I withdrew cash at an ATM in India and selected Accept Conversion because it sounded safer. Later I saw the rate was terrible. Is this normal?
Yes this is super common at the ATMs in India. Either the bank will not accept your card or it will accept the card and then show you 2 screens - first screen it will tell you the ATM Access Fee and second screen it will ask you if you want to accept conversion with some very complicated numbers. I am not good at math so I was super confused so to be safe I just pressed Without Conversion and that looks like it was the right choice because i got the UnionPay conversion rate (my card is a CUP card). Be careful though - example like Kotak Bank will give you the ATM Access Fee and Conversion Charges all in one screen, HDFC Bank also do that. State Bank of India will show you this on 2 different screens, as will IDBI Bank and IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank. Bank of INdia never accepted my card so I cannot be sure.
I withdrew cash at an ATM in India and selected Accept Conversion because it sounded safer. Later I saw the rate was terrible. Is this normal?
Funny. I never got this prompt at IDBI Bank and bank of baroda atm that I used. just 15 days ago. It just gave me the cash and when i saw my bank statement it was the mastercard conversion rate (plus the 2.5% fee that my bank charges, not the ATM).
No no no. Don't do that. You'll land up paying a lot more. I tried Canara bank and Union bank and both said some 6% or 7% extra dynamic currency conversion fee. I just pressed without conversion and got the conversion rate of Visa which is my card!!
I withdrew cash at an ATM in India and selected Accept Conversion because it sounded safer. Later I saw the rate was terrible. Is this normal?
In india, never accept the conversion offered by the ATM. All the banks will ask you - Kotak, ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI, IndusInd - even some of the smaller banks. Ive seen it usually says Accept Conversion or Decline Conversion and some say With or Without Conversion. SBI was the highest when I saw like a month ago like extra 8%, Kotak was at like 4.5 %, just Decline so you'll get the rate of your card - Visa, etc.
At HDFC Bank in India, you get a prompt: With Conversion or Without Conversion. Select Without Conversion to dodge extra charges.
ICICI Banks ATM in India had a With or Without Conversion prompt. I picked Without Conversion and saved on fees.
Canara Bank in India asked about conversion. I selected Without Conversion and avoided extra charges-easy win.
HSBC ATMs in India give a conversion option. Choosing Decline Conversion meant no extra fees for me.