ATM Questions

[FrankyOP]

Hey all got a question.  Im in the yucatan area and not chapala but this question is a general question.  I use Hsbc atm where im located at a bank.  I could withdraw up to 15k pesos at once with my capital one 360 card.  Previously when i did this, the atm fee was around 33 pesos or so.  Last time it was over 60 pesos.  Is this recent and if so, it applies to all hsbc atms in mexico?

 

My other question is this.  Someone had mentioned that in atm screen when you withdraw, they would give you the peso rate and ask you to confirm before you withdraw the money.  Example it would say 1 usd is 18 peso and you confirm... then say 15k in pesos will come out if that is what you requested before.  Someone had mentioned not here but said if you reject the rate they give you, then your own bank... thus the us bank debit card you use would give you a better rate or something like that.  Does anyone know if this is true or did i make a mistake here?  They said the atm gives you the hsbc or whatever bank atm withdraw rate in peso, if you reject it, you get the usd rate or something like that and you get a better rate and thus if you withdraw 15k pesos, less usd would be deducted from your bank account.  Has anyone heard of anything like this before?  Or is this not true or makes no sense?  I thought if you reject the rate, well you get your debit card back and have to do whole transaction again?  So this doesn't make any sense b/c if you reject it, then it gives you a new rate but this one from your us bank?

 

Also does anyone know what atms allow you to withdraw the most pesos at once?  I also assume if hsbc has a 15k withdraw limit for pesos in the yucatan, then its the same in chapala and anywhere else in mexico?  I heard about cibanco and you can do 20k pesos.  Anyone know if that is true and what the atm fee is?  And is the atm fee the same throughout mexico whether yucatan or anywhere else?  Im assuming answer is yes.  But i heard cibanco is prone to skimming?  Or its only those atms where its not in a bank?

 

[RVGRINGO]

Franky: Welcome to the board.  If you are asked to approve an exchange rate at an ATM, I suggest that you refuse, and you will probably get a lower rate from your own bank's card, as you suspected.

[FrankyOP]

Hi there.  Im confused.  So you are suppose to refuse the exchange rate at the ATM every time?  I never done this ever.  I always thought if you refuse it, well you are basically cancelling the transaction and doing it again.

 

Can others here confirm this?  I can't be the only one always clicking yes on the screen right?  So when you refuse it, what shows up on the screen?  Does it ask you another question and you click yes or no or it processes your transaction automatically but use my bank card?

[jrod]

The withdrawal amount is tied to the amount your bank has set for withdrawal of your funds. The HSBC lakeside has 2 indoor ATMs; the screens on both are different and the left machine has an option to withdraw in USD or pesos. People post that they have been asked to approve an exchange rate for their withdrawals, but I have never seen that screen in my transactions, regardless of the card I use. The fee  at the HSBC here has been over $60 per transaction for many months now; other fees (Multiva, CIBanco, Intercam) differ but indeed have increased.

[FrankyOP]

Hi there.  Yes i know what you can withdraw depends on your us bank.  My capital one 360 i could do up to 1k usd i believe.  So i withdraw 15k each time at hsbc atm b/c thats under 800 dollars and b/c that is max atm withdraw pesos.  But when it ask me to accept conversion, always decline it?  Because if you do, you get charged less in your usd bank account capital one 360 as oppose to accepting it?  If so, i had no idea about this.  I always thought if you decline the rate they give you, transaction doesn't go through and you have to do it again...

[ibarra]

With an HSBC ATM card in Chapala you can withdraw 7000 pesos maximum.   We have banked there for a couple of years and have never seen a message asking us to accept or decline a "conversion" rate, no matter if we use our HSBC card or another card.   No withdrawal fee if you use HSBC ATM card.  The rate increase for other bank cards has been over 60 for several months.  I personally find when using another card other than our HSBC at HSBC, that the bank fee is less at CIBanco for withdrawals. 

[FrankyOP]

HI there.  Well i mean withdrawing from an hsbc atm.   There is an hsbc atm in chapala right?  Again im not there but in the yucatan area.  But i assume atm limits at hsbc is same throughout right?

 

But when you get that message, always decline?  But when you decline it, does it ask you any other question or it automatically gives you your bank rate?  So example if i withdraw 15000 pesos from hsbc with my cap one 360 card and get charged around 800 dollars in my capone360 account... but if i decline the rate they offer me, i would get charged like 795 dollars to my cap360 account?

[cedros]

I've used HSBC ATMs for years and always check on my computer when I get home. What RVGringo says is very true.

[cedros]

2 hours ago, ibarra said:

With an HSBC ATM card in Chapala you can withdraw 7000 pesos maximum.   We have banked there for a couple of years and have never seen a message asking us to accept or decline a "conversion" rate, no matter if we use our HSBC card or another card.   No withdrawal fee if you use HSBC ATM card.  The rate increase for other bank cards has been over 60 for several months.  I personally find when using another card other than our HSBC at HSBC, that the bank fee is less at CIBanco for withdrawals. 

I have used the HSBC ATMs in Chapala (actually San Antonio) for years. I can withdraw 14,000 (that limit is set by you home bank) at a time if I am withdrawing from my Canadian HSBC account. If I am withdrawing from my Mexican HSBC account the limit is much lower-7,000 I think. I always get the accept or decline rate question when I withdraw from my Canadian account. I will have to check and see if I get that question when I withdraw from my Mexican account. If you decline you get a better exchange rate. There is a withdrawal fee but I am hoping to get rid of it soon.   

[cedros]

1 hour ago, FrankyOP said:

HI there.  Well i mean withdrawing from an hsbc atm.   There is an hsbc atm in chapala right?  Again im not there but in the yucatan area.  But i assume atm limits at hsbc is same throughout right?

 

But when you get that message, always decline?  But when you decline it, does it ask you any other question or it automatically gives you your bank rate?  So example if i withdraw 15000 pesos from hsbc with my cap one 360 card and get charged around 800 dollars in my capone360 account... but if i decline the rate they offer me, i would get charged like 795 dollars to my cap360 account?

Yes. No other questions except the usual ones (donate, receipt or not, etc.). If you don't refuse the bad rate you cannot dispute it because you said yes.

[FrankyOP]

thanks for the information.  So basically no matter what, declining the rate they offer you is always better than accepting yes... is that correct?  Because i have to make an atm withdraw soon.  But is there a way to check how much you would have gotten charged had you clicked yes vs no?  Example i seen the rate is about 1 usd is 20 peso.  Then at the atm rate, it always is like 1 peso less so around 19.   Then i check how much is deducted from my cap one 360 bank account. 

 

The only way i can think of it would be if  i did 2 withdraws... say one for 5k pesos with the accept rate and another one immediately for 5k pesos with the decline rate.  Then when i get back, i check to see how much usd is deducted.  But if i do this, well i have to pay over 60 peso for each withdraw fee.  So is there a way to find out how much less is deducted if i click decline vs accept?  Again, i never had a clue you are suppose to click decline.  I thought if you do that, transaction cancelled and you have to do it all over again.

[Al Berca]

So what if it is cancelled and you have to start over again? Costs you nothing and then you will have your answer.

[cedros]

1 hour ago, FrankyOP said:

thanks for the information.  So basically no matter what, declining the rate they offer you is always better than accepting yes... is that correct?  Because i have to make an atm withdraw soon.  But is there a way to check how much you would have gotten charged had you clicked yes vs no?  Example i seen the rate is about 1 usd is 20 peso.  Then at the atm rate, it always is like 1 peso less so around 19.   Then i check how much is deducted from my cap one 360 bank account. 

 

The only way i can think of it would be if  i did 2 withdraws... say one for 5k pesos with the accept rate and another one immediately for 5k pesos with the decline rate.  Then when i get back, i check to see how much usd is deducted.  But if i do this, well i have to pay over 60 peso for each withdraw fee.  So is there a way to find out how much less is deducted if i click decline vs accept?  Again, i never had a clue you are suppose to click decline.  I thought if you do that, transaction cancelled and you have to do it all over again.

It is simple. When they offer a certain rate I make note of it and then decline it. The transaction isn't cancelled but it proceed at a better rate-for me anyway. When I get home I check on my computer and see what rate I actually got. No need to make two withdrawals.

[cedros]

28 minutes ago, Al Berca said:

So what if it is cancelled and you have to start over again? Costs you nothing and then you will have your answer.

Right-make a note of the offered rate and decline it. When I decline it the transaction isn't cancelled. It proceeds with a better rate.  

[FrankyOP]

okay so i went to hsbc and withdrew 15k pesos and declined the rate that was offered.  Before i went to atm i checked google and it showed 1 usd = 19.23 peso.  When i went to the ATM, it showed a rate of 1 usd = 18.25 usd or so.  Everytime when i go to atm, the rate is always like 1 peso or so less than what it shows on google.  It also showed i believe... the total of 15063 pesos which is total amount since the withdraw fee is about 63 pesos... i believe it showed 15063 = 825 usd or so.  Can anyone here confirm when you are on the accept/decline screen, it gives you the amount in USD?  I do not recall if it did or not.   I then declined the transaction.  When i checked my capital one 360 account online, it deducted about 782 dollars from my account.

 

So is there a way to know what rate i got it at based on this info?  Because if im doing the calculations right.. wouldn't it be 15063  pesos/ 782 usd = 19.26? So basically i got close to the google rate?  Or is my calculation wrong?

 

So did i pay less this way?  I checked my previous withdraws in my cap one account and this has been one of the lower amounts deducted from my bank account in a bit.  The other times it was a bit over and over 800 dollars each time.  This is me withdrawing 15000 pesos each time.  However the peso rate is what has to be looked at.  But did i pay less for pesos with what i did?  It certainly felt like it.

 

 

 

[RVGRINGO]

You did it right. Refuse the offered rate. Your bank determines the rate and you can calculate it when you get home, as you did.  Enjoy!

[RickS]

From what I can glean from your Posts,  you have previously been accepting the HSBC rate... which is ‘worse’ than the rate given by your Capital One transactions. This time it wanted you to accept 18.25 which would have cost you $825. You declined and you got 19.25 and paid only $782 for those same 15,000 pesos.  Moral.... always at HSBC decline the rate that is offered you, continue with your transaction and you will get the ‘bank rate’.  Easy Peasy. 

[cedros]

I think it just a scam by the banks to make more money. Many people will accept the rate offered and lose some money to the bank.

[ComputerGuy]

So let me get this straight: if you decline the offered rate, you do not have to start the transaction again. Instead, you are charged a rate as set by your originating bank. Is this correct?

Also, I'll tell you why you don't want to decline and cancel the transaction, because last year HSBC charged me just for using the machine, no transaction taking place. And they are not cheap. When you add the percentage you pay in exchange fees, and calculate how much your withdrawal fee is when added to your exchange fee, you are paying an ever bigger percentage on your overall withdrawal. That can add up when you are on vacation.

[mudgirl]

If you're looking at the mid-market exchange rate, you'll never actually get that rate, unless you have a lot of money in the bank, are a preferred customer, so they don't take a fee for exchange. You have to look at buy/sell rates.

[RickS]

1 hour ago, ComputerGuy said:

So let me get this straight: if you decline the offered rate, you do not have to start the transaction again. Instead, you are charged a rate as set by your originating bank. Is this correct?

Also, I'll tell you why you don't want to decline and cancel the transaction, because last year HSBC charged me just for using the machine, no transaction taking place. And they are not cheap. When you add the percentage you pay in exchange fees, and calculate how much your withdrawal fee is when added to your exchange fee, you are paying an ever bigger percentage on your overall withdrawal. That can add up when you are on vacation.

Correct.

I have used the HSBC machines for several years. Up until lately they did not ask you if you would accept a certain (lower) rate. Now they do but declining that rate lets one continue and complete at a better rate... no harm no foul.  I don't feel that their 'fee to use', whatever one may want to call that, is that onerous. It certainly has gone up over the years but so what else is new?  In the end my 'bank' refunds me all fees anyway so the rate I get is very close to the 'day's rate' when one goes online later.

[ComputerGuy]

Well, you may not find it onerous, but charging me 75p to get my balance? I do find that onerous. And it really doesn't make sense to say your bank refunds you anyway, because mine does not.

[cedros]

7 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

Well, you may not find it onerous, but charging me 75p to get my balance? I do find that onerous. And it really doesn't make sense to say your bank refunds you anyway, because mine does not.

Maybe you need a different bank. Can't you check your balance on line for nothing.

[ComputerGuy]

But HSBC isn't my bank; Scotia is. That particular day, the Scotia machine wasn't recognizing two of my cards, so I went across the street to the HSBC. Since I didn't need cash at that point, I did the simplest thing I could thing of to test a card... check the balance. It was HSBC that "robbed" me, not my own bank.

[RickS]

CG, my point was that to charge a few pesos to ‘provide the ATM service’ and charge a fee for me to withdrawn money from them, even ‘tho I don’t have an account with them, is not onerous. Charging you 75 pesos to ‘check your balance’ certainly IS. But we were all talking about fees charged for getting money out.