American Canadian or Peso

[playadelloco]

In Playa del Carmen you will run into troubles if you don't have pesos. I have noticed in the last 2 years that US$ are not as cherished as they once were and many don't have change for larger US bills.

Interestingly, despite the CDN$ being worth more than the US$, the exchange booths on Quinta(5th) Ave give a better exchange rate for US$. If it weren't for losing on the exchange spread I was trying to consider how I could arbitrage this and make money out of it! I asked a vendor why they give more pesos for the US$ and he said 'because it's worth more.' He couldn't believe it when I told him the CDN$ is actually worth more.

 

[DandyDon]

I asked a vendor why they give more pesos for the US$ and he said 'because it's worth more.' He couldn't believe it when I told him the CDN$ is actually worth more.

Depending on which site you cite, Wall Street Journal states that the CND = $1.0114 USD - virtually the same again after being considerably less for years. That's in NYC tho, and while it's easy for us in Texas or other states and provinces north of the Rio Grande to accept that - what it's worth to a PDC vendor is a very different ball game. The Mexican government now has limits on how much foreign currencies a company can trade, and then there are conversion fees - my bank is horrible on fees too. So what they can do with the CND or USD on the street varies.

 

[Mexiconees]

Normally use the ATM, the best exchange rate

 

[DandyDon]

Normally use the ATM, the best exchange rate

The fee is small, but the exchange rate is set by the bank - and mine with Wells Fargo for example sucks. For example, at today's rates....

Wall Street Journal quotes MXD = 0.0833 USD or 12 Pesos to the Dollar.

WF allows MXD = 0.0917 USD or 10.9 Pesos to the Dollar - except for their 3% fees​

Therefore WF will give me 13% less than market in Peso for the Dollars I convert that way. Pretty bad; surely I can do better with cash conversions there? Other banks are nicer, but it varies.

 

[playadelloco]

I make my exchange through my trading brokerage. It only is possible to access the funds if you have an account denominated in the desired currency to transfer the money back to. But I am able to make the exchange for 2-3 hundredths of a penny instead of 2-3 pennies. Certainly adds up when exchanging larger sums.