20 range by around a year, so that would explain the massive difference in price. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 22:55 | comment | added | reirab | @JoL Looking further into the data there, it looks like the issue is mainly that there are massive differences between the exchange rates that different "houses of change" are using there. Looking around briefly, I see some using rates of 17.65 pesos/USD and others using as much as 21... in the same city! Seems like you could make good money by just trading the spread between them. - haha | |
| May 28, 2019 at 22:34 | comment | added | JoL | @reirab Well, "absurdly" might be overstating it, but if you get 100 USD from a forex business instead of the bank, you'd save enough for a decent combo at Carl's Jr. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 22:20 | comment | added | JoL | @reirab To answer your question, it's my understanding that they're the same. I don't think they use different rates depending on if you visit them in person or use their card. If you look at the site I shared, the bank rates are spread around the rates you'd see on XE lists, but the rate used in exchange businesses is almost completely outside of that. The end of one spread is the beginning of the other. It's not a question of how wide the spread is. When at the border and looking to buy USD, the rates shown at XE lists always seem absurdly high. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 21:58 | comment | added | ave | Not Canadian nor traveling to US, but I generally tend to call my bank before going abroad just to inform that I'll be abroad, and they note it down on my account so that payments made abroad will not be detected as fraudulent. Your bank may not have such policies, but I doubt that it'd hurt to call and confirm. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 21:54 | comment | added | reirab | @JoL Is that average referring to taking cash into a physical bank location and exchanging it or the exchange fees when using a card? I don't have experience with Canadian or Mexican cards, but looking at a couple of transactions I made recently in Canada and Switzerland on my U.S.-issued card, the exchange rates applied by Amex were within 0.1-0.3% of the mid-market rates that XE lists. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 21:28 | comment | added | JoL | @reirab Hmmm... I said better, but I'm realizing that depends on if you're shopping for USD or MXN. So, they're kind of different markets. I found this that shows the difference. "Promedio en bancos" is "Average in banks". "Promedio en Casas de Cambio" is "Average in [USDMXN foreign exchange businesses]". | |
| May 28, 2019 at 20:53 | comment | added | reirab | @JoL I'm not sure about Mexico, but U.S. banks typically convert (from any currency) at almost exactly the nominal rates. Many U.S. cards also have no foreign transaction fees at all, so they're actually a much better deal than almost any currency conversion business. Some U.S. banks (Charles Schwab, for example) also refund ATM fees worldwide, so you can withdraw local cash from any ATM worldwide that accepts international debit cards at essentially no cost. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 20:33 | comment | added | JoL | "It is very hard to determine the best rate but your own bank has a good chance of being better than changing small amounts in change offices" -- I've never been to the US-Canada border, but in the US-Mexico border you always get a better rate with USDMXN currency exchange businesses. I imagine that people are willing to take worse rates with the bank because it's convenient to just use one's card and not worry about exchanging cash. Another reason is probably that there's a more competitive market with the offices because there's far more of them than banks. | |
| May 28, 2019 at 12:42 | history | answered | badjohn | CC BY-SA 4.0 |