Originally Posted by Boraxo

I think this is the usual BS from Amex, but I don't have the card so I haven't wasted time trying to get a straight answer from the Bangalore call center.

With a regular AMEX card, the markup is at least 2%, and that is on top of a mediocre exchange rate. [Yes, in my personal experience, it was mediocre and far below the WSJ wholesale rates or the rates used by VISA/MC]. I can't imagine why Amex would spend money to implement a different system for processing MBNA transactions or why they would treat MBNA customers better than their own.
SNIP