Consumer complaint received 2016-03-07
Product: Bank account or service — Other bank product/service
Issue: Using a debit or ATM card — 
Company: ZIONS BANCORPORATION (UT)

This is also applicable to Credit Cards. I have a Debit Card with Zions Bank. I planned to travel overseas, but have cancelled my trip because of the blatant fraud. I went to my bank to find out terms for ATM withdrawals and purchases overseas. I was told 3 %, which seems to be standard, and not ( necessarily ) a problem. I asked for the procedure for Currency Conversion. Never heard of it. Technically, it 's called the spread, and one pays half the spread on buy and half on sell. 20 years ago when I traveled for business I used my US Credit Cards because I was simply charged the spread, no additional charges. Spreads on quality Forex, such as XXXX, are XXXX %, meaning one pays an XXXX % " penalty '' fee to buy. Spreads on currencies that devalue fast or are not in demand, are XXXX %, meaning one pays a XXXX % " penalty '' to buy. Both are acceptable. When I pushed my bank, all they could do was quote me the current exchange rate on the particular currency at this very moment. That turned out to be XXXX % penalty, plus XXXX % fee = XXXX %. That 's highway robbery. 

But my bank is not unique. XXXX XXXX did the same, having not educated their workers on the spread. Never heard of it, he said. All they could do was quote me the current exchange rate on the particular currency at this very moment. That turned out to be XXXX % penalty, plus XXXX % fee = XXXX %, also highway robbery. 

There are online discussions where people boast of a XXXX % fee, or no fee, as compared to the standard XXXX % fee, and they have no idea they are paying an additional XXXX-XXXX % penalty of their money in conversion, because they 've never heard of it, because it is not part of any agreement or discussion. 

I asked Zions for my bankcard agreement. It says XXXX %. Nothing else. No word on the spread. THAT 'S FRAUD. 

For comparison XXXX converters at airports take XXXX-XXXX %. but you are a one-time customer and they have a monopoly. 

XXXX banks play the same game. My last trip turned into a disaster, not because I did n't arrive with sufficient funds, I did. But the local bank extracted XXXX % of my money in the exchange. So I ran out of money a month before my departure date, could not pay the {$200.00} fee to change the ticket, and so ended up begging in Malls XXXX for food and sleeping illegally in those same Malls because they had security, who would look for me to throw me out. So long as I eluded them I had a safe place to sleep. I found out that they would never look behind the grocery carts. Yes, I slept on the ground outside. I did that for a month. Never again. 

Solution is easy. Make banks state the fee and the spread on their card agreement for all Forex transactions, and if ATM withdrawals are different from charges, how so. 

If you know a bank I can do business with, please let me know. If i have to pay a XXXX % fee, then i agree to no more than a XXXX % spread, meaning I pay XXXX % worse than spot ( current trading price ) to buy Forex. Or no fee, and a XXXX % spread, meaning I pay XXXX % penalty of Forex. That is, my total limit on losses is XXXX %, I prefer less, but I 'll agree to XXXX %.