To exchange or not to exchange? Card or cash?
– If you think before you pay on your holiday abroad, you will avoid unnecessarily high exchange rates, says Fredrik Nordquist, deputy director at the Swedish Consumers' Banking and Finance Agency.
As a tourist, it is a good idea to carry both debit cards and cash with you, so that you can pay in all situations. Foreign cash is usually cheapest to withdraw on site from an ATM at the holiday resort.
– If you are asked whether you want to be charged in Swedish kronor, SEK, or the local currency, it is usually cheapest to choose the local currency. However, if you want to exchange Swedish cash for local currency, it is usually best to do so at home before you leave, says Fredrik Nordquist and continues:
– Foreign exchange offices often have worse rates, especially in tourist destinations. Where there are tourists, there are people who want to make money, you are simply not in a good negotiating position.
”Can be expensive”
As mentioned, it is usually cheapest to withdraw cash from ATMs abroad, but even there you should be careful when using ATMs in tourist-heavy areas. ATMs that are mainly used by foreign visitors do not always give you the choice between being charged in local currency or SEK.
– In general, I would say that you should debit the card with the foreign currency. Then it is your bank in Sweden that handles the exchange rate, if you choose to pay in Swedish kronor, the payment recipient's payment service provider sets the rate instead and then there are more actors who want to make money on the exchange, says Fredrik Nordquist.
Different card fees in different countries
In Sweden, it is prohibited for anyone who charges a fee to charge a fee when the customer pays by card. This also applies to those who own ATMs.
In Europe, however, things differ between countries. Therefore, as a tourist, you may have to pay a card fee in some European countries when you pay with a card or withdraw money from an ATM. Examples of countries that allow card fees are Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and Croatia.
Protect yourself like at home
When it comes to the risk of being exposed to card fraud, Fredrik Nordquist believes that you should protect yourself just like you would at home.
– In many countries, the risk of being exposed to card fraud is as great as in Sweden. But of course you should be careful and follow local instructions. Pay in cash if it doesn't feel right, he says.
Source: SVT-TT
