# St Barts Forums > St Barts Island Main Forum >  >  Currency exchange question

## Wip

Bonjour forum members, We are preparing for our annual trip for the month of January. We usually present our US dollar at the Marche' U for our purchases and receive euros for change. Does anyone know if the March U charges a conversion fee in the exchange? With the euro at .94 today, we were going to get euros from our PNC local bank but they want to charge a 2% conversion fee - not gonna give them that! Our other option is to use an atm on island. Would love to hear how the other forum members deal with this. Thx in advance.

----------


## JEK

Most of us use the ATM. I also saw a post recently that indicated Super U is out of the USD to Euro business.

----------


## Wip

Wow, thx John. Glad I put it out there.

----------


## KevinS

If you're going to use the ATM then be sure that you know what conversion fee your bank will charge you on the transaction.   Many charge 3%.  

Super U (and perhaps others) will not accept USD $100 notes.

----------


## Wip

Thx, Kevin. My credit union Visa has no fees, I'm thinking thats the best way to go.

----------


## Saline Man

I used the ATM to the right of Eden to go. The ATM said the fee for 300Euros was 5Euros, The actual fee from my bank was $1.

----------


## cassidain

> I used the ATM to the right of Eden to go. The ATM said the fee for 300Euros was 5Euros, The actual fee from my bank was $1.



that's the LCL. I believe the 5  is a flat fee per withdrawal. you may see an ISA (international service assessment) fee on your bank statement associated with the withdrawal. banks may have their own ATM fee as well.

----------


## episcopal405

we could not use $100 US Dollars at any establishment on the Island - basically only bring $20's or $10's - don't bother bringing $100 notes

----------


## andynap

> we could not use $100 US Dollars at any establishment on the Island - basically only bring $20's or $10's - don't bother bringing $100 notes



Better yet, use credit cards mostly and get euros at the ATM for tips and small purchases

----------


## marybeth

> Better yet, use credit cards mostly and get euros at the ATM for tips and small purchases



This ^^^^
So easy to get a CC with no conversion fees now as well as ATM cards that will not charge.

----------


## cassidain

> This ^^^^
> So easy to get a CC with no conversion fees now as well as ATM cards that will not charge.



it's certainly easy to find a debit card with no "atm fee". it's less clear to me about other fees for international cash withdrawals. can you give me an example of a debit card with zero international cash withdrawal fees ? merci

----------


## JEK

> it's certainly easy to find a debit card with no "atm fee". it's less clear to me about other fees for international cash withdrawals. can you give me an example of a debit card with zero international cash withdrawal fees ? merci




https://www.nerdwallet.com/m/credit-...e-credit-cards

----------


## steelpe

> we could not use $100 US Dollars at any establishment on the Island - basically only bring $20's or $10's - don't bother bringing $100 notes



You mean I shouldn't have tipped by concierge person with a $100 bill at the beginning of my trip?  Whoopsie.

----------


## cassidain

> https://www.nerdwallet.com/m/credit-...e-credit-cards



arent those credit cards, not debit cards?
credit cards charge cash advance fees, right?

----------


## marybeth

We have a Capital One savings/checking account and use that debit card. No fee. Pretty sure our PNC account didn't either- limit of I think 6 transactions. And our friend used a Mellon Bank card which charged nothing AND refunded the fee from the ATM in St. Jean.

----------


## cassidain

I found this in this article https://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/bank-atm-fees/

so, it looks like there is no "atm fee" charged by CapOne, they eat the ISA charged by the MasterCard processing network for their debit cards (probably approx 1%), but they don't cover the fee charged by the foreign ATM owner if out of CapOne network. 

TD Bank is even better with no ATM fee, waive the network's ISA fee, and waive the foreign ATM owner's fee. 

Schwab is same at TD.

Fidelity waives foreign ATM owner's fee but charges 1% foreign transaction fee.

----------


## episcopal405

I could not convert my $100 US bills into Euro's even at the bank - not one place would accept a $100 US note -

----------


## cassidain

> I could not convert my $100 US bills into Euro's even at the bank - not one place would accept a $100 US note -



use them as The Andy sized tips ?  :cool:

----------


## davesmom

Maybe try a hotel?  Usually they do change American $$. Not sure what exchange you would get.

----------


## pug007

Finally getting in on Friday from SXM. I have quite a bit of cash in UK pounds(like £1500 or so) is there some place I can exchange for Euros?

----------


## KevinS

There is a Currency Exchange in Gustavia, Change Caraïbes.  It's on the upper floor, on Rue de la Republique, the street that comes into town from Public, and ends with Le Select in front of you, at which point  you're forced to turn left or right.  The block starts with Goldfinger on the left, and ends with Bar Oubli on the left, Le Select in front of you, and Lou Lou's Marine on the right.  Change Caraïbe is across from the main Goldfinger store (I think there are still two), on the right, on the upper level.

The image below is looking backwards on the street, against the one-way traffic, with Change Caraïbes on the left.  The main Goldfinger store is out of frame on the right.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...ZgBKAB6BAgTEAI

----------


## davesmom

Or you can just dump the cash at Goldfinger, and voilà, problem solved

----------

