cashier's checks, cash or credit card?

[JOHN BUCHANAN]

Help!

I just got my Visa statement from a recent trip to Costa Rica and found I was getting killed by several, separate ‘exchange rate fees’ from the local merchant’s banks; up to  20-25% at times! I am wondering if I would be better off either bringing Traveller’s Checks (if the banks still issue them!) or just a pocket of $US dollars? I know I’ll still get hit with an exchange fee with cash, but not 20% I hope.

I’m not talking about the Visa card’s foreign transaction fee – I have a card that charges no such fee, but the currency exchange fee that the local bank charges my account when processing a charge… thanks!

John Buchanan

[EI EXPERT – EDD STATON]

Don’t think for another minute about traveler’s checks. They would cause nothing but complications here. Bringing some cash is fine (nothing above 20’s though), but most ATM’s at least in Cuenca charge no fee at all. I don’t even have a local checking account, choosing instead to maintain my banking relationship in the US and pull cash from ATM’s as needed. If you stick your card in a machine and it requires a fee, just reject the transaction and go to one from a different bank. I normally use Bank of Pichincha.

[COUNTRY EXPERT- SUZAN HASKINS]

I agree with Edd — no traveler’s checks. And we don’t have a local bank account in Ecuador either. We use our ATM cards and pay cash for most everything.

There is no foreign currency exchange fee as Ecuador uses the USD. But… your bank may charge you a foreign ATM fee — and these can be hefty. That’s why we switched to Capital One for our debit card account. They don’t charge foreign ATM transaction fees and they often credit you the local bank fee as well. (I was paying $10 to $15 per transaction to my previous US bank — scammers!)

[DAVE HAIG]

Visiting Cuenca now….   the dentist I went to only takes cash, and if I understood correctly told me that the banks charge a 12% transaction fee for credit cards.    The hospital lab I used took my Visa card ok, and when I checked my account saw that I was charged a $ 0.76 Foreign Transaction Fee.

Used my ATM card (from Nevada State Bank) at Banco Pinchincha,  no extra charge, but when I checked my account saw that my bank charged an ATM Foreign Transaction Fee of $ 2.50,   and a Foreign Transaction Fee of $ 4.00,     so a total of $ 6.50.     Hope that helps!   Dave

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