Which is better - choosing With or Without Conversion at ATM in Belarus?
I tried an ATM in Grodno from Belinvestbank. Same question popped up: With or Without Conversion. Hit Without, got BYN, and my German DKB Visa card handled the conversion cleanly. Met a Polish guy at the station who hit With, and he was cursing - lost like €8 instantly. The machines make it look official, but trust me, Without is the right button in Belarus.
DCC is a sneaky system where the ATM sets the exchange rate. “With conversion” means you’re stuck with their inflated USD/EUR/GBP rate. “Without conversion” lets your bank or card network do it at the real market rate. Even with a foreign fee, Without is cheaper. Travelers staying in hostels around Nemiga and Oktyabrskaya Street complain about this a lot - the wording tricks first-timers. Always press Without Conversion.
I landed at Minsk airport and went straight to a Priorbank ATM. It asked me “With conversion.” I thought choosing With would be better since my card is in GBP. Big mistake. On my Monzo statement, I saw I’d paid nearly £10 more on a 300 BYN withdrawal. Later, I chose Without at a BPS-Sberbank ATM, and the rate was bang on what Mastercard listed. For Belarus, always go Without.
ATMs from Priorbank and Belarusbank in Minsk show “With conversion / Without conversion.” That’s DCC. If you press With, the ATM converts BYN to your card’s home currency at a terrible rate. Always pick Without, and let Visa/Mastercard handle it. I used my Revolut card at a Belarusbank ATM near Victory Square - declined conversion, and the rate matched the mid-market one on XE. Pressing With would’ve cost me around 7% extra.