Exchange Update- April 17,18 2015
[QUOTE=TroyBoy;1676687]Within minutes of each other I exchanged dollars at a cambio in Mall Oviedo (which in the past has always delivered one of the better exchange rates I have see around town) and then pulled significant cash out of a nearby bank ATM using my USA bank debit card (mastercharge endorsed).
It always takes a few days for all the fees / charges to fully appear on my bank statement. (mastercard currency conv. Fee + mastercard cross border fee).
When all is said and done (with all fees included) I received the following exchange rate on this date:
Oviedo Mall Cambio: 2,190 cop / usd.
ATM withdrawl (debit card) 2,344 cop / usd.
Keep in mind this is a debit card and not a credit card.
I have done this little experiment in the past and I believe when all ATM fees were included the rates were much more equal or maybe even a little better at the cambios, but things have obviously changed leaning to better rates at the ATM. ----If one exchanges $1,000 usd this will amount to a difference of roughly 150,000 cop. A guy can have a lot of fun in Medellin with 150,000 cop. :-)
I will be traveling to Thailand next month and would be curious is the same will be found there?
ASIDE- on a recent past trip I noted that my debit card (which has no chip) would not work in many ATMs around Medellin. Almost all required a "chip". The ATMs on the wall as you enter west end of Mall Oviedo (nearest the cambios) do process cards without chip. Also the ATM at RIO casino in San Diego does as well. In centro I had real difficulty getting cash without a chip.[/QUOTE]The above experiment on exchange rates was done in Jan /2015. The below repeat experiment on rates is April 2015 just three months latter:
Friday the cambio gave 2410 pesos / dollar while the ATM debit card gave 2505. Saturday the cambio was 2395 and ATM 2465. This was quite a drop in one day, but I have noted in the past that weekends usually are the worst time to get a good exchange rate anywhere in the world. If I were going to make a generalization I would say wait until midweek to exchange large amounts of dollars.
This strong dollar is truly making things a whole lot cheaper here as long as you stay clear of the gringo business entities that quote their prices in dollars. I cannot blame them as they are just trying to make a living, but the locals are still very much peso based. Peso prices have gone up a little bit in general, but no where's near matching the dollar's valuation.