This seems to be an ongoing issue of discussion. Per today%26#39;s %26quot;Washington Post%26quot;:
All VISA cards are subject to a 1% surcharge for purchases in foreign currencies, regardless of the issuing bank. MasterCard and American Express are subject to a 2% surcharge.
The issuing banks may add an additional fee. Citibank has just increased its fee to 3% (plus the 1 or 2% from the credit card company).
CAPITAL ONE and MBNA do not charge an additional fee for foreign currency purchases.
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My last Bank of America VISA bill came with a note that theirs is increasing from 1% to 3%. I won%26#39;t be using THAT card!
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Thanks for that info, Truffaut.
Good to know!
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Truffaut,
Do you happen to have the link or website that article was on? I%26#39;ve been getting a lot of %26quot;change in terms%26quot; on my credit cards lately having to do with currency conversion and even foreign purchases in US dollars!
Thx!
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The following is excerpted from The Washington Post (3/13/05). I don%26#39;t want to violate any copyrights, but the only other way to view this column is to get a free Washington Post password.
COMINGANDGOING
Sunday, March 13, 2005; Page P01
WALLET WATCH
Playing Your Cards Right
Because he reads the small print on his credit card statements, Charles Weber of Alexandria noticed a %26quot;change in terms%26quot; alert on his latest Citibank MasterCard bill: %26quot;For each purchase made in a foreign currency, we add an additional finance charge of 3% of the amount of the purchase after its conversion into U.S. dollars.%26quot;
Weber, in addition to being angry, was curious. %26quot;How prevalent has this policy become?%26quot; he asked CoGo in an e-mail.
Increasingly prevalent. The nonprofit advocacy group Consumer Action last spring surveyed 45 companies that issue credit cards and found that 26 were adding currency conversion fees -- up from 17 the year before. What you need to know:
��� When converting overseas charges into dollars, Visa uses the wholesale exchange rate plus a 1 percent conversion fee. MasterCard and American Express add 2 percent.
��� The companies that issue Visa and MasterCard may add another fee, typically 1 to 3 percent. (American Express issues its own cards.)
��� Issuing companies that don%26#39;t add an extra fee: Capital One, MBNA and numerous smaller banks and credit unions.
��� Among issuing companies that do charge an extra fee: Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Manhattan and Wells Fargo.
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Was just reviewing my Capital One cardmember agreement and noticed that they, too, will be adding what they call a %26quot;finance charge%26quot; for foreign currency transactions. I called them and they were not able to tell me when this would take affect. They told me it would be a percentage of each transaction and that I would be notified that there had been a change in my agreement and the amount of the percentage, before I was charged. I hope that%26#39;s correct as I intended to use that card when I travel to Italy in 4 days! Hard to believe they don%26#39;t have any more information, though???
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There was an article in the Washington Post 3/27/05 that MBNA will begin charging a 3% foreign exchange rate surcharge. I called MNBA and they confirmed the charge will become effective 5/25/05.
If anyone has a credit card company that is not charging these fees, please post.
CN
PA
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CapitalOne does not charge the fee.
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Credit unions by and large also do not charge added fees. We just opened a savings account and new visa card with our local CU. Both cards have currency exchange fees of 1% (the standards Visa/MC chanrge) with no other per transaction or added rate surcharge. As a bonus, we can now travel with a set of %26quot;primary%26quot; cards and also bring our %26quot;regular%26quot; ATM and credit cards to be stashed with the passports for emergencies (like if the primaries are lost or damaged).
I also like the idea of using an ATM card linked to a %26quot;travel%26quot; account that we stock before departure with a limited amount of funds rather than to our main accounts through which a substantially larger portion of our assets are potentially reachable.
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