In order to pay our rigger in La Cruz we had to get cash from an ATM machine located at the marina – a US dollar only dispensing cash machine (aka Cashola). We normally only take cash out of ATM machines located within an actual bank building but La Cruz is a small fishing town without a bank.

Our bank refunds all fees so I was not worried when I saw there would be a 45 peso fee (about US$3.50). The ATM also stated that the exchange rate would be 14.75 pesos to the dollar. This is where I should have paid more attention!

My US$400 withdraw ended up showing up as US$465 at our bank!

How did this happen you ask? After many emails with the ATM company they finally explained to me that rather than taking $400 from my bank directly, they first converted the $400 I withdrew into pesos at their rate of 14.75 which makes 5,900 Pesos plus the 45 peso fee. This total amount is sent to my bank which converts back to dollars at their rate. This rate varies with the market but was around 12.70 at the time.  So Cashola made a $65 profit on my $400 withdraw!

The owners of the ATM machine (a big chain here in Mexico) has offered to send me a refund check for US$25. I also received a $10 fee refund from my bank but I’m still paying $30 for this transaction. So now we only withdraw pesos and certainly don’t use the US $ dispensing machines.