Originally Posted by LAX
I was wondering if the published exchange rates on newspaper are the interbank rates (rates that banks charge each other). For example, I recently saw a USD$1 to HKD$7.80 rate published in a newspaper and when I withdrew money from a HK ATM using a US ATM card, the rate I calculated is 1:7.7999.
Depends on where youre looking. If youre looking in the Travel section of the Daily News or LA Times, they are whatever the paper decides what they want them to be. I seem to remember them being about 5-10% "cost" built in. If you look in the Business section, usually it lists where the rates are from and usually it's interbank. In the case of the Hong Kong dollar, it will be the same or very close because the HKD is pegged to the USD and the conversion costs are extremely low for most banks because they are trading large amounts anyway.