Citibank Plus transaction account rip me off $50 AUD when I tried to use it in Europe

My first time using Citibank plus transaction account for my recent Europe trip due to numerous recommendations. It was such a BIG disappointment. I was wondering if anyone else experienced this issue before?

So, I opened this account for ATM Withdrawals in European countries for June 2017. I just got back from my trip.
My friend and I both have Citibank Plus trans a/c but her is Visa (she opened it 2 years ago) and mine was Mastercard (apparently Citibank use that now).

When we landed in Athens, we both took 300 EURO from Euronet bank ATM at airport. She had no problem. I used the same ATM after her and I had a message stated that this withdrawal will be at 0.60 FX rate and do you want to proceed. I thought it was abit low but I needed cash and I don't know how much my friend FX conversion was. So I proceed and EURO came out. Later at night, I asked my friend and she checked her Citibank app and her rate was 0.66 and she never had any message from ATM asking her whether she wants to proceed.

So next day we tried again. I tried at random ATM and same message popped up and she used the same ATM after me and no message. I had the same rate at 0.60 and she was at 0.66. So I emailed Citibank asking questions and their responses were market fluctuates, try select savings or cheque instead. I gave up on them since I was overseas.

So I called Citibank upon my return and same answers: market fluctuates. We don't know why it was giving you that rate, maybe it's that ATM overseas problem. I've tried explaining to them that it was the same ATM, same overseas Bank, within 1 min apart and I had a message while my friend with same Citibank account did not and had no problem at all…. so how can market fluctuate by 0.06 within 1 min especially when our AUD/EURO never dropped below 0.65 in June or July? I've told them Citibank is misleading because their FX conversion tool on app and website had 0.66 and yet you dont' get that rate overseas. I even told them that on Mastercard website, if you put in date of transaction, it will show you FX rate and on my date, it was suppose to be 0.66.

So for 300 EURO, I lost $50 AUD, that's equivalent to 10% off the market FX rate. Citibank said "in order for us to move on from this, we will give you $50 back as once-off good gesture". Seriously? first, you should give me back $50 AUD and secondly, no apologies or understanding of my frustration because I had to rely on my friend for the rest of my 35 days trip to withdrawal money on my behalf. Citibank also said that "you can try next time when you're overseas". As if I'm going to take chances again. I am definitely cancelling this account after they reimburse me. I even suggested maybe Citibank didn't set up my account properly first time but no, it's not their problem.. gotta be my problem somehow.

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Comments

  • +9

    I think its the ATM (Euronet) that you were using, not Citibank that is the issue. Euronet is an independent ATM. Other independent ones are Travelex, Moneybox, Cardpoint, and Cashzone.

    I heard stuff about Euronet giving you 2 options sometimes when withdrawling: doing the conversion for you which nets you a lower rate from Euronet or your local bank (citibank) doing the conversion for you if you select non conversion withdrawal or something like that

    Its like when shopping on Amazon US, do you let Amazon do the conversion or do you let your bank do the conversion. Amazon's rates makes it more expensive, so I always let my bank do the conversion.

    Some reading here should clarify
    I do find it bizarre that maybe it didn't give you the option for conversion after your friend used it.

    At least Citibank gave you money for it.

    Hope that helps.

    • Thank you.

      first time we thought maybe it's the bank problem. So we tried different bank ATM. We also tried Piraeus bank ATM and Alpha Bank ATM and I got the same issue. Weird part is Euronet ATM never gave me an option. I remember I input PIN, select savings/cheque and then EURO amount, the message popped up stating FX rate and whether i want to proceed or not.

      My friend with her Citibank card used Euronet ATM too (same one) and the message never popped up on her screen. I showed it to her the whole process and she find it bizarre too.

      I am glad Citibank will reimburse me, after so many emails and phone calls. I just find it frustrating when they keep on saying it's due to market fluctuation which it isn't.

      • +1

        The ATM just didn't know the currency of your friends account for some reason.

        Citibank presumably just didn't understand your description and didn't realise you were selecting an option for the ATM operator to convert it at an inflated rate instead of Citibank converting it.

      • Did your friend also select savings/cheque or did she choose credit? I remember when I first opened this account(probably 7+ years ago), I got a pack that said, ALWAYS choose the credit option when presented with the choice on an ATM as that will force it to be processed via visa network.

        Have never had an issue with doing it this way and I've been all over the world with this card, including Greece mid last year

        • ahh i didn't try with "credit" selection. Citibank staff told me to select savings or cheque.

          My friend selected "chq" option and then EURO amount. Then money just came out.. lol..

        • +1

          @fallentenshi:

          I always take what Citibank staff say with a grain of salt. I've had quite a few discussions with them about various matters and they never fail to disappoint me with their lack of accurate information. I'm not sure what it is, whether their training needs to be upgraded or something else, but I've always found information from other users of the card way more useful than from Citibank CSRs…

      • +1

        You need to select "credit" option when withdrawing money from overseas not cheque or savings. That also applies when using your cirrus or plus bankcards.

    • First EuroNET, next SKyNET.

  • +5

    Only guessing but is there a chance the Visa exchange rate and the Mastercard exchange rates were different???

  • +1

    I used a Citibank Plus card at an ATM in NY trying to withdraw Aus#1000, no money came out and I was debited the full $1000. Took two months to get the money back. Happened five times. Make sure you check you statements to what you actually took out.

  • +4

    It appears only you have had this issue OP, must be user error

    • +1

      That's specious reasoning.

      Homer: "Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm."
      Lisa: "That's specious reasoning, Dad."
      Homer: "Thank you, dear."

      https://youtu.be/wnBMwPcRbVE

      • Thank you, Daabido

    • yes it appears to be so. Weird. Oh well, I thought i will ask and see if anyone else had problems especially for those who just opened a Citibank account and used it.

  • +3

    Just press no on that. It's called dynamic currency conversion. The ATM operator gives you a crap rate and gets to make a bit more money off your transaction. The ATM is required to give you the option to use the default bank / card rate.

    This happens because the ATM can work out off your card (but not your friends) that the home currency is AUD. You simply press no, and it will use the Citibank / MasterCard rate.

  • Hi mate how did you go? Happened to me too. Was it easy to get $50 from them?

    • Mine's visa and my bro's mastercard too and his card always came out with worse rates.

    • Yes i got $50 back from them. Give them a call. Usually first time they will refund you the difference.
      There is always a difference btw mastercard and visa. But if your difference is big as in the FX rate you are getting is worst than current market rate by a big amount, then ask Citibank to explain.

  • Always choose foreign credit card cash advance.

    I've used it in many countries with no dramas. Whenever there is a big variation from market rates it's always because of a shitty ATM charging fees or user error in choosing the wrong type of transaction.

  • I withdrawn some cash last week from NZ ATM (ANZ, BNZ, ASB), chose credit, and they all gave me worse rate than the official VISA rate. Eg, rate from visa is supposed to be 1 NZD = 0.9234 AUD, but I got 0.9355 instead.
    I use this web page to get the VISA rate: https://www.visa.com.au/travel-with-visa/exchange-rate-calcu…

    So fallentenshi, you are not the only one having this issue.

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