Thirty new ATM machines at Sydney Airport will offer outbound international travellers their choice of four different currencies, including the Euro, Japanese yen, British pound sterling, Thai baht, and dollars from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the U.S.

The new machines are being installed following a six-month trial now concluded in Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The fifteen trial ATMs in those locations have now been made permanent and more have been installed, according to the general manager for Eftex and Travelex, the companies involved in the effort.

Currently the ATM machines only offer “instant cash,” and are not yet sophisticated enough to replace the humans operating foreign exchange services counters. However, in the future, Eftex and Travelex hope to upgrade the system to offer inbound international travellers the option of utilising the ATMs to exchange their foreign currency for Australian dollars at current exchange rates.

Such services, when available, are intended to be bi-directionally dynamic. While funds would be charged to the debit or credit card holder’s account in their home currency, the funds actually received would be Australian dollars and the receipt would display both figures. In that manner, the cardholder making the withdrawal or cash advance would know at the time the exact amount charged to the account, rather than later through the monthly bank statement.

Source: computerworld.com.au