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Comment by rkuska | Hacker News Reader

A little advice about ATMs (I think it should be applicable within any country in Europe) - Try to always look out for an ATMs that belong to banks, they are usually “nice” in terms of being easy to choose not to impose their own currency rate.

The predatory ones are usually operated by some private nonbank subject most common being Euronet - don’t even touch these.

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The EuroNet ATMs in Germany are actually pretty alright! I use them all the time and recommend them to visitors as well because they are widely available and still among the more official and hassle-free ATM brands around here. (They have a simple UI, support many languages and never ask for extra fees, as far as I’ve seen.) But it might be different in other countries and dependent on the origin of the bank card, of course.

I believe the reason they don't ask for extra fees is because the exchange rate they offer is so bad (unlike your typical bank ATM that offers the correct exchange rate but might charge a Euro or two for foreign card withdrawals). Admittedly, that might be fire for visitors from the eurozone.

If you are withdrawing the same currency that your bank account is then yes I believe euronet is ok. But try to use them with bank account in foreign currency - it´s not really clear to the user that they are accepting such a terrible exchange rate. At least that´s my experience.

Although if your bank has no foreign transaction fees and rebates you on ATM fees, you should be fine to use them, so long as you always decline the conversion that they offer (on all the euronets that I've seen it straight up says that there is a 13% markup involved, you can also compare with visa or mastercards conversion rate on their respective websites)

This is the right answer. Always decline the conversion and let your bank do it. Even the worst US bank will have a better rate. If you travel a lot, it pays to use a bank that gives current market rate, has no foreign tx fees, and refunds all additional ATM fees.

Of course, the "predatory ATMs" tend to be those installed at or near the main tourist thoroughfares, finding bank ATMs may require some searching. I guess it's just another variation of "tourist trap"...

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