Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

A word of warning. I withdrew £600 from the ATM at the petrol station near Ileli on Thursday and have just discovered that only 3 out of the 30 £20 notes are unmarked. All the rest have a printed number stamped on the Queen's face or neck (202-3 or 224-10). Is there anything I can do about this?

Wait until Monday, and take 'em back to a Garanti Bank branch with the payout slip and demand that they exchange 'em for good ones if the Dovis won't accept them. It is annoying, isn't it?

Nowadays I just tend to transfer gbp direct to my Revolut card and use that instead of cash

The printed stamps are ok - they will accept these are the bank and change places - its ripped notes and pen marks they dont like.

I go to Near East Bank and they have never handed me any back...

Thanks all I spoke to my local friendly doviz man and he is happy to take them. One other thing you may be interested in is that the ATM at the big Alsancak Starling will only dispense a maximum of £300 per transaction which is a bit annoying when you get charged 2% each time.

JoandJelly wrote:Thanks all I spoke to my local friendly doviz man and he is happy to take them. One other thing you may be interested in is that the ATM at the big Alsancak Starling will only dispense a maximum of £300 per transaction which is a bit annoying when you get charged 2% each time.

2% of 300GBP (6GBP) just the same as 2% of 600GBP (12GBP) ?

Yes it is, I should have added it is 2% to a maximumof £5.

Sukicat wrote:

JoandJelly wrote:Thanks all I spoke to my local friendly doviz man and he is happy to take them. One other thing you may be interested in is that the ATM at the big Alsancak Starling will only dispense a maximum of £300 per transaction which is a bit annoying when you get charged 2% each time.

2% of 300GBP (6GBP) just the same as 2% of 600GBP (12GBP) ?

I think that they mean that it's adding insult to injury, it's crap service, and then they've got the bloody cheek to charge for it!

I never use an ATM that makes a charge...

It's not the ATM charging it's HSBC in the UK. Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to get free withdrawals

Change your bank to Nationwide then!

I don't want to thank you. I've lived here for 11 years and am hardly going to fly back to the UK to open a bank account. I probably wouldn't qualify anyway.

Consider a Revolut card, as suggested by Erol (just enter Revolut into the search box, top left for details).

I got one and it's brilliant!

Just out of interest, I use a Monzo card,app on my tablet, to pay for everything here, no commission, no charges, uses the Mastercard Rate which is the closest you will get to the inter banking rate,it`s a full blown current account nowadays but I use it like a debit card,downside is you are limited to £200pm cash from ATM`s after that there is a 3% charge.
I have looked at Starling bank which is similar, but allows unlimited ATM cash withdrawals but only allows download app. to a smartphone(dumbphone!)
((I know it`s my problem, but I refuse to use the goddamn things which should be bloody well banned from life!!))

Questions: Can you download Revolut App to tablet,?
How much can you draw from ATM`s before charges hit?

Answered my own question (Google is your friend)
ATM`s are limited to £200pm unless you pay for one of their premium accounts,also there is no FSCS Deposit Guarantee Scheme protection,money is ringfenced but that`s not quite the same.
Don`t want to download to tablet,dumbphone only!

Occasionally I look at the Monzo forum which is heavily used by snowflakes, thay have a expression for the mainstream banks,NatWest HSBC etc.......... Legacy Rust, excellent!

JoandJelly wrote:It's not the ATM charging it's HSBC in the UK. Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to get free withdrawals

I draw sterling from HSBC without charges.
They charge for euros or lire.

I have an advantage account if that helps and it doesn't need any minimum balance etc in. I just though it was a new name for their current account when I opened it.

waddo wrote:Change your bank to Nationwide then!

Best of luck, Have you tried to get a UK Bank account lately?

EnjoyingTheSun wrote:

JoandJelly wrote:It's not the ATM charging it's HSBC in the UK. Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to get free withdrawals

I draw sterling from HSBC without charges.
They charge for euros or lire.

I have an advantage account if that helps and it doesn't need any minimum balance etc in. I just though it was a new name for their current account when I opened it.

Thank you. I will look into it.

I withdrew £200 from the cash machine outside Kyrenia leather and fur in Catalkoy at 12:00 today.

Of the ten £20 notes dispensed, 2 were old notes and not even legal tender any more! Garanti in Girne were very good and exchanged them for 'current' currency as soon as we went in there (13:00) - fortunately I had the receipt from the cash dispenser and there was no argument.

Suggestion - check the notes from all cash dispensers, keep the receipts and if you have a problem get to the bank asap.