Ah yes, DCC.

On the positive, it lets you know (probably) how much you're going to spend, in your own currency. I say 'probably' because you might get hit by fees from your own bank for using an overseas ATM as well. But it's not free.

So you could look upon it as being offered a paid service, and IMHO it shouldn't be used without the customer being made aware of this.

The reason you will be asked if you'd like to pay in your currency is not really anything to do with your convenience though, it's about who gets to do the conversion and who gets to pocket the (inevitable) fees. With DCC the merchant and their (acquiring) bank get to take the fees and set the rates. Without this, your (issuing) bank does. At some point one of the acquiring banks realised that they get to see the transaction before it gets back to the issuing bank, and so they have the power to do this stuff, so DCC was born.

--EDIT-- I should say it's possible, however unlikely, that DCC could turn out cheaper. The article does give a great reason why this is unlikely though - if there's one set of people more eager to screw you over than your own bank, it's someone else's bank.

There's an even simpler rule: The more convenient currency conversion is, the more you are getting ripped off.

Same thing applies not only for ATMs, but also shops with card readers that sometimes offer to charge you in your home currency.

My home debit/ATM card also gives me a better exchange rate than any Forex desk I've ever seen. Why do people still use those? Is it solely due to familiarity with cash?

Except some foreign ATMs (e.g. Hungary) don't even show that dialog. They just charge you the currency conversion.

One more rule... While you type your PIN, cover your typing hand with your free hand to thwart card skimmer cameras. This won't prevent keypad overlays from recording the PIN, but those are more expensive and more rare.

I'm from the US and am currently living in London. I highly recommend a Charles Schwab bank account. No ATM fees and no foreign transaction fees. Also great customer service.

For a credit card, Chase Sapphire Preferred has no foreign transaction fees, and they waive the $95 annual fee for the first year.

If you ask for local currency, then the bank has nothing to do but ask your bank to pay the amount you wished + hidden fee for the operation. The exchange rate used to debit your account will be of your bank for this moment.

In countries like India or Russia this fee could be up to 20% from the amount requested for foreign cards.

If you're asking for a currency exchange, you will be charged for this operation separately. The exchange rate will be what this particular ATM is programmed with.

Any bank charge extra for each operation.)

The same is true for credit cards I guess, I have a Dutch cc and my bank always give me a better rate than for example PayPal.

I thought this was going to be an article about avoiding card cloning in foreign ATM machines from the title.

A related question: are there any credit cards which don't charge exorbitant fees when used abroad? A friend of mine is planning on travelling extensively in East Asia, South Asia, Turkey, etc. for several months, and I'm looking for recommendations for her.

Happily, after traveling for 5 months now in South America, I can report that you do NOT have to worry about this here. I've yet to see anything at all like this and have used ATMs in 6 countries and 37 cities.

Europe? We'll find out in a month or so.

Related: http://money.stackexchange.com/questions/10837/when-paying-w...

Any suggestions for Canada? I don't go often enough to find a better solution than using an ATM there, but I do go often enough to feel ripped off every time I do.

Transferwise looks like a pretty cool startup.

Are you guys cheaper than Oanda? Do you plan to offer GBP->USD? (As a US citizen working in London, this is all I want.)

Great tip for travelers, I will suggest you to do this everytime.

and PayPal does this too...

I've traveled to more than a dozen countries over the past two years and I've NEVER seen an ATM that asks me what currency I want to be charged in...