I am sure everyone that uses an American credit card (3 times I've got my money back when stores and rental car agencies scammed me and I got charges reversed) has seen the credit card processor machine at the grocery store that asks if you want the transaction is pesos or dollars. This prompt started showing up over a year ago.
I've always answered pesos, because the conversion rate was on my cards was nearly identical to the caribe exress exchange rate, before the popup started showing up. I never looked at how much in dollars the transaction would be until recently. A week ago I looked at a small $25 purchase and if I choose dollars, I would have paid $1.50 more.
On a transaction today at the market I looked at the dollar amount again. I choose pesos and looked at the dollar amount that would have been charged.
My Citi card amount charged was $67 at the peso rate, but the dollar amount on the machine was almost $71.
In other words, the credit card processor is adding an automatic 6-7% to the price and stuffing all that money, which has to be tens of thousands every day, into their pocket designed to fleece tourists (and people that live here) that think they should automatically put dollars because the card is denominated in dollars.
Just another Dominican scam.
I've always answered pesos, because the conversion rate was on my cards was nearly identical to the caribe exress exchange rate, before the popup started showing up. I never looked at how much in dollars the transaction would be until recently. A week ago I looked at a small $25 purchase and if I choose dollars, I would have paid $1.50 more.
On a transaction today at the market I looked at the dollar amount again. I choose pesos and looked at the dollar amount that would have been charged.
My Citi card amount charged was $67 at the peso rate, but the dollar amount on the machine was almost $71.
In other words, the credit card processor is adding an automatic 6-7% to the price and stuffing all that money, which has to be tens of thousands every day, into their pocket designed to fleece tourists (and people that live here) that think they should automatically put dollars because the card is denominated in dollars.
Just another Dominican scam.