PAXUM question - 3% on non US transactions?
 

Hi Paxum or Paxum users,
I am in the middle of shopping a payout solution and are very in to payoneer right now, then I found out that they charge +3% for International ATM and POS.

Then I started to look around and it seems like EVERYONE is charging from 2-3% except Paxum... which I now like very much ;)

Can this be true or is it just a "hidden fee"?

Hi - the up to 3% you are talking about is a currency conversion fee. It's charged by MasterCard and you would have it anywhere that you perform withdrawals/transactions that convert fees. Just so you know what that is :thumbsup

By the way, this is a charge your bank card would also have if you were to use it overseas in a foreign currency.

Hi Talia

Fair enough. I believe you and it sounds normal. My bank charge me that as well but I cannot read on Paxums fee site that they charge this fee.

I'm sure Chris or Ruth (from Paxum) will be here to comment soon, but since you talked about us, I wanted to clarify that this isn't some random extra fee we tacked on. :winkwink:

Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Hi Jacab, What Talia say is correct to a certain extent. It is an exchange cost to the card holder. That is one of the advantages of using a card payment system, you are not held to the exchange offered by your bank.

The exchange is set by the Master Card or by Visa.

BUT, the card ISSUING company can charge an ovarage on that price. You will have to look long and hard to find published rates by MC o Visa on their daily exchange. You will find rates issued by the card issuers, such as your bank, or bank of america.

Bottom line is that on the average Payoneer runs at about 2.5% and I have found Paxum to be around 3.5 or 4%. NOT INCLUDING THE FEE.

We use Payoneer as a payment system and it works ok, it is cheaper than Paxum from my experience.

You also have to look at what the folks that pay you use.

Might want to wait and see what happens with Red Pass as well.

:2 cents:

Hi porn500,

We have flat fees for ALL ATM and POS transactions

$2USD for ATM withdrawals
$1USD for POS transactions

We do not add anything to the Forex fee, the exchange rate the customer is charged is whatever the ATM you're using charges. This of course does vary from machine to machine, but Paxum never adds a percentage for International withdrawal. Many of our clients have told me they're happy with the fact they don't get charged extra for making withdrawals in an International country.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have about Paxum, or help you get setup with an account so you can see for yourself.

We do not have any hidden fees. All our fees are listed clearly on our website - https://www.paxum.com/payment/fees.p...views/fees.xsl

Thanks,

Ruth :)

Hi LatinaCrazy,

I'd ask that you please try another ATM withdrawal with your Paxum card and then post the specific numbers, since there is no way you should see those types of numbers with our service. Please also post the numbers of your current local bank's exchange rate for a realistic comparison. We have nothing to hide and we do not have any hidden fees.

There is NO WAY you should see high percentages like you describe added to a Paxum ATM Withdrawal. We do NOT add anything to the Forex fee, therefore those percentages should not exist when you make withdrawals through an ATM with your Paxum card.

For example; I live in Mexico. I use my Paxum card all the time. The last time I made a withdrawal I did not have any percentages added to the currency exchange charged by the ATM I used (Banco Santander).

Thanks,

Ruth :)

Paxum might not charge a exchange fee, but your Choice Bank sure does in the background. So when the international transaction gets posted to Paxum statement it includes the % fee in the total transaction amount.

Claiming that the exchange rate is set by the ATM is plain stupid at least...The acquirer ATM can not set the exchange rate. It is not displayed on the ATM or even on the transaction paper slip you get with every ATM withdrawal. Imagine a gas station ATM that might give you a rate of 100 USD for 1 EUR and you are in Germany taking out EUR from the ATM.

As a test if using 2 cards issued in different countries in a 3rd country one after another at the same ATM for the same amount, you will get 2 different exchange rate...

Paxum (actually Choice Bank Balize) adds about 3% as international exchange mark-up.

You can find the official daily Mastercard rates here and compare :

https://www.mastercard.com/global/cu...ion/index.html

The displayed rates are derived from the buy and sell rates included in the MasterCard daily rate setting process and do not include any charges or markups applied by the Issuer

so (just to make sure Ruth gets it) only the Issuer can add charges and markups to a transaction and not the Aquirer(ATM in this case)

What about transactions in USD? This "currency conversion" fee is added even in case you take US$$ from ATM somewhere outside the US. Converting UD dollars to US dollars?

If you are using a true USD ATM then there should be no currency conversion, however most International machines are not in USD currency.

If you are withdrawing USD from an International machine, then the machine itself will likely not be primarily in USD. Therefore a currency exchange does occur on the transaction when you withdraw USD from the machine, since the machine is initially making the transaction in its base currency.

I have payoneer MC card and MC card from one EU bank. Got 1.8% extra fee in addition to 3.15 USD ATM withdrawal fee on my payoneer card and no additional fees on my EU bank card. Taking USD in cash from ATM. Got more ideas?

yes paxum in the end costs more that payoneer.

short minded people bitch about the payoneer load fees when you can pay that amount during some individual paxum transactions.

if payoneer would drop the load fee they would dominate the market.

I can't speak for Payoneer, I'm sorry. With regards to your EU card, perhaps a bank card has different charges to a prepaid credit card. Your bank will be able to advise you I'm sure.

Our fees are clearly listed on our site. We do not have any hidden fees.

I have no idea which individual transactions you're talking about since you didn't specify, but you can see every single one of our fees here:

https://www.paxum.com/payment/fees.p...views/fees.xsl

I wouldn't worry too much about soon to be obsolete payment systems if i was you.