FYI some banks charge high fee for foreign ATM withdrawals
 

Chase - 3.5% and $3.00 - $5.00 international withdrawal fee, applied to all types of account.

Bank of America - 2 to 3% and $2.00 - $5.00 international withdrawal fee. Though BoA has an ATM netowrk that for example if you take cash out from Scotiabank in Canada, there is no international withdrawal fee. The high end of fee applies to accounts based in Florida.

Because of the above, I recently opened an account with Wachovia - they only charge 1% (so far) and 2 free withdrawal on non Wachovia ATM per statement cycle.

Will be in Canada in September. We also always have some CAD. Will see how it works out with our newly open Wachovia account.

I recently received the MBNA Charles Schwab Visa card.

The disclosure pamphlet says there's NO FX fee.

How can that be? I thought all MBNA cards went up to 3%.

Comments?.......

I've used Amex internationally for a long time at 2% - that is my max for FX fees. I just dumped my MBNA card because they cranked it to 3% (this was for my Quantum card, supposedly their best customers - not anymore!).

I use Citibank for my checking account, and they charge 1% on foreign ATM withdrawls, and $2 for a non-Citi ATM (international or domestic). No $2 fee if you use a Citibank ATM (but you still get nailed with the 1% over interbank), which can be quite plentiful in certain countries.

Washington Mutual is still charging Interbank on ATM withdrawls (when I talked to them last week) but with a $4 ATM fee.

My MBNA Merrill Lynch Visa is not charging FX fees either. This is even better than a year ago when they were charging 1%. There seems to be other MBNA cards that aren't charging too. My friend has a UCLA Alumni Visa with no FX fees. It seems to depend on the affiliation.

I have called MBNA several times and they told me ALL of their cards are at 3% now (i.e. Merril Lynch, Fidelity, etc)

Apparently they are very sure of their answer as they immediately knew what to say without asking their superior or looking it up.

By the way, I now use an AmericanBank.com ATM/Visa overseas.

For ATM fees, they'll compensate you $6/month even with overseas withdrawals (1% FX)

With the Visa portion of the card they charge 1%.

Well from experience, as of 2 weeks ago, they did not add FX fees to my charges in the UK. Also no additional charges to my purchases in HK. I have heard others say the same with some other MBNA cards.

I am extremely in hearing an insider's perspective on what will happen to cards like the MBNA Charles Schwab once BoA gets to consolidating offerings. I know for sure that the Charles Schwab charges 1% at this time, and have a strong hunch that the AAA/Merrill does the same for now. I am not so sure about Wachovia, Fidelity, and Suntrust. Most remaining MBNA cards have been bumped up to 3%.

Going to Europe very soon. I have both Amex and United Visa. Amex = 2%, Visa 3%. Since credit cards use the interbank rate, is it better still paying everything with credit card or buying cash prior to trip or visiting local ATM in europe. I would figure credit card is still best option?

Almost certainly!

ATMs have the ATM fee as well as the conversion, so I find them second best, but they're still head and shoulders over trying to convert cash.

As to buying cash (a wad of pounds or euros, I suppose you mean?) before departing the US, if you can find a bank that charges under 2% conversion fee, have at it. However, for major purchases (hotels, expensive gifts, etc.) the credit card is probably still better because of the "float", the miles/points, and the remedies in case of rip-off (cash is just plain gone in such cases).

Went to BofA to buy Euros this Spring and found the exchange rate used for this service costs you close to 10 %. Yes I said 10 %!

This doesn't bode well for MBNA cards.

Scroll down here to Foreign Transaction Fees and you'll find five banks that impose no fees.

Just got back from St. Maarten and all our charges on Capital One Go Miles Visa showed up exactly as expected (no fees at all); our receipt shows $300 and so does our statement, $30=$30, etc.

Just called CapitalOne this week - CapitalOne charges NO forex fees. Not even the 1% fee charged to the bank by Visa/MC. The CSR obviously had a script touting this advantage when I asked. This was right before he tried to upsell me on some protection scheme or another, so some things don't change.

It used to be that the Visa/MC 1% was hidden inside the exchange rate, and the banks were allowed to add their own fee of 1-3% on top of that. Now (since the outcome of the class action lawsuits) the CC companies are required to break out the 1% forex fee and charge the bank. Banks separately charge the customer a fee of up to 3% (or more) but it must be separately broken out and not hidden in the exchange rate.

My Credit Union (Navy Federal) still only has a 1% fee.