Originally Posted by
seawolf
The net effect is they are giving the impression people should avoid the Euronet ATM (and unnecessarily go out of the way to find another ATM) when it is entirely possible to get cash out by declining DCC. When declined, the rate will be identical to any other ATM not offering DCC as it VISA/MC will be doing conversion.
I would also tend to avoid Euronet or other independent ATMs due to their setup. While compliant, these ATMs take advanced knowledge to avoid all of the fees. Their DCC markup is excessive, far more than the typical 3-5% one often sees at a point of sale or other bank-branded ATMs. At 13-15% DCC is not a service but rather an underhanded technique to get those not in the know.
The original purpose of DCC was more benign and had much lower markups of around 3% or below. In fact, 15+ years ago as a US cardholder it might have even made sense to accept the DCC offer when most cards had a 3% currency exchange fee. The USD amount that presented incurred no further fees from the issuing bank and earned rewards on the full amount. Banks wouldn't give rewards on the 3% currency exchange fee. Over time, US card issuers switched to foreign transaction fees instead of currency exchange fees. Subsequently, many travel focus cards started to feature 0% FTFs about 15 years ago. At this point, there is never - outside of some esoteric case of an extreme currency fluctuation - any advantage for the customer to accept DCC. The profit sharing between the acquirer and merchant (or ATM operator in this case) creates a perverse incentive to steer the customer into accepting DCC or opting the customer in to DCC.
Originally Posted by
dmapr
I would frequently "shop" ATMs... to find a cheaper one. I would go through the motions till I reach the screen where the fee was listed, then cancel — and I wouldn't be charged. In case of a Euronet ATM I would apparently get dinged as soon as I hit the Cash & Balance — not cool.
I would do the same before I had a card that reimbursed ATM operator fees. With Euronet ATMs specifically, the danger is getting charged a balance inquiry fee for selecting CASH & BALANCE, the default option, instead of OTHER and then CASH.