In Italy, buying currency at exchange offices in order to pay for products worth EUR100 is 7% more expensive, the study shows.
The most expensive payment method is, in general, the currency conversion at exchange houses at destination airports. In 65% of analyzed cases, card transactions represent the cheapest method, namely, for people in Central and Eastern Europe during their international travels, according to the study.
For Romanians traveling to Great Britain, costs with buying British pounds at British airports are 9% higher than costs incurred by card transactions at merchants.
Also, card transactions at merchants in the Czech Republic entail costs lower by up to 31.5%, which is the cheapest payment method when traveling to the most popular destinations.
Costs of currency conversion at airports abroad are among the most expensive. For instance, for Czechs traveling to Austria these costs are nearly 27% higher than cash withdrawals from debit cards at ATMs in destination countries.
The study also shows that, in general, costs of currency conversion at exchange offices in a country are up to 6% higher than card payments and this option is not always valid because exchange offices offer conversion deals only for the main and most-traded currencies.
The study was conducted by analyzing the main destinations for seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe and in Israel, namely, for 28 routes.