ATHENS – An American-based international cash withdrawal company notorious for high fees and exorbitant exchange rates that travel experts have warned against using said it will now offer fee-free ATMs in Greece.

Euronet, with headquarters in Kansas, said the service will apply to selected locations in Greece and allow cardholders of all banks and financial institutions to carry out cash withdrawals without ATM fees.

It didn’t say, however, what the exchange rate would be, its high costs passed on to unsuspecting users of their machines that are often located near real bank ATMs, particularly in tourist areas.

With Greek banks closing physical locations and even some ATMS they are facing competition from financial services that have machines around the world and often resemble those of banks, causing customer confusion.

The Euronet ATMS will have signs indicating they are “without charge” or offer “Free Cash Withdrawals,” and 20 are already in operation in Greece, the company expecting to have at least 300 working in the next six months.

Euronet has been in operation in Greece for more than 25 years and has the country’s largest network of ATMS apart from banks and also has more than 220,000 POS terminals for electronic payments.’

Euronet also is expanding its Money Transfer Network under the brand name Ria Money Transfer, which already operates with two identical retail stores in the center of Athens and more than 200 service points in Greece.

and counts more than 200 service points in Greece, able to respond to more than 540,000 service points worldwide.

Rick Steeves, a well-known social media travel advisor, has warned against independent ATMS including Euronet as well as Travelex, Moneybox, Your Cash, Cardpoint, and Cashzones that have high fees, aren’t connected to banks and whose terms for use are hard to identify.

“These independent ATMs are often found next to bank ATMs in the hope that travelers will be too confused to notice the difference. Their machines may even have signs that scream Free Cash Withdrawals – don’t believe it,” he says.

CAVEAT EMPTY

“Beware of ATMs that offer to convert your withdrawal amount to US dollars. Using an ATM overseas isn’t like withdrawing from a cash machine in the United States. If you rush to agree to terms without paying close attention, you could wind up losing hundreds of dollars on unnecessary conversion fees,” he added.

Likewise, Washington Post columnist Christopher Elliott in October, 2022 wrote that he should have warned his brother about the independent ATMS because it led to his sibling being taken big by Euronet.

“As we were exploring the historic Plaka district one hot afternoon, he excused himself to withdraw money from an automatic teller. A few minutes later, he returned with 1,000 euros. The cost: $1,219,” he wrote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/europe-atms-conversion-rates/

His receipt from the Euronet machine showed the breakdown: a transaction fee of 3.95 euros, an exchange rate of 0.82 euros to the dollar and a 13 percent markup from the going exchange rate.

Many customers also fail to notice unfavorable exchange rates that allow some companies to cash in by giving users less money than they would receive at a bank or from a bank ATM.

“That’s one of the hidden ATM costs,” Arun Tharmarajah, head of European banking and expansion at Wise, a financial tech company that specializes in online money transfers told the paper. “Customers don’t know about them.”

So why am I kicking myself about these high ATM expenses? Because I knew about them, and I should have said something.

Elliott wrote he gets similar complaints from readers and while in Lisbon used a Euronet machine despite his reservations and found out he was fleeced too by an unfavorable exchange rate plus a $4 fee, plus a 12 percent markup..

Euronet Worldwide operates a network of more than 50,000 ATMs in 63 countries, according to the company and a spokeswoman, Stephanie Taylor, said all of its charges are “clear, transparent and prominently displayed” before every transaction. “The customer may opt out of the transaction at any time at no cost,” she said in an email.

She said that Euronet is committed to offering convenient cash to people around the world, but that there is a cost involved with providing this service, “which we believe is fair and reasonable.”