Banco Popular ATM withdrawal foreign debit card

franco1111

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May 29, 2013
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Fooled agan. Coño. My wife tells me not to use that word. It is not so bad from a Dominicano she says, but from an extranjero, it's not ok. However, it is applies in this case. As I kick myself for being duped. I post this here so others can avoid this mistake.

I have for many years withdrawn money from ATM's in the DR with a foreign debit card - U.S. bank. My bank does the exchange rate and I get the right rate. For example, now the rate should be about 59 pesos for a dollar.

Never has the screen come up that shows an exchange rate and asks you to accept it. I saw that screen for the first time at a Banco Popular ATM today. I have been out of the country for a while.

I did not read the question completely. The choice I think was do you want to accept the Banco Popular rate or the rate your bank will give you. I have seen this choice in another country and know not to accept the ATM rate. But, here Banco Popular asks the question in a different way.

So, without reading the rate, etc. I just accepted it. The alternative choice was don't accept it. I did read that. It said something about sin conversión. I thought that might result in them rejecting the withdrawal. Now, I think not. I think it would have resulted in my bank doing the conversion. I will see next time.

The reason this is such a big deal is that the Banco Popular exchange rate in this ATM situation is 51 pesos :LOL: to the dollar. The real rate today should be about 59 pesos, more or less.

So, on a 10,000 peso withdrawal, they screwed me out of 1,500 pesos, about 25 dollars. Again, coño. Never again. Ladrones.

On a different topic, tropical wave moving through today. Wow. Mucha agua. Y ahora trueno.
 
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USA DOC

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at popular you can go inside and use a teller to get money from your card.. for a lot less money
 

franco1111

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Maybe I can say it more clearly. I have been using ATM's here including Banco Popular ATM's using that same debit card for years. Never has the screen about accept or don't accept the exchange rate come up until today.

The ATM's have always let my US bank do the exchange rate from my dollar account to the pesos I get from the machine. WIthout that question about accept or don't accept the exchange rate.

That Banco Popular ATM screen with that question whether to accept the exchange rate they show is something new.

And, it was my mistake not to read everything on the screen. Jet lag. I do believe the question they are trying to ask is whether I want to accept Banco Popular's converstion rate or do I want the exchange rate my bank will give me. The obvious answer, if they were to explain it in plain terms, is do you want to walk away with less money in pesos, or more money in pesos.

And, yes you can walk inside the bank to use a debit card. Gracias. But, it has never been necessary before. And, I won't be doing it now. I will just hit the button on the ATM screen that says sin conversión. And, I think that will let my bank do the exchange rate that has always been the real rate. As good as any casa de cambio.
 
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josh2203

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So, on a 10,000 peso withdrawal, they screwed me out of 1,500 pesos, about 25 dollars. Again, coño. Never again. Ladrones.
You were able to withdraw 10,000 pesos in one go? Last time I tried to withdraw from BPD a couple of years ago they had changed the max amount with a foreign card to 5000 pesos. Never used them since...
 

josh2203

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Ever since I began coming to the DR in 2009, BPD was my go-to back for withdrawals and the ATMs in Parque Cental in POP. However, it was at least 5-6 years ago, give or take, that they started charging more for withdrawals with foreign cards and at that time limiting the amount to be withdrawn in a single transaction to 5000 pesos. That was a no-go for me it made no sense anymore. After trial and error and researching, I settled for ScotiaBank as the back-up withdrawal ATM and La Nacional for the cheaper, regular one. By far, in my opinion, Scotia has the best and most reliable ATMs, they are in the bank, almost no downtime and the fees among the banks I checked the lowest, second to La Nacional.
 

Seamonkey

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I stopped using ATM's in this country 2 years ago. I send my money to Caribe Express via Remitly. Low cost, excellent exchange rate and zero problems.
 
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drstock

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I stopped using ATM's in this country 2 years ago. I send my money to Caribe Express via Remitly. Low cost, excellent exchange rate and zero problems.
How does that work? Do you have to set up some kind of account with Caribe Express, or do they just send it using your name and passport/cedula number?
 

cavok

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Is there any bank ATM here that gives out more than 10K pesos? I went to three. Only Scotia would give me $10K. Banco Santa Cruz would only give me $4K. BHD wanted to charge 360 pesos.
 

josh2203

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Is there any bank ATM here that gives out more than 10K pesos? I went to three. Only Scotia would give me $10K. Banco Santa Cruz would only give me $4K. BHD wanted to charge 360 pesos.
La Nacional used to at least give at least 30k in one go. Could be more but I never tried with more. Fees were like 170 pesos.
 
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Gadfly

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Op, I’m dyslexic, you say at BPO ATM best to choose the rate YOURE BANK gives, not BPO, right?
Breaking news:
La Nacional ATM gives me 20 k. 115 fee.
 
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NanSanPedro

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How does that work? Do you have to set up some kind of account with Caribe Express, or do they just send it using your name and passport/cedula number?
No, you set it up with Remitly and then choose Caribe Express when you send it to yourself. BanResevas is another option but their lines are horrendous.

I would guess that every office is different, but I don't use Caribe very often because of the lines, although not as bad as BanResevas. I hate lines even though as a retiree, I have all the time in the world. I guess you really can't teach an old dog...
 
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cavok

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How does that work? Do you have to set up some kind of account with Caribe Express, or do they just send it using your name and passport/cedula number?
I've seen a Remitly sign at BHD in the past. Not sure if you can still pick up your money there. BHD has a real parking problem though. On the other hand, CaribleExpress is almost always crowded and service is slow.
 
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Seamonkey

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How does that work? Do you have to set up some kind of account with Caribe Express, or do they just send it using your name and passport/cedula number?
NanSan explained it well. It's very simple to set up. I also send money to my Banco Santo Cruz USD account via Remitly.. As far as Caribe Express, I always go early in the morning and never wait more than a few minutes. Just avoid the first of the month as it's packed all day.