全球：国际旅行中货币兑换的技巧

来源: 顾剑

国际旅行中货币兑换的技巧

首先声明，除了中国和英美以外，我哪里也没有去过，跟游历欧洲南美诸国的很多网上朋友比起来，本人十足是一只井底之蛙，而且是一只喜欢大声呱呱叫的井底之蛙。

这是我去欧洲旅行之前，做功课的一点成果，既然忝为商学院的教授，虽然我教的不是国际金融，但如果旅行一次还要在货币兑换的环节上当冲头给银行斩一刀，未免浪得虚名得紧。於是查书，查网页，给银行打电话，总算把基本的兑换诀窍搞清楚一些，贴出来分享。这些都是相当基本的东西，如果有方家觉得不值一提，也请一笑置之吧。

国际旅行中钱的问题，为叙述简便起见，我想基本可以分为两类交易三种卡：两类交易是获得外币现金和在外国刷卡消费；三种卡是信用卡，借记卡(debit card，也叫银行卡) ，和ATM卡(银行自动柜员机提款卡) ，后两种卡无论在美国还是国内，有融合的趋势，就是一张借记卡既可以当信用卡一样刷卡消费，也可以当ATM卡在自动柜员机上取现。对於不熟悉金融基本语汇的朋友，信用卡和借记卡的基本区别，在於信用卡是你没有钱而消费，一个月还一次钱；而借记卡则是你在卡里有钱而消费，刷卡时立即扣你的帐户余额。国内以前的大多数银行卡，象牡丹卡，金穗卡等等，都属於借记卡(debit card) 的性质，现在信用卡也越来越普及。

先说兑换现金。我以前回国的时候都是拿美元现金在机场或市内的银行换人民币。如果去英国的话，恐怕大多数人都是去银行或机场货币兑换点换英镑。各个兑换点的利率有差别，就穷游网上的信息来说，伦敦市内Mark’s & Spenser百货公司兑换的汇率和手续费还可以，在帕丁顿地铁站外希尔顿旅馆对面一条街上有很多印巴人开的外币兑换点，也不错。在任何国家，机场兑换点的汇率都是最不利的。但是无论哪个兑换点，或者任何银行，都会额外再加手续费。手续费低的，汇率不好；汇率好的，手续费高一些。

但这些都不是买入外币现金的最好办法。最好的办法，是用自己在美国的借记卡或ATM卡，去目的地国家直接取钱。这中间省钱的基本原理，实际是零售与批发价格的区别。如果你去任何货币兑换点拿美元买入英镑，对方是在向你个人零售英镑，汇率是零售价。而如果我在伦敦的ATM机提英镑，而我的钱是存在美国银行的我的美元工资，那么就是我的银行在向英国银行买入英镑，不是我个人在买英镑，他们之间的汇率，是银行间货币结算汇率，可以理解为批发价。批发价当然比零售价划算。

但是还有3个注意问题，这3个问题一个比一个重要：首先要先问你的银行，你的ATM卡或借记卡的个人密码PIN是否是4位，国际上一般ATM自动柜员机都是要求4位密码，美国大多数银行也是，这就没有问题。但是万一你的银行提款卡密码不是4位，(比如我听说国内多数密码是6位) ，那么你还要让你的银行给你一个4位密码。第二，更重要的，是问清楚你自己的开户银行，异地提外币手续费是多少。大多数美国银行，只收取1。5美元的跨行提款费，不收百分比的服务费。换句话说，我到达伦敦盖特维克机场以后，找到ATM机，提100英镑是1。5美元手续费，提1万英镑也是同样的这点手续费。实际上，我的开户银行是一家当地小银行，甚至根本不收任何费用。一般规律是，越是大银行象花旗，汇丰，美利坚银行，越会收跨行提款费，越是小银行当地银行，或者credit union，倒不收这个费用。英国当地提款银行也有可能收手续费。我提款的时候注意过，英国几个大银行，象巴克莱，汇丰，马路上的ATM机都标注“不收跨行手续费” 。所以，这次我去伦敦旅行，一路取钱两边都不用付任何手续费，而且汇率非常好：我在美国的银行直接买入英镑现钞是1英镑折合2。06美元，而在英国直接提英镑，是1英镑折合1。93美元。

我猜测，这个原理也适用于从美国回国提人民币，但是国内银行的提款机可能会收我手续费。

第三点，用本国ATM卡或借记卡(银行卡) 直接在外国提外币的最重要注意事项，就是要保证，一定提得到钱，是不是？看看你的卡：上面如果有Cirrus标志，或Plus标志，你应该就没有问题。 Cirrus实际上是万事达卡(Master Card)的自动提款机标志，Plus实际上是维萨卡(Visa)的自动提款机标志。这是国际上最大的两个信用卡联盟。你的ATM卡，如果有cirrus 标志，它可以在世界任何有Cirrus标志的提款机上提出钱来，如果有Plus标志，可以在世界任何有Plus标志的提款机上提钱，因为它们属於同一个联盟。可是如果英国当地的提款机没有和你卡上相同的标志，你就无法提款。查询伦敦或任何城市(比如上海) ，哪里有可以提款的机器，直接上www.mastercard.com，或者www.visacard.com的联盟主页查询就行了。如果你是从中国去欧美旅游，那么一定要先问你的中国开户行手续费收多少，还要看是否有cirrus或Plus标记。在美国，一般情况下这是没有问题的。

既然我们说了，有3种卡，用借记卡(银行卡) 或提款卡，都可以直接提外币享受汇率优惠，那么直接用信用卡提现金不行吗？信用卡很多直接就是master card或者visa card，肯定能提钱。但是不要忘了，你用信用卡提现金，马上就被视为向发卡行借钱，要收取将近20%的高额利息的。这个跟国际交易无关，纯粹美国国内交易就是这样的。你当然能享受优惠的外汇批发价汇率，也能提出钱来，可是要付近20%的利息。非常不划算。所以，信用卡提款，只是万不得已的备用手段。平时千万不要用。

另一种交易，就是刷卡消费。比如你去伦敦的Harrod ‘s百货公司，大肆购物，千万记得尽量不用现金，而用信用卡。拿我来说，我的信用卡是美国的，在英国买东西，店家收取我英镑，而月底我向我的发卡银行还钱是还美元。这中间，货币兑换的汇率，还是银行间货币兑换的“批发价” 汇率，比“零售汇率” 合算。

刷卡消费的主要问题是：服务费收取多少？

美国有四大信用卡：万事达MasterCard，维萨Visa，Discover，American Express。我正好一样一张。其他种类信用卡不那么普及，就不说了。前两种卡，只要全球收信用卡的地方，都可以用，后两种，可以用的地方稍微少一些。我分别做了一些调查。后两种卡，Discover和 American express卡，是信用卡公司自己发行，而MasterCard和Visa，则是联盟的性质，美国各大银行(也包括中国的一些银行，还有大公司，比如 Sears百货公司，各大航空公司) ，都发行自己的万事达卡和维萨卡 。可以认为是各具体发卡银行“代办发行” 的意思。

关于手续费，我对这4种卡分别作了调查：Discover Card干脆就是不能在美国以外刷卡消费。而美国运通卡American Expresss，可以在美国以外刷卡消费，信用卡公司收取2%的手续费。

MasterCard和Visa Card呢，手续费分两层：如果你刷卡消费的话，万事达和维萨的联盟总部，收取1%的手续费，此外，你的发卡银行，再收一个百分比的手续费，一般是2%。所以，用美国的MasterCard或Visa卡在各个国家刷卡消费，一般是3%的手续费，比American Express贵。

在美国，目前只有一家银行的信用卡，不收任何费用，是我极力推荐的国际旅行首选信用卡，那就是Capital One银行发行的Visa卡。我查了bankrate.com，这是个很有用的网站，列出全美各个银行各种业务的利率，你如果在借抵押贷款，一定要查这个网站列出的各大金融机构抵押贷款利率。而汇率的手续费，这个网站也列出来了：Capital One是唯一的一家发卡机构，他们不仅自己不收取刷卡消费的手续费，而且还代替顾客付了Visa卡联盟总部收取的那1%手续费。所以，用Capital One的Visa卡，在国际上刷卡消费的服务费是0，你又享受了批发的汇率优惠，何乐不为？我自己原本没有他们的卡，最近就是特地为了国际旅行，而申请了一张。

最后一点注意事项：三种卡当中，借记卡(银行卡) 本身既可以作ATM提款卡用，又有MasterCard/Visa的标志，可以当信用卡直接刷卡消费，似乎最方便，一卡在手，天下通行。但是我最不愿意用它：它直接跟你的帐户相连，如果刷卡消费，而店家又不道德，多收你钱的话，那么你的钱直接从帐户里立即划走，就没了。如果用真正的信用卡，你可以在月底据付，你有保护。按照美国的消费者保护法律，如果你的信用卡被盗用，而你在付款前及时发现并报告的话，你个人最多承担50美元损失，其他损失，发卡银行承担。我自己曾经有过3次信用卡被恶意盗用的情况，报告以后，实际不用负担一分钱的损失(所以大家平时千万不要买信用卡公司推销的所谓“恶意盗用保险” 。你已经在法律保护下了，再花钱去买这种保险，你不是在保护自己，而是在为信用卡公司买保险。这是信用卡公司增加收入的一种手段。)。但是用借记卡刷卡消费，你没有保护，钱马上从你帐户里扣。所以，我的建议是，用真正的信用卡刷卡消费，用单纯的ATM卡提取外币现金。尽量不要用借记卡(银行卡) 。因为一旦外国的商店多收了你的借记卡，你以后很难跨国追讨。

以上信息，基於我在美国做的调查。对於要从国内去欧美各地旅行的朋友，有一个复杂因素：美国兑换英镑，都是可自由兑换货币。而人民币是不可自由兑换货币。你从美国去中国，用你的美国卡取人民币，应该没有问题，但是如果从中国去欧洲美国，如果用人民币卡，取美元欧元英镑，可能就不行。我知道国内银行发行外币卡，用外币卡兑换其他外币或刷卡消费，应该没有问题。实际上，你要确认你的卡是否MasterCard或Visa卡的联盟(Cirrus或Plus标志) ，以及国内银行收取服务费的标准。我对国内的金融业不了解，这里就不妄加揣测了。

总结起来：如果刷卡消费的话，要用Capital One发行的信用卡，不收任何手续费，汇率又便宜。如果要提取现金的话，用你的银行借记卡或ATM提款卡，必须有Cirrus或Plus标记，找相应的提款机取当地货币，其汇率比零售交易好得多，服务费又只收取你本国开户银行的跨行提款费，一般是0-3美元，无论交易额多少。

基本上，以上原则适用于至少大多数发达国家之间的国际旅行。但是每次出发前，一定要问清楚你自己的银行和信用卡发卡行。象我这次这样，在手续费上没花一分钱，合算是合算，但有多少普遍性，我不敢说。

来源: lvtotravel

回答: 两脚书橱游伦敦 附录2 国际旅行货币兑换技巧 由 顾剑 于 2007-02-12 08:37:44
Basically what you detailed are correct, except a few minor points.

Here are just off the top of my head, as your lengthy article already covered most of the basics and the Chinese explanation is a bit hard for me to fully grasp (to compare the way I understand it how the system works).

1) Capital One is good for foreign travel - but it has many other drawbacks in other areas - particularly because it is a "subprime" lender, having Capital One card in certain degree, negatively affects your FICO score (ditto for Sears card, or all cards issued by retailers - because they are too easy to get.)

If people have no idea what a FICO is, then it is a totally offtopic subj here.

2) AMEX has an exchange rate HIGHER than MC/VISA - when it all adds up, AMEX actually would be 3+% net cost. However, since the fee outside 2% is built in the exchange rate, many people were misled to believe it has lower fee than MC/VISA.

3) BofA has its own Global ATM Alliance network, which has memberbanks cover major countries in the world, including China - it recently added China Construction Bank to its network I think. Using BofA ATM card to get money from member bank's ATM does not incur fee and has very competitive rate (by pass the 1% MC/VISA network fee.) Otherwise, BofA charges $3.00 to 6.00 each for International withdraw - depends on which state your BofA account is opened. (probably due to State banking laws have restriction on fee charged). For example, our BofA account is opened in Florida, and the International withdrawal fee applied to us would be $6.00 - twice than the minimum it would charge a customer in California.

4) Citibank and HSBC have many branches all over the world - they used to be free for their customers - however, recently there are reported cases that they go "country specific" - i.e. a Citibank customer from US took money out from a Citibank machine in Asia or in Europe and got charged service fee. ditto for HSBC. Though South America seems to still work the "old way" - i.e. no fee.

5) Small banks and credit unions generally only charge 1% (built in the exchange rate) or dont charge it at all. The 1% does not need to show up as a separate line item, though some do. The only way to know is to keep track of the exchange rates using XE.Com or other similar sites to get exchange rates and comparing them to your own transactions.
Generally speaking, 1% is considered quite reasonable.

We have not used T checks nor get any foreign currencies before leaving US for over a decade. It is ATM card everywhere, including China and Polynesian Islands in South Pacific.

6) Discover is basically useless outside US, except in Caribbeans. Dont even know why anyone wants Discover as its cash rebate program has been surpassed by many other cards, including cards issued by Citi and Chase, not to mention AMEX.

7) AMEX has the BEST purchase protection plan - not just the fraudulent charges which are protected by Consumer Credit Card laws - but the purchases turned BAD (received wrong or defective merchandises shipped home, for example), AMEX is the easiest to resolve such issue. MC would make you jump thru hoops.

8) Same as 7), AMEX has the best Extended Warranty Protection, followed by Visa. MC again makes you jump thru hoop.

9) On the other hand, Visa has the best rental car coverage - AMEX & MC do not cover Australia and NZ, but Visa does - other excluded countries are the same on all 3 - they are Israel, Italy, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Jamaica.

10) a very useful site for travellers is called Flyertalk.com - In their many forums, there are a section dedicated to Credit cards. Also in the Mile Buzz forum (the first forum under Miles and Points) there is a long-running thread about The Best Card used in Foreign Countries or similar title to that. People report their ACTUAL, RECENT EXPERIENCES there.

I highly recommend this site - I myself learn so much from that site that it is a shame not to use it. (for example recently I posted questions about whether there are ATMs by Westpac in Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch airports, as I could not locate them at Westpac site - need either zip code or correct suburb city name. Westpac is memberbank of BofA network - when you are doing a 42 days trip, the fees can add up if you dont make an effort to get cash from member bank, I got my answers from various posters in the area within a week. This is ACTUAL information down to the details of exactly WHERE in the airports they are located.

Just a thought for my Chinese friends on this site. Use the resources outthere!

来源: 顾剑

回答: Supplementary information 由 lvtotravel 于 2007-02-12 09:19:42
我再确认一句：如你所说，如果是BofA美利坚银行，或者HSBC或者Citi，如果在它们各自的国际联盟银行的ATM机上提外币，是不收跨行提款手续费的，这一点可以预料；但是这样的交易，这三家大银行，是否还收取外汇兑换的服务费？我的理解，你文中所说(佛罗里达开户的BofA)$6费用，是指外汇兑换服务费？Again,我们这里说的是两种费用：跨行ATM提款费，和外汇兑换手续费。我理解，你说的$6或$3，是后一种。

很多信息非常有用，我平常也不知道，尤其是各种信用卡的coverage哪个好，因为我平时租车或者fraud protection没有遇到过特殊问题，所以这些方面一向没有注意过。这次注意到货币兑换费用，是因为要省钱。“需要是发明之母”，需要也是研究之母啊。哈哈。

你对这些知识的了解程度，可以开consumer education的radio show了。我在南方的时候，就经常听Clark Howard show的广播。

来源: lvtotravel

回答: 谢谢lvtotravel，非常有用的信息，我也学了很多 由 顾剑 于 2007-02-12 10:04:25

我再确认一句：如你所说，如果是BofA美利坚银行，或者HSBC或者Citi，如果在它们各自的国际联盟银行的ATM机上提外币，是不收跨行提款手续费的，这一点可以预料；但是这样的交易，这三家大银行，是否还收取外汇兑换的服务费？我的理解，你文中所说(佛罗里达开户的BofA)$6 费用，是指外汇兑换服务费？Again,我们这里说的是两种费用：跨行ATM提款费，和外汇兑换手续费。我理解，你说的$6或$3，是后一种。

The 外汇兑换的服务费 usually dont show as a separate item, many times it is built in the exchange rate, for that 1% - in general you have to compare the actual exchange rate for the day you made the withdrawal, with the rate you calculate based on the transaction on your bank statement, to determine whether there is a "padding". I know some sites offer HISTORICAL exchange rates for past 30 days - quite handy for such comparison. Have to dig it up for you because I lost all links when my old PC died early January.

My other bank is Wachovia - I had to use its card at Paris CDG Terminal 3 because we flew in from Liverpool to Paris by EasyJet - all discounted carriers use the remote T3. The Roissy Bus to town has a station right outside T3. I had to use HSBC machine at T3 to get Euro to pay the bus fare. My Wachovia account allows me 2 free 跨行ATM withdrawal per statement cycle. On my bank statement I saw there was a separate line item exactly 1% of the withdrawal, but the exchange rate used is competitive. On the other hand, I did similar thing using Wachovia ATM card in Vancouver last year, (forgot to get cash at Scotiabank and the restaurant we went did not take CC), the exchange rate was terrible, but no fee listed.

<<你说的$6或$3>> is International 跨行ATM提款费 - It used to be no difference between Domestic and International - both were like $1.50 to $2.50. Then banks started to distinguish Domestic and International, while both fees have gone up, the International now is outrageous.

HSBC & Citi have no such setup a la BofA - but HSBC & Citi have their own branch banks all over the world - however, some report that these branch banks operate independently in many countries, so even if you are a Citi US customer, you still incur fees taking money out Citi ATMs in Asia, for example. It is a new development in past 12 months. It is a very fluid situation as banks are trying to impose more and more fees to add to their bottomlines.

Only BofA has its own Global ATM Alliance - in other words, these member banks join together to eliminate MC and VISA as middleman, at the same time they offer incentives to their own customers so to encourage the customers seek out the member banks to do transaction.

You could not find detailed info on BofA site - they hide it in an obscure place. However, you can use this link to look up info on member bank's site

Here it is on Westpac website, see how to avoid fees

http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/Content/PBIT+Global+alliance

Basically your BofA ATM card can be used in any of the member bank's ATMs in those locations mentioned without 跨行ATM提款费 and very competitive exchange rate.

The Westpac site does not mention a Mexican bank (for Mexico) and China Construction Bank for China - but they are listed on BofA's site if one can find the link again!

Some people may simply chalk it up as part of the expenses to travel - when you are out on the road for 30 to 40 days in foreign countries, such fees do add up as you dont want to carry large amount of cash with you so you make smallish withdrawals. On top of that, because of the 3% Foreign Currency Conversion fee imposed by virtually all bigname issuers, I now use CASH much more than CC. This makes the withdrawal from ATMs even more important than before.

<<很多信息非常有用，我平常也不知道，尤其是各种信用卡的coverage哪个好，因为我平时租车或者fraud protection没有遇到过特殊问题，所以这些方面一向没有注意过。这次注意到货币兑换费用，是因为要省钱。“需要是发明之母”，需要也是研究之母啊。哈哈。>>

Yup, I know a lot about this because of our needs. We do have to invoke MC Rental Insurance in late 2005 because our rental car sustained hailstorm damage. It was the first time we ever actually invoked such coverage. Despite the glitches we encountered, the system worked! At the end, MC paid $2282 for repair estimates, we paid $320 for Admin and Loss of Revenues. I had a detailed post about this incident. For a measly $16x5=$80 we could have FULL CDW and walked away just like that, despite the car suffered about 50+ dents (1/3 of them were as big as a quarter).

That is why I recommend one poster: If you are going to Wilderness and weather could be an issue, you would be better off buying insurance than try to save the expenses, especially if your trip is only a few days.

来源: Lvtotravel

回答: 谢谢lvtotravel，非常有用的信息，我也学了很多 由 顾剑 于 2007-02-12 10:04:25
I posted my questions about Westpac ATMs at 人在澳新 - not a single response - either nobody knows anything, despite these people live in Australia/New Zealand, or they dont care to reply.

I posted same questions, actually with less details, at 2 forums at Flyertalk.com - Air New Zealand and Qantas - there are at least 7 or 8 persons replied, most of them gave me valuable info, someone even looked up ALL Westpac ATMs at SYD for me. (the trick is to input the postal code of 2020, where SYD is, instead of just Sydney - which would not pull up airport location).

I hate to say it, but I have to admit, you find much more info by going to the English sites, then trying to look them up in the Chinese circle. Sad, but true.
You only learn more new things from going outside your own circle - in Internet era, you got the answers to your Qs from all over the world - the locals, the travellers who have same needs, or someone simply pay enough attention and know stuff you are looking for...

http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=travel&MsgID=71358