How does a bureau de change make money?

My Mrs has a barclaycard that charges nothing abroad for withdrawals and won’t for the next 3 years.
Sadly it is no longer available to newcomers.
 
crazyg said:
i've a Santander Zero card and do the same. The difference is that before I go, I put, say, £500 on the card. That way, you're in credit, and they can't charge you interest on your own money.

Been doing this for over 25 years, and never paid a penny in interest.
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The interest charge is of course only on cash withdrawals.

Using the credit card for purchases, meals, etc is interest free if paid off at the end of the month.
 
With most UK banks, withdrawing cash at an overseas ATM with your bank card is almost always the cheapest way to get currency, even if your bank charges you per transaction. Most commonly it's a flat fee, so if you withdraw 100 Euros or 300 the charge is the same, and banks usually have a half decent conversion rate.

BDCs / money changers always apply a poor selling rate (and the ones in obvious tourist locations even more so), so the more you change the more cash you're losing to them. And that is of course how they make their profit.
 
My one concern with using an ATM overseas is that if it eats my card then I'm fucked. Everyone from Georgian cab drivers through to Albanian serving staff have tried to make a quick buck out of the tourists so I am careful with what I have on me.

I tend to take Euros everywhere and exchange what I need when it's not accepted. Slovakia, Turkey and Azerbaijan are next on the list.
 
You have to be careful sometimes when abroad and using an ATM that you don't accept their exchange rate, I think a lot of people get caught out by this.
I was in Sorrento last summer, and the general exchange rate at the time was around the 1.13 ish mark. Used my card to withdraw 70 Euro and the ATM was going to charge me almost £70, so effectively 1 for 1.
I obv declined it and my bank charged me something like £61, much more in line with the going rate.

Can see how people fall for it though; either just by shrugging and accepting the rate, or not realising they need to decline the ATM conversion rate (sometimes it isn't clear how to do this).

I'm going to Vegas in a little over 2 weeks and although I'm usually happy to withdraw money locally as I go, cash is king in Vegas and a lot of the ATMs charge up to $10 per withdrawal which is absurd. So I'll be changing my £ to $ before I leave, despite the rate being shite at the moment.
I do work for a travel agent though so I get staff rate in the bureau ;)
 
feedthegoat27 said:
You have to be careful sometimes when abroad and using an ATM that you don't accept their exchange rate, I think a lot of people get caught out by this.
I was in Sorrento last summer, and the general exchange rate at the time was around the 1.13 ish mark. Used my card to withdraw 70 Euro and the ATM was going to charge me almost £70, so effectively 1 for 1.
I obv declined it and my bank charged me something like £61, much more in line with the going rate.

Can see how people fall for it though; either just by shrugging and accepting the rate, or not realising they need to decline the ATM conversion rate (sometimes it isn't clear how to do this).

I'm going to Vegas in a little over 2 weeks and although I'm usually happy to withdraw money locally as I go, cash is king in Vegas and a lot of the ATMs charge up to $10 per withdrawal which is absurd. So I'll be changing my £ to $ before I leave, despite the rate being shite at the moment.
I do work for a travel agent though so I get staff rate in the bureau ;)
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The states is a weird place for finance. ATMs charge ludicrous amounts and most retail places still use the old paper credit card payment system. They have no idea what’s going on when a terminal asks them for a PIN number.
 
denislawsbackheel said:
The states is a weird place for finance. ATMs charge ludicrous amounts and most retail places still use the old paper credit card payment system. They have no idea what’s going on when a terminal asks them for a PIN number.
Click to expand...

A lot of the old school signing for purchases too, at least it was when I was last there in May 2017. Plus the prices in shops don't show the tax, always a bugbear.
Is contactless a thing in America now? Guess I'll discover in a couple of weeks....
 
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