Changing dollars on Symi

[IanG]

After our first visit to Symi last year we are returning again for two weeks this September.
I know that we can use our bank cards in the ATMs on Symi, but have seen no talk about changing money directly in the banks.
We have found ourselves with a quantity of dollars from a trip to the USA and changing these back into £ and then into euros in the UK costs us double commission.
Has anyone got information on the costs of changing $ to euros in banks on Symi.

Ian

[Andy W]

The exchange rate will fluctuate day-to-day, like all others. Hopefully someone will at least be able to tell you what commission is charged.
But be prepared for a slow process, Symi's banks are not geared up to do foreign exchange quickly (because the overwhelming majority of visitors use the Euro as their native currency too, or bring Euros with them, or use the cash machines to draw them out from their accounts). You quite often end up waiting while people check exchange rates with Head Office, then waiting again for the actual cashier, while all around you Symi residents and business owners are paying in takings, paying bills, arguing about statements or overdrafts and so on. However, there is air conditioning so the wait is not uncomfortable, as long as you don't have something important to do elsewhere.

[IanG]

Andy,thanks.

So slow but possible is the answer I needed. Will have a think and decide if the process is worth it.

Ian

[peterv]

Ian, I do not know what the rates are, as Andy says. At two of the ATMs (there are now 3) I have been offered to have them charge my account in £s. The rates offered were considerably lower than the rate my bank used on the debit, the difference after charges would have been over £5.
As for commission in the banks, I saw a notice once, that stated the commission was something like 2%, with a minimum charge of around €10.

[Jan]

If you have time to kill in Rhodes on the way over it might be worth trying the banks there. The number of US visitors pouring off the big cruise ships *could* mean that dollar exchange is relatively less time consuming than in Symi simply because it's a more commonly used service.

We did once, years ago, bring left-over dollars and changed them in Symi thinking like Ian that it was daft to pay double commission. I can't now remember whether the monetary difference was worthwhile, but the aircon in the bank was a bonus!

[Kojak]

I remember when the National Bank of Greece moved into new premises which were air-conditioned. This was in the 1980s when air-con was pretty rare. I used to stand in the bank and try and let everyone go before me. It wasn't being a gentleman - I was just savouring the cool bliss after the August heat.

[Adriana]

www.xe.com is the best website to go to to check daily exchange rates and it is also available as an app for Android phones.