Currently in Vietnam using Macquarie Debit card, found out just today the rate got charged by MQ is way lower than the reference from the Mastercard website, i.e.
MQ charged 13/02: VND1,811,500 ~ A$113.94 or VND15,898.7/AUD
Mastercard reference rate: VND16,164.06/AUD
Any idea about this? Never had the rate much difference in Bali though
Is it a premium for a volatile currency? Was it a transaction on a weekend/outside of normal bank hours? Sometime that affects the exchange rate offered (I'm not sure for Macquarie).
I only know that revolut is charged based on FX on Nasdaq but not sure how Mastercard rate is functioning
Mastercard & Visa do charge a spread over the 'official' rate, usually 1-2% depending on the volatility of the currency
https://wise.com/au/currency-converter/vnd-to-aud-rate
https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert…
MC website is showing the rate for 12th Feb and you can see it dropped today on Wise chart.
Fluctuations.
MC says: Your transaction amount of 1,811,500.00 VND = 113.94 AUD in your card currency
Your transaction amount of 1.00 AUD = 16,164.06 VND in your card currency
It’s a 2% spread…