I used my US card in Kazakhstan & the ATM just asked me Accept or Decline Conversion - I feel like I should choose Accept coz it seems more appealing but it had these super confusing numbers on the screen saying 8% markup so not sure. What should I do?
At Almaty airport, Eurasian Bank ATMs hit me with the same accept/decline choice. I chose decline, billed in KZT, and Wise gave me the proper rate. Another American at my Airbnb had accepted, thinking it was safer, and lost around 9% extra. The markup isn’t always obvious until you compare receipts. In Kazakhstan, always press decline.
In Shymkent, I withdrew from a ForteBank ATM near Mega Planet mall. The “accept conversion” button was massive and looked like the recommended choice. Decline was smaller, but that’s the one to press. I got charged in tenge, Revolut did the conversion, and it matched the mid-market rate. Accepting earlier at Halyk Bank cost me way more. Don’t get tricked by the design.
Used a Kaspi Bank ATM in Nur-Sultan (Astana). The conversion screen was super confusing-accept showed USD totals, decline kept it in KZT. I chose decline, and my Chase account billed me at fair Visa rates. Later, I tried accept just to see-lost almost $25 on a 100,000 KZT withdrawal. Kaspi and ForteBank ATMs all seem to do this, so keep declining.
At a Halyk Bank ATM in Almaty, I saw the “accept conversion” screen. It offered to charge me in USD with a bold “guaranteed rate” message. Looked tempting, but then I noticed an 8% markup. I declined, got billed in tenge (KZT), and Revolut handled the conversion properly. My hostel mate at Almaty Backpackers said he fell for the accept option once and paid a lot more. Always decline in Kazakhstan.