Need cash? Hold on, what about the conversion rate?

Where do English words come from? By that simple question, I mean the language of business that we all use from day to day. – these words are all across the accessible web, we can access them at any time, but really, what is the true origin of all these words? Where were they born?

On a recent short break to Cappadocia and the famed Silk Route in the heart of what is now Turkey, I became aware how much of our English language has been absorbing loan-words from the magic of the Near East over many centuries. In times past, Pilgrims converged on this part of the world for centuries in search of some promised land, where they came across many eastern luxuries. Spices, fruits, mattresses, cushions, perfumes, jewelry all originated in the Near East, so much so that we don’t even think today about where they actually originated.  I can understand why the Vikings came and never left. 

In the more recent 20th and 21st centuries, the modern world we live in has changed and now orbits around the United States of America. So many of our modern conveniences were invented there.  Even this device on which I’m composing this article boasts of being “designed in California”. 

Which brings me via a circuitous route to the world of payments. In the USA, trade between individuals is for the most part done in US Dollars.  The hegemony of the US dollar has ensured a relatively stable world since 1945. Rumors are afoot of de-dollarization, but for now I think we’re safe.

By contrast, in countries like Turkey, finance is a very flexible and supple thing. You can pay for stuff in just about any currency you like and virtually every merchant will carry today’s forex rate in his or her head. The banking system itself in Turkey appears very robust with all the latest ATMs where clients can deposit, and withdraw local lira at will. It’s quite a cash-based society and many merchants prefer cash over card payments so a short trip to the local ATM should see me good, right?

Not so fast, buster, the machine retorted. Turkish ATMs are powered by DCC, so the atm provider itself offered me a conversion rate into my own currency at its chosen rate (and not my bank’s rate), but with a small charge on top of 8%. What? 8%? 

Ok, let me reject the dcc option and then the atm will ask my own bank to do the conversion. That should be simple enough. The end result of that seemingly simple option is: “Go To Jail, do not pass go, do not collect £200”.  A System error; we refuse to talk to your bank. Other ATMs proved exactly the same.

“Even though a large number of ATMs could be delivering a positive Customer Experience on their NonStops, with OmniPayments flying the flag from the front, the operators have chosen to make the ATM use a frustrating experience instead. Perhaps to drive profit, or perhaps to encourage the import of US Dollars. Whatever their rationale, their plan remains mysterious.”

Over lunch and dinner and several chats with restaurant owners their tale of card acceptance was equally painful. Merchant acquirers take 8% from the cost of our meals, hotel owners a mere paltry 4%. The banks appear pretty stable to me. All these costs get passed on to consumers of course. We all end up paying for the stability and yes, to the shareholders of these banking institutions. 

So note to self. You can never carry too much hard cold cash with you when in Turkey. ATMs there will just chew up your patience. There must be parallels across many other countries without the power of the US Dollar. In the near east, Cash goes a long, long, way in putting a smile across everyone’s face. And to my simple mind, the act of bringing pleasure to others carries pleasure to everyone in a very simple way.

OmniPayments brings many advantages to an existing ATM estate, with broad transaction support at a fraction of the costs of other services.  See OmniPayments.com for further details.