Beware of Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees! (2)

Posted On: October 23, 2007

By Heshan Demel, CardRatings.com Reporter

Foreign exchange fees on credit cards
should be of keen interest to those traveling beyond the borders of the United States. Exchange rates offered by credit cards may or may not be the best rates out there. Of equal and perhaps greater importance, however, is the foreign transaction fee that your credit card bill might show once you have returned home from your trip. This fee, which is often a shock to cardholders, has been increasing as of late.

Many travelers now rely on credit cards to pay for overseas travel and purchases. For many consumers, credit cards are easier to keep up with than traveler’s checks and they’re almost universally accepted now.

Foreign transaction fees charged by credit card issuers will mean you may pay a little extra for that umbrella drink in the Caribbean or that Parisian pastry.

Also, you may find surprising that purchases of certain products from websites that are based outside the United States are subject to this fee. For example, I paid for an Asian online TV service recently using a credit card. I found out that the actual processing of that transaction happened overseas using the bank there. So I was charged this fee even though I never left the U.S!

Virtually every credit card assesses an international transaction fee for purchases done outside the 50 states, and that could even include U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Visa and MasterCard charge a 1% processing fee and most card-issuing banks add additional fees as well (on top of the 1% fee levied by MasterCard/Visa).

This fee is generally a percentage of the U.S. Dollar value of the transaction. So, even if you paid 100 Euros for a meal that was actually $125.00 (U.S. Dollars), the foreign transaction fees will be assessed on the $125.00 amount.

An October 2007 survey of credit card issuers revealed the following foreign transaction fees:

American Express - 2%
Bank of America - 3%
Chase - 3%
Citi Bank - 3%
HSBC - 3%
Washington Mutual - 1%
Wells Fargo - 3%
Capital One - No Foreign Transaction Fee
Discover - No Foreign Transaction Fee (only accepted in China, the Carribean, Central America and Mexico)

Despite fee hikes in the past year or so, credit cards are often still the most cost effective payment method for overseas travel, but you should consider fees when planning your trip and budget accordingly.

Update: You maybe entitled to a refund of any Foreign Transaction Fees imposed between Feb 1, 2006 and November 08, 2006. Please refer to www.ccfsettlement.com.

Bon voyage!

We welcome your comments about credit card and other money issues in our popular credit forum!

Heshan joined our staff full time recently. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas.

He has over 9 years of banking experience with Regions Bank where he was a loan analyst. He is a member of the Arkansas Young Professionals Network and enjoys ballroom dancing, travel, and entertaining.

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