Exchange rates using Revolut in Vietnam are poor and significantly lower than fx rates. First example I was given rates of 30022 dong to pound using Revolut when in fact the the fx rates are something near to 30624. Before anyone else blames this on Bank ATM poor rates, Revolut automatically sent me a message when I arrived in Vietnam quoting a similar poor exchange rate.
Can anyone else please explain this difference please. It sure adds up when I withdraw! I am asking here because the help desk hasn’t yet answered my query.
revolut.com says 30129 right now… it surely must be very frustrating considering how it’s advertised but the mid-market rate doesn’t exist, it’s just a referencial middle point between the bid and the ask value for that currency and what Revolut actually warranties is that they don’t add a fee on top of the bid price offered by their fx partner. for USD and EUR the difference between bid and ask is very very close to zero, but for more exotic currencies the exchange rate tends to be quite bad and in some situations worse than mastercard’s or visa’s.
I just checked and mastercard (at 0%) would charge 1000 GBP for a 30.5M VND purchase while Revolut will charge you 915 GBP for the same purchase. :r:evolut wins.
Thanks for the reply
But even if I choose the Google based rates (30, 585)which are lower than fx rates, it effectively means that when I withdraw only £143 in Dong, as I did yesterday that when I get a rate of 30, 022 that it costs me £3.50 more. That’s quite a lot isn’t it. (If I remember correctly my hsbc debit card almost always matches the Google exchange rates)
Also the ATM charged me 55,000 dong fee without prior warning on the screen! Would Revolut be able to refund that? In such a situstion Hsbc usually would.
Apologies if I seem like a moaner but this is a great pity because I never had issues in Cambodia with US$ based transactions. Those rates were great.
No, this is seperate to those fees which I am also being charged but this has nothing to do with that, rather the loss thru low exchange rates worked out as equating to £3.50 loss on a £143 transaction:That’s quite a lot. Then there’s the 55, 000 dong I was also unfairly charged by one ATM. If I was warned I wouldn’t have performed that transaction.
(Of course I was also seperately charged a 2% fee equating to approximately ÂŁ3 on a ÂŁ143 transaction but that is to be expected. I have no qualms about that)
Not exactly. But they have in the past refunded charges in the instance that they were made without warnings or prior advising in an ATM…as has happened with my recent transaction.
Normally ATMstay in Vietnam always tell you the fee they may or may not charge. In this case this was lacking
Revolut doesn’t take responsibility of charges made by third parties. if the ATM in Vietnam didn’t ask if you wanted the charge in GBP instead of VND that complaint and further investigation doesn’t involve Revolut at all.
Alejandro you have misunderstood my point completely about which charge I’m talking about. Anyway the team understand and are are assisting me and that’s what matters. Cheers.
Normally I’d agree with you but in this case Revolut has ended up costing me more. What a story? Well its a matter of principle that’s at stake here.
Wasn’t talking about that. Of course Visa rates don’t apply here. In terms of Dong I always got fx rates with hsbc.
In fact Visa guarantees the very best exchange rates. However this isn’t a competition or argument.
I guess the point I’m making is that these are my experiences with real life travelling. There is little feedback regarding travel in Vietnam, however I did read someone on this forum also complaining about the Vietnam exchange rates:I am therefore not the first one to note that. As to my other concern, I was merely asking.
Well I think it’s normal practice that ATMS have to indicate any withdrawall fees so that you are forewarned and can choose to decline proceeding. Or something to that order…So when you get charged in such a scenario you have fair reason to contest matters.
Nothing except what u read here. Maybe the atm is doing a conversion for tourists at a lower rate? What I noticed was I got pretty crap exchange in Vietnam but in Cambodia Malaysia indonesia the rates were spot on and similar to Google search rates.