Your bank lied to you. I knew a person who worked in a bank (we became friends) and he flat out told me not to rely on banks to exchange currencies because thei

Your bank lied to you. I knew a person who worked in a bank (we became friends) and he flat out told me not to rely on banks to exchange currencies because their exchange rate is always lower than market rate. Obviously, the banks take profit. This is one reason why I have both local currency and foreign currency (USD) accounts with the bank. Instead of the bank converting the money to local currency, I withdraw the money from foreign currency account, get it converted at a local exchange shop (after getting a better rate) and deposit the money back in my local currency account. It takes time but it's worth it when converting a large amount of money.