The Anonymous Widower

The True Cost Of My €100 Withdrawal

I withdrew €100 from a cashpoint in Bishopsgate before I went on holiday.

I got a rate of 1.157 euro to the pound, which for my € 100 worked out at £86.42.  I was then charged a Non-UK commission fee of £1.72 and a Non-UK cash withdrawal fee of £1.00. The main transaction incidentally was labelled Ulster Bank.

So as I was in Bishopsgate and did a transaction with a bank in Ulster, surely I was in the UK.  So why did I get slapped for an extra charge of £2.72?

On the other hand it was probably a better transaction, than I got in Morocco, when I changed a few pounds into the local dirham.

If I was in charge of this world, I’d create a universal token, that was worth about a pound, a dollar or a euro, that you could use for small transactions on public transport, pay toilets and with street vendors. After all, many machines now accept a one pound or one euro coin.

April 1, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Finance, Transport/Travel, World | Banks, Money