Where is the best place to buy foreign currency? (Chinese yuan)?
Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at
6:38 am
I want to buy the yuan with us dollars. I went to wells fargo and their rate (at .143) was considerably higher than the current conversion rate (.129 or so). Other banks I went to required accounts. Also, I heard airports do not offer good rates. Finally, please do not refer to local exchangers (street) or forex sites. I am looking to buy real currency from a trusted source at a rate near the current .129 rate. Thank you for your answers.
Tagged with: airports • banks • conversion rate • Currency • Forex • wells fargo • yuan
Filed under: Forex Street
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I'd just get it from an ATM in China. Check with your bank, but usually the ATM exchange rate is an inter-bank rate (closest to market) and while there may be an international transaction fee I've found it's not usually much and well worth the easy solution. If "exchanging" any significant amount, the fee effect is mitigated and the effective rate can easily end up less than any traditional ForEx.
William is correct. The best rate I got during all of my trips to Asia were via the ATM. Hotels were the worst. Exchange booths were marked up a bit. Banks would not exchange my USD since I didn't have an account.