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Banks Tips
Banks Tips
ATM's:
Common
sense is not enough. ATM fraud is rife and tourists are the easiest target
imaginable. The m.o. is as follows and normally happens at any outside
ATM:
On
approach either your fraudster is pretending use the machine and displays
a wad of notes for you to see or will be queuing right behind you. He will
be extremely well dressed and normally a rainbow person. (Umm; a person
of colour) He will also have at least one accomplice. There are about 5
variations. There will be either a match stick or toilet paper stuck in
the slot. Your card will either get stuck or it won't read the pin but
in the meantime you will punch it in. Now you will get distracted by 2
rainbows from both sides. One magician will press cancel & before you
know what is happening, your card will get switched. Another card will
go into the ATM and get retained or swallowed. You will be sleeping well
& be under the impression that the bank will give you your card back
in the morning. Ummm; it's not there. So there will normally be 2 withdrawals
done for the max amount; sometimes 3. One Japanese visitor lost US$2500
in Feb 2002.
Criminals
are inventing ever more ingenious methods of relieving you of
your cash. The latest scam involves thieves putting a thin, clear, rigid
plastic 'sleeve' into the ATM card slot. When you insert your card, the
machine can't read the strip, so it keeps asking you to re-enter your PIN
number. Meanwhile, someone behind you watches as you tap in your number.
Eventually you give up, thinking the machine has swallowed your card and
you walk away. The thieves then remove the plastic sleeve complete with
card, and empty your account. The way to avoid this is to run your finger
along the card slot before you put your card in. The sleeve has a couple
of tiny prongs that the thieves need to get the sleeve out of the slot,
and you'll be able to feel them.
The
secret of the rainbow guy's success is that they are fast - you do not
get time to think.
So
what to do:
1.
Always; always draw inside a bank if possible. If not; then in a centre
that has security/guards nearby. NEVER draw on a street and never draw
at the 1st atm near the station or wherever tourists flock to.
2.
Let no-one into your space. Especially not well dressed gentlemen.
If they do, grab your card and back off - go somewhere else. Make sure
you get your card though.
3.
Don't hesitate; if you do you are lost. Scream, yell for the police,
hit a rainbow person if you have to, but then run for the middle of the
road as they work in teams. So; attract attention at all costs. If you
are wrong you can always apologize. But if you get done it takes up 3 days
of your travel (as well as half a day of my time if you come stay with
us!)
4.
Ask about the ATM's at your place of accommodation. Locally it has only
happened to 3 of our guests over the last 7 years (9000 guests) and that
is not bad odds. However, in some places it is much, much higher.
5.
The latest trick is to put a plastic strip in the slot. So run your finger
along the slot when you get to the ATM.
6.
Only take out your card at the last moment, just before using it.
7.
If there was only 1 person in front of you (gangster no 1) and all of a
sudden there are 5 people in the queue you are being set up. They are all
there to distract you. OK - sometimes there are real queues!
8.
Block the sight of the keys when you punch your pin in. If you have a friend
let him watch your back.
9.
Just use common sense like not to draw excessive amounts and then walking
around with it.
10.
If you are paying a huge amount of cash for a tour; think nothing of asking
someone from your accommodation to walk with you.
Before
and after you leave home:
1.
Decrease the daily withdrawal limit on your card temporarily. The limit
on a card in SA is between R1000 and R2000 rand and normally you can only
take R1000 at a time from an ATM; but you can use it several times. The
limit in your country is valid. So; if £500
is
your limit bring it down to £100
- this way you can limit your losses if any. Yeah, you owe me big time...
So, bring me some old pc ram! Or duty free Jack Actually duty free Jack
Daniels at Heathrow costs about double what you can buy it for in SA.
2. Consider travelling
with 2 cards or a debit as well as a credit card. Set it up that you can
transfer to the debit card but not vice versa. Use only the debit card
at ATM's.
3. If you are travelling
like a year or so consider seriously instruct your bank to transfer a set
monthly deposit to your credit or debit card or both. Don't ask your
mum if you have the same type mother as my x-girlfriend. And don't trust
your friends. Sad, but true. This is the only case where I will actually
trust my bank!!!
4. Make sure you
have card protection insurance.
5. Most important,
if you have a dispute, put everything in writing
even
if the credit card company tells you no worries. And get an acknowledgement.
A friend lost US$3000 as the above happened to her.
6. Have a card company
that allows collect calls if possible.
7. Keep the numbers
with you in duplicate places. Memorize if possible.
8. Check your card
charges regularly with online banking so some obscure charge doesn't happen.
Banks Themselves:
Changing Forex
Note that changing
forex at the airports costs you slightly more than listed below
Normal hours Mo
- Fr 9h00 to 15h30; Sa 8h30 to 11h00. Foreign exchange at banks are NOT
open on Saturdays as the JSE is closed and the rand is extremely volatile.
Rennies, Thomas Cook, Amex and other bureaux are open though.
FX exchange charges
vary. Less than 3 years ago the charges were between R15 and R20 per transaction.
Currently they are either R30, R34-20 or R50(ABSA). Charges are calculated
on 2 fronts; 1st you get the bank buy rate, that is about 3% less than
the official rate. This is for fluctuation and is fair. 2ndly you pay either
another commission of av. 1,71% or the minimum charge like stated above.
Either way you will get a minimum of 3% less than the official(middle)
rate for cash and 2,5% less for TC's. If you just want to change US$10
at Absa and the rate is R10,00 for the $; then you should get about (10-
3%) 9,7x$10 -min charge R50= R47....this is making foreigners feel extremely
welcome. Especially if R50- R70 is about what you pay for a dorm night
or equivalent to restaurant prices for a 500g rump steak/7 beers. There
is also no disclosure, no signs stating what the charges are. If you ask
you will be told but I haven't even found forex charges on any of their
own websites.
The big banks are
ABSA, Standard, Nedbank, First National Bank(FNB)
There is anothere
particular reason I don't like banks much. When the Reserve Bank dropped
the repo rate with 1 % last year, all banks followed by dropping the rate
to the public with only 1/2 %. Greedy is an apt description.
Also: "SA bank charges may be world’s highest" - see Consumerfair
Cheques:
No one will accept
a cheque from a foreigner if he can help it. It takes 6 weeks to 3 months
to clear. To open a local cheque account as a foreigner is just about impossible.
You are only successful if you deal with the right person and they seem
to be extinct
Credit card charges:
Banks/ Financial
institutions charge Merchants between 4% and 7,98% per transaction. On
top of this there is a monthly fee as well. This is excessive and is of
course carried over to the buyer. In tourism it is standard that the budget
operators add this to the transaction when they charge you. Please note
that this is legal if stated on the booking form. With upmarket operators
this cost is of course included. My personal feeling is that banks in general
not only stunt economic growth, but tourism as well.
Financial sites:
Try Moneymax;
a brilliant site with the latest stock exchange news & prices. It also
have most local bank charges in a comparative table. For example you can
check out our local bond rate @ 11%. Any foreigner wanting to dabble with
the local stocks can do so. One German guy that is here for a year started
with Euro 500 and says that he is having the time of his life. It is also
a great way to keep up to date with any important happening in SA.
Travellers Cheques:
You can cash Amex
TC's at FNB at "no commission" aka rate after fluctuation; so at the same
rate as Amex themselves. Please note that all the other banks will charge
you commission to change; and FNB will charge as well for Thomas Cook and
others. So; if you buy any tc's buy Amex.
A small observation;
ATM's are everywhere. If you take my ATM advice to heart you will only
need a bank card. In addition you will not get any interest on your money
spend on tc's. You also have to pay a commission to acquire them &
you lose as well when cashing them. If you add the fact that merchants
are mostly unwilling to accept them tc's lose out big time. I myself can't
except them - there is huge and stringent controls by the Reserve Bank.
Of course I can't cash them at Rennies or Amex as they are not mine.
Lastly; mentioned
elsewhere as well - In certain parts of East Africa you will get charged
up to 25% commission to change TC's.