@ekf. I agree that the ATMs will do anything to fleece you BUT (and I wish I had filmed this now) there was never a prompt to convert or choose currencies. And in any case why would I have chosen SEK if I had enough EUR there anyway? The beef I have with TW is that if one prioritises a currency I would expect the card to be detected as having that currency, what is the point of the product otherwise. They kept shifting the blame to the ATM operators which in turn blamed them. And a long story short, it wasn't worth pissing around between the two, so I closed it. And that's before we talk about the atrocious exchange rates.
SAS Travel Wallet
- Thread starter nemo
- Start date
No matter what currencies are on the card, the card itself will still be a swedish card no matter what. An ATM can't see what currencies you have on the card. It's the same with Revolut which is a UK card and the ATM will recognise it as a UK card, even if the funds on it are SEK.
Most likely you ended up with a very bad ATM where they charged you these riduclus amounts and maybe didn't even ask you what currency you wanted to use. I've had the same once when abroad in Germany, it did cost me about 10% extra that time to take out money because I didn't pay attention when withdrawing the money.
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ekf
Guest
As palmen mentioned already, the ATM does not know what currencies that are available on your card, they only see the issuing country/currency. The ATM charged your account in SEK, and since you did not have (i assume) any SEK, TW had to convert your EUR back to SEK to allow the withdrawal.
All in all, the ATM operator is liable for all blame in this case.
(I had a similar experience with Revolut in Poland last autumn, it was pure luck that made me aware of a fine-printed question about charging me in local or GBP (my Revolut card is issued in UK, my Revolut base currency is SEK and I had money in my PLN wallet)... reaally sneaky.)
@palmen. That only goes to reinforce the fact that there is absolutely no point to the product except the hope of having gullible clients willing to be fleeced in the hope of getting a few points. All this multiple currency nonsense and currency priority is just meaningless waffle, simply increasing the chances of a trap fall. Might as well stick to a normal credit/debit card which in the issued currency would word just fine.
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ekf
Guest
You need to be aware of a thing called DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) which is the mechanism that is to be blamed here together with greedy ATM operators using it to fleece their users.
You would have had a similar bad experience with a regular Visa/MC tied to a normal bank, minus some extra charged due to you having your money in the "wrong" currency. The same applies for shopping in a store where they try to rip you off by "offering you the option of charging your card in your home currency"...
Dynamic currency conversion - Wikipedia
I don't have a Travel Wallet card since I don't think it is worth the hassle, but if used together with knowledge about how payments in foreign currency work it could be beneficial.
Final point: Don't blame TW for your hefty charges, blame the ATM operator for ripping you off. No-one else did.
@ekf What are the advantages over a Visa/MC though? What is the point even if at worst it all falls back to the home currency and at best you are fleeced through disadvantageous exchange rates? The convenience? Currency exchange add-ons? No-use period penalties? Not the few SAS point surely! It is the most idiotic product ever if even its selling point is just meaningless as you explain. And more fool I for having fallen for it!
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ekf
Guest
I guess the main advantages are that you can convert your money into the foreign currency of you choice at a known rate in advance, and being able to earn some extra eurobonus points.
Personally I use Revolut instead, because I value the lower FX fees above the few extra eurobonus points.
This can happen with any card, beware of the DCC mechanism!
@ekf. Indeed, until you come to use said money which is when all is undone by double-exchanges. So, on top of a mastery of FX, DCC mechanisms, "knowledge about how payments in foreign currency work" - as you suggest, it appears one needs to also have inside-out knowledge of ATM protocols in foreign lands to draw full benefits of this scheme.
Not that any help will be forthcoming from TW if/when you need it, either.
They'll tell you to sort it out yourself; they have made their profit after all.
What a disgrace!
Not that any help will be forthcoming from TW if/when you need it, either.
They'll tell you to sort it out yourself; they have made their profit after all.
What a disgrace!
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ekf
Guest
Well. It is your responsibility.
Anyhow, If you are not interested in understanding what has happened and how to avoid it in the future, I see no need for me to continue this discussion.
@ekf I am not forcing you to continue anything, clever clogs.
When a customer through no fault of their own (no options were given) runs into problems using your products, it is as much your responsibility as it is theirs.
Now, modern types may not understand this which is where products are differentiated and in account of all I have said, this product is crap.
When a customer through no fault of their own (no options were given) runs into problems using your products, it is as much your responsibility as it is theirs.
Now, modern types may not understand this which is where products are differentiated and in account of all I have said, this product is crap.
But it IS your fault!
You - and no one else but you - failed to understand how the card works! You put EUR currency on the card and failed to understand the card is recognized as Swedish and ”home currency then being SEK.
That error is no one else’s than your very own! If you do have - and use - a product, then it is your responsibility to know how it works. There are also no ”do overs” in business, just because you made a piss poor bad decision doesn’t mean someone else needs to clear it up for you nor reimburse you for the same.
Just learn from this mistake, eat the fee and move on! Be happy that you came to realize this product is not for you before it started to cost you a small fortune.
I couldn’t agree more!!! This is also exactly why I don’t use it nor recommend it myself.
So glad we agree on something.
Smugness will get you far but you cannot speak of fault in expecting an ATM in a Eurozone land to give EUR from a EUR wallet without double-converting it especially if it doesn’t even state or give any other options. I am no stranger to DCC but there have always been options given. This was roughshod!
Never asked for a “do over” but was simply shocked by both parties (TW and ATM) shirking responsibility and blaming each-other while I picked the tab. Lesson learned though-dearly!
Smugness will get you far but you cannot speak of fault in expecting an ATM in a Eurozone land to give EUR from a EUR wallet without double-converting it especially if it doesn’t even state or give any other options. I am no stranger to DCC but there have always been options given. This was roughshod!
Never asked for a “do over” but was simply shocked by both parties (TW and ATM) shirking responsibility and blaming each-other while I picked the tab. Lesson learned though-dearly!
This is, unfortunately for you, where you go wrong in the thought process.
You, and only you in this case, have misunderstood how the card works.
There is absolutley NO WAY for the ATM to know which currency you hold on your account behind the card. Simply impossible for the machine the way that they work today. The ATM in question can only read the card information details, like which country it was issued in and the ATM will act accordingly. You put in an SEK card, no matter chat currency you held on a virtual account in the background, it was not a EUR card that you inserted into the ATM machine.
I totally agree that it might not be clear how this works nor is it explained in laymen's terms anywhere. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility as a customer to know and understand the product that you buy or use.
D
Deleted member 23500
Guest
Precis som när jag gav min fru mitt Curve kort för att göra ett ATM uttag här i Sverige. Några minuter senare fick jag en push-notis att hon tagit ut 50 GBP, som Curve hade växlat till SEK åt mig eftersom mitt underliggande kort var inställd på det. Kostade inte många öre dock data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
@Berglund.
An option would have been nice though and seeing as how one was never given and I was in a Eurozone country the following should apply. Only it didn’t!
From their terms and conditions for Sweden / English version.
10.1.1. When making a purchase or an ATM withdrawal, your Travel Wallet Account will automatically debit the Currency Wallet of that country’s currency if you have sufficient Available Balance in that specific Currency Wallet.
An option would have been nice though and seeing as how one was never given and I was in a Eurozone country the following should apply. Only it didn’t!
From their terms and conditions for Sweden / English version.
10.1.1. When making a purchase or an ATM withdrawal, your Travel Wallet Account will automatically debit the Currency Wallet of that country’s currency if you have sufficient Available Balance in that specific Currency Wallet.
Feltryck händer lätt i luriga ATM’s. Nu är ju inte TW en bra produkt ska sägas, men det går ändå att tjäna bra med poäng på kortet genom de frekventa kampanjerna i kombination med högre statusnivå. Jag fortsätter med detta tillsvidare.
Inte stor skillnad heller på växlingskursen mot SAS MC vad gäller valutor som NOK. Där har påslaget pendlat till som mest 3,49% denna vecka.
Inte stor skillnad heller på växlingskursen mot SAS MC vad gäller valutor som NOK. Där har påslaget pendlat till som mest 3,49% denna vecka.
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ekf
Guest
Det är inte tillåtet alls på multicurrency-prepaid-kort sedan tidigare i somras (25 juni).
"POI currency conversion must not be offered on any ATM or face-to-face Transaction effected with Mastercard and Maestro Prepaid Cards that have single or multi-currency features or that are otherwise identified in the Mastercard Parameter Extract (MPE) as ineligible for POI currency conversion."
Sidan 83 i detta dokument: https://www.mastercard.us/content/dam/mccom/global/documents/transaction-processing-rules.pdf