Shortly after Brexit, to take advantage of the weakened British Pound (GBP), I purchased a cruise with a travel agent in the UK, using my UA MileagePlus Explorer Visa credit card, issued by Chase, with no foreign exchange fee.
The exchange rate used by Chase, provided by Visa, was incorrect, causing me to overpay by a not insignificant amount. The transaction posted on June 26, 2016. Chase has refused to help because it is an exchange rate dispute. Visa International has also refused to acknowledge their error, despite the (unsuccessful) intervention by Channel 7 On Your Side, a consumer advocacy service provided by my local TV station.
To find historical exchange rates for mastercard and visa:
https://www.mastercard.com/global/cu...ion/index.html
https://usa.visa.com/support/consume...alculator.html
For the date in question (June 26, 2016), here are the various conversion rates from British Pound (GBP) to USD:
visa 1.436642
mastercard 1.376046
xe.com 1.367535
oanda 1.3650
usforex 1.368045
x-rates 1.367535
As you can see above, visa's rate is substantially higher than those of its competitor (mastercard) as well as the various benchmarks.
I have done further research and found that Visa exchange rates from GBP to USD were incorrect for the 4-day period from June 24 to 27, while the rates for mastercard and the other benchmarks were all correct for the same period. In addition, for the same 4-day period, visa's exchange rates were also incorrect from GBP to Euro, as well as from GBP to Australian Dollar. I did not check other currencies but assume there was a similar issue. Clearly there was some systematic error in the way Visa selects and publishes its daily currency exchange rates to have caused this issue.
When I first spoke with Chase, one of its representatives told me that other cardmembers have reported exactly the same issue with GBP to USD conversion during the same time frame. They of course referred the issue to Visa, who is rightfully the owner of the problem but unfortunately has refused to help.
I have filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Are there more effective ways to get Visa to own up to and rectify their problem?