Korun, Euros, rates and ATM's


Introduction

The 20kc banknote is being phased out as the 20kc coin is more widely used.

At current exchange rates the 50kc banknote is worth just over one pound but, many people (me included) still find it easier to calculate at 50 to the pound and take 10% off. In dollars it works out to about 1.75. A 50kc coin is now taking over (it looks a little bigger than a 10kc coin and has two colours) but, the pink banknote is still widely available. Banknotes printed in 1993 are being phased out and replaced with newer more secure versions.

The 100kc Czech banknote is possibly the most popular in the Czech Republic. Small enough to pay for a coffee yet big enough to deal with things like lunch. Currently it's worth about £2-50 or just under U$5.

The 200kc banknote has become more widely used following the devaluation of the Korun in 1997. I would expect to use this for lunch and get about 80kc back in change. Currently it's worth £5 or just under U$10.

The 500kc banknote is equivalent almost to the British ten pound note but, you can get a lot more for it. I wouldn't try to pay for a coffee with it.

The first of the BIG banknotes. The 1000kc note would be almost a 20 pound note in England. You would have trouble changing it a many small restaurants unless the bill was over 300kc. The old version of the note (1993) is still in circulation but, does not have to be accepted by businesses if they don't want it. The note was replaced in 1996 by another more secure version. Commercial banks stopped changing this banknote in June 2004 and now only the central bank (opposite the Powder Tower) will exchange them. To be sure, just quickly scan your 1000kc banknotes and make sure that the "head" side does not have 1993 in the bottom left corner of the graphic. You are bordering on credit card usage at this level.

This is a serious banknote. The 2000kc is approaching the English 50 pound note and how often do you see one of those. Suitable for dinner etc but, I wouldn't be carrying around too many of these. Certainly restaurants should be accepting credit cards for this level but, for instance "Malostranska Pivnice" is cash only (doesn't bother me because I recommend people don't go there as they get ripped off). When using an ATM to withdraw cash you can expect to get these if asking for more than 4000kc. Don't try and exchange this outside of a bank.

El Gordo "the fat one" equivalent to almost £130 or U$250. Waiters will laugh at you if you try and pay with this unless your bill is more than 2000kc. Widely used before the banking system became more reliable as many things i.e. cars and houses, were paid for in cash.

Terminology and rules WE SELL - this means we will sell you amount x of the local currency in cash i.e. if you see a sign that says $=23.40 then for each U$ dollar you give them you'll get that amount of local currency (minus charges). WE BUY - this means that we buy amount x of the local currency in cash and give you your own currency. This figure is always worse than the "sell" rate. As a general rule if you see the buy and sell figures side by side, the bank or office with the least amount of difference between the rates is generally the best although you do then have to watch out for "commission" or "fixed charge". Commission is normally a percentage of the amount you want to change. Fixed charge is a set amount regardless of how much you want to pay and benefits people changing more money. Some places have a commission rate up to a certain amount with then becomes the fixed charge. All numbers quoted on the boards like "0% commission" apply to cash only. American Express is my preferred option for T-Cheques as they are cashed by the local AMEX offices without commission. Best Exchange Rates for Cash (in Czech terms - Valuty) Camfex Group. Camfex offers the best exchange rate I've found (Monday to Friday) for less than 100 Dollars or Euros. The Camfex calculator below links to their site and works like this: 1) In the "Currency" box select your own currency. 2) In the "Amount" box enter the number you wish to exchange. 3) Click on the "Sell" button (the calculation is defaulted to CZK). 4) Click on the "Calculate" button and you'll see what you would get at the counter. Exchange.cz. Exchange.cz has the most convenient "Old Town" location close to Old Town Square in Kaprova and has 6 exchange booths, excellent exchange rate but, minimum 150 Euros or Dollars. The Exchange.cz calculator is on the right hand side of their homepage called "Kurzovy Kalkulator" and works like this: 1) Next to the words "Chci za" enter the amount of your own currency that you want to exchange. 2) Underneath the words "Chci za" you'll find a small dropdown box, select your own currency i.e. GBP or USD etc. 3) Next to the word "Nakoupit" is another currency dropdown box. Select CZK (right at the top of the list). 4) Click the button called "Kolik Dostanu?" (How much will I get?) and you'll see what you would get at the counter. Alfa Prague. Alfa Prague offers the best exchange rate I've found (whole week) for less than 100 Dollars or Euros. Located in the passageway about 20 metres before TGI Fridays (Rathova Pasaz) down the steps on the right. Two regular booths and two "discreet". Aktivchange. Aktivchange usually offers a slighly worse rate than Alfa but, as it is at the other end of the road it may be more convenient. I recommend this place also for non-cash "wire transfers" for people transferring money in but, if you are going to do this a lot and you live in the UK then look at the Camfex "Bank of Scotland" transfer option first. You'll find Aktivchange on the other side of the road across from the Tesco supermarket in Narodni. Online Resource for Bank comparison (after charges) There is another resource at kurzy.cz that compares banks and some other institutions against each other showing buy/sell rates and charges but most of the site is in Czech only. It does however have an easily navigated search function as I'll describe below. The example is of how much you would get if you changed £100 on 12/3/2007: 1) Go to the Exchange Calculator. 2) Towards the left of the screen you will see a small box with "britska libra" in it. This means "English Pounds" so change it to your own currency if it's not UK Pounds. 3) Leave the "Prodat" tab marked (it means that you want to sell your currency). 4) In the box next to "v Castce" enter the amount you want to exchange. 5) Click on the button marked "Preved" (calculate). A page opens (example shown below) that shows some interesting data: 1) Banka - The name of the Czech bank or institution (in the case of Exchange.cz). 2) Kurz - The exchange rate. 3) Poplatek/v% - Commission in percentage terms. 4) Poplatek/vkc - Commission in actual czk terms. 5) Cisteho kc - means "Clean Money" i.e. what you would actually get after charges. I want to exchange/sell £100, how many Korun would I get on March 12th 2007? Banka  Kurz   Poplatek   Cistého Kc   v %   v Kc  eBanka 40.33    1.0%  50.0    3 983.0  CSOB 40.43    2.0%  80.9    3 962.1  Raiffeisenbank 40.06    1.0%  50.0    3 956.0  Oberbank AG 39.93    1.0%  39.9    3 953.1  Komercní banka 40.31    2.0%  80.6    3 950.4  Ceská sporitelna 40.29    2.0%  80.6    3 948.4  HVB Bank 39.45    0.0%  0.0    3 945.0  Volksbank CZ 39.39    0.0%  0.0    3 939.0  GE Money Bank 40.10    2.0%  80.2    3 929.8  Živnostenská banka 40.04    2.0%  80.1    3 924.1  The information demonstrates that Prague banks offering "no commission" don't always offer the best rate. In my case even if I paid the 2% transaction charge (Poplatek) at CSOB I would still get more money than a no commission bank like HVB. In March 2007, comparing what you would get from the bank with the best offer against the bank with the worst offer, the difference based on changing £100 was 60kc or approx £1.50 as seen above. Best Exchange Rate for Bank Transfer (in Czech terms - Devizy) Citibank. Citibank beats the regular Czech bank exchange rate by about 0.5%. Not much normally but, makes a big difference when transferring large amounts of Foreign Exchange into CZ which expats may have to do quite regularly. Has one main city branch in Rytirska and a smaller one in Revolucni. Offers all the usual banking add ons. NOTE: if you have a Citibank account then try and withdraw money from a Citibank ATM otherwise you pay a hefty charge. Sending and Recieving Money Orders Western Union offers the most reliable and well known transfer service. Large Money transfers (over 1 million kc) Using Dealers Banks will give you about 0.2% better exchange rate than their normal published offer but, some like Ceska Sporitelna require minimum 5 million kc to get this rate. As mentioned above, CAMFEX offers regular transactions and dealing services. From the UK you also have the option of paying money into a Bank of Scotland account and getting Czech Korun sent to a local account here in Prague hence saving on bank charges. As a guide for Sterling transfer in July 2006 the Central bank rate was 40.24, Camfex offered 40.90, Alfa offered 40.85, a regular bank offered 40.40. ATM´s (cashpoint machines) Many people are happy to use ATM's as they are reliable, quite common and UK "Nationwide" Visa card users don't pay commission so it works out to the best exchange rate. I've now written a How to.... guide that details how to use a Czech ATM. Credit Cards Since 1996 the number of shops accepting credit cards has gone up to the point where it is now less likely for a shop NOT to accept them. Two warnings though. The first is that many shops will impose a limit like for electrical goods and I must show my passport if I want to buy something over 15,000 kc. The second warning is the risk of card blocking i.e. you try and use your card for something expensive and the transaction is refused. Unfortunately your card may now be blocked and you must contact the controlling bank for a security check. Sometimes it does not ask for the check and just says "refused". I can help out here if you have an English visa/mastercard supported by Barclays. If this kind of card gets blocked then you can call +44 1604 614811 and reverse the charges. Other card holders should note their own contact numbers. Note that not all restaurants accept credit cards. The Euro Since May 1st 2004 the Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union. It is not however a member of the Euro Zone and as such it is not required to use the Euro as its main currency until at least 2010. Currently there are a few places that take the Euro but these are limited to towns close to the German and Austrian borders. In Prague itself if a restaurant etc accepts the Euro it will state that your change will be in Euros if available. Others will state immediately that change is in Czech Korun. On my last visit to Cesky Krumlov, to pay in Euros was actually cheaper than to pay in Korun and you'll also find this in the Vietnamese markets on the border. If a shop accepts Euros I would ask what the exchange rate is before paying as it's normally a pretty bad rate i.e. Prague airport shops accept Euros but change is in Korun. In Prague you will still see restaurants offering the rate of 30 to 1 i.e. 1 Euro equals 30kc. If you see this then pay in Euros as the actual Euro rate (January 2008) was 28kc. Cashback This is just starting in the Czech Republic. Currently the CSOB bank in association with the Hypernova and Albert supermarket chains as well as the "post insurance" company offer the service. It's bad enough trying to make yourself understood in Czech let alone trying to persude a cashier in English that you want cashback so, I expect it will take some time to get fully working. It's the same as in the UK. If you've purchased something and you want extra cash then you just make a separate transaction with the credit card. The Czech cashback system does not appear to support debit cards at present (at least one's not supported by the CSOB bank).