ATMs in Bora Bora keep asking Accept or Decline Conversion - what does that mean? Shows high charges for this
At the airport ATM, same story. Accept conversion = ATM’s rate in USD, much higher. Decline = charged in local francs, your bank handles it fairly. I tested both. Accept was nearly $18 more on a 20,000 XPF withdrawal. Always decline.
Bora Bora ATMs seem to love this trick. At a Banque de Tahiti machine, the “accept” button was in bright green. I pressed decline and got charged in XPF, and Revolut gave me the interbank rate. A friend accepted and got stung with extra charges.
Used a BCI ATM near Matira Beach, same conversion screen popped up. It said “accept to lock in rate.” Total scam. When I accepted once, I lost almost 11% compared to my Wise card rate. Always decline in French Polynesia.
In Vaitape, the Banque Socredo ATM asked me “accept conversion” into USD. That’s Dynamic Currency Conversion. If you hit accept, the machine does the math and charges way above the real rate. If you decline, you’re billed in XPF (Pacific francs), and your bank converts properly.