Margaux Fodéré / Credits: Nicolas Guyonnet / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 06:10, March 15, 2024, modified at 06:15, March 15, 2024
The majority of "hidden" fees suffered by the French last year are surcharges on currency conversions, payments and card purchases abroad.
They also pay “hidden” fees when sending money to people living abroad.
You may be planning to go abroad for the Easter weekend or the May holidays, but during your trip, be very careful when withdrawing money to pay in a currency other than the euro.
Significant bank charges may apply if you are not careful.
In addition to traditional transaction costs, "hidden" fees are sometimes charged to customers.
Concretely, these are exchange rate increases when converting currencies, paying by card abroad but also making an international transfer.
According to a study by the Wise payment solution, with Capital Economics, the French lost nearly 600 million euros last year.
An addition that can quickly add up.
The long-awaited trip can quickly turn into a headache.
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Tom experienced this in Argentina.
For several weeks, he has been visiting South America with his wife and before leaving his bank had warned him that fees would apply when withdrawing funds abroad, without further details.
"My bank clearly notified me that there would be fees without telling me what the percentage or the exchange rate would be. So I was really in a limbo which I think was maintained by the bank. It's been a month that I'm here so that's 16 euros in bank charges, 16 euros which were not planned in the budget", he explains.
To limit damage, Tom uses several bank cards and monitors the exchange rates every day.
An activity that is not really a vacation.
“The idea is to juggle between several payment methods, either direct cash or card. So each time you have to think to be sure you can do everything you have planned,” he says.
Hidden fees are also observed in Europe, despite the existence of regulations, recalls Magali van Bulck, of Wise, a payment solution.
"The regulation on cross-border payments should require all banks and all payment services to clearly communicate all conversion fees. For us, a conversion fee is also the increase in the exchange rate. But banks and service providers many services chose not to interpret it that way and that's the problem."
To avoid unpleasant surprises, it is better to ask your bank for details of all the bank charges that will apply abroad before leaving.