• ZeroFX refund rate

Hello Bunqers!

Today something “wrong” happened: on December the the 12th I paid 626 pounds with an exchange rate of 1.11673; the day after they sent a refund which I received today (the 15th) but the amount in € is lower this time. The exchange rate applied is lower.
Shouldn’t the refund apply the same rate?

    The amounts are:

    Paid: 626£ as 699.08€ (1.11673)
    Refund: 626£ as 698.56€ (1.11591)

      @matticala#49135 This is normal/common practice. The refund is done at another moment so another exchange rate applies. As far as I know every company / bank works like this. 🙂

        @Sander#49141 That I don’t know for sure. Exchange rates are usually updated over a time span because are negotiated. I used Amazon a lot buying in pounds or dollars and refund was always the same amount :-)

          @matticala#49144

          It could be that some banks take their loss or win because it is calculated into their commission or fee. As there is no commission or fee for bunq to cover eventual losses I think it's fair the exchange rate is always used for the moment the transaction is settled. This can go both ways for you of course. 🙂

            @Tim#49145 Sounds reasonable enough :-)

              @matticala#49144 There are 2 ways of a refund:
              1. A not booked payment gets refunded. If a payment is just "on hold", or "reserved", and you get it refunded, the exchange rate will stay the same.
              2. When you get money back after some time for a payment that isn't just reserved, then you will get the exchange rate of the day of refund.

                @Sander#49141 Which is logical because there is currency risk involved in foreign currencies.

                In this case there are three parties involved.
                First the third party which refunded the proper amount in the foreign currency 💷.
                Second the bank which needs to exchange the foreign currency needs to be exchanged for your own currency (💷=>💶).
                You as the receiver of the money 💶 is the third.

                If the bank would accept the exchange against a different rate than the current one all risk of changes in the applicable rate is on them (they would pay for the risk that exchange rates go up/down). They obviously don’t do this is as it is your transaction and it can be hugely expensive (there are many companies where large parts of their profits evaporate due to unfavorable currency exchange rates).

                Take in account that the third party has already paid there dues (no reason why they should cover for changes in exchange rate).

                So this leaves the risks involved in paying in foreign currency to you.

                On the bright side: this could also work in your favor as exchange rates move up and down (but trying to gain an advantage with this should be considered trading 😉)

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