All my communications with Wells is online. But I did call back in and got a better answer. They went back and removed all past conversion charges. But even the threat of halting all business with Wells didn't change the fact that their Signature card now charges 3%. :td:

Yeah, it is. Such changes to the account terms need to be put in the disclosures.

In the UK I have always used my B of A debit card for ATM withdrawls as it charges no fee at certain banks (they have a list on their website for the banks in each country where they charge no fees) and then my US bank debit card for grocery or other purchases as it charges no fee for swipe transactions (yet does for ATM cash withdrawls). I dont use Credit cards - ever, so I cant comment on which credit card would be best. But if you are on a cash only system these two are good :)

Glad to hear you got your immediate problem solved. :)

These sort of problems though are why I, electronic though I am, never agree to get my statements and notices on line. :td:

Please read our summary of this thread, which includes a lot more detail.

USAA just changed its terms at the end of January '09. They will charge 1% for all currency conversion. Too bad just found out it's not free anymore.

The Ultimate No-fee Credit/ATM Card Forex Shootout
 

The most helpful posts in this thread tend to be from folks who have actually tried head-to-head comparisons of different cards to see what the results are. It has been repeatedly shown that what the banks officially say the fees are isn't always the case AND that with recent volatility in the foreign currency markets, it's often a crapshoot what kind of rate you'll get, since rates can easily vary by more than 1% simply by virtue of a transaction being processed a day or two later.

A close friend recently visited Thailand and agreed to do several head-to-head comparisons of ATM and credit cards that are generally recommended in this thread and on the wiki. On the credit card side, he compared cards from CapitalOne (a basic cash back rewards Visa), Schwab (the new Invest First Visa) and TD Bank (an older account obtained from Commerce Bank before TD took it over). On the ATM side, he compared ATM cards on his Citigold Checking, Schwab High Yield Investor Checking and TD Bank NY Yes Checking accounts.

The methodology: When he would visit an ATM, he would withdraw money from more than one account one right after another (all from the same ATM just minutes apart). And when he checked out of hotels, he would ask the clerk to divide the bill between different credit cards. In the end, he did five 3-way and two 2-way ATM shootouts, and one 3-way and one 2-way credit card shootout. All of this was done over a bit more than a week in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

The results: From what we can tell, all of these cards are indeed fee free, but there were some subtle variations among them and our favorite for both credit and ATM usage is Schwab.

On the ATM side, for example, TD Bank and Schwab came out almost identically at every withdrawal, and Citi lagged behind every time. This is not to say that Citi charges a fee, as the difference was varied from about 0.4% to 0.8% (if they were adding a 1% fee, we would expect to see the rates occasionally vary by more than 1%), but Citi/Mastercard appeared to be using slightly less favorable rates than Schwab/Visa or TD/Visa. Note that this does not mean you will have the same results in other countries--or even during other weeks--as it is entirely possible that Visa was simply getting better THB/USD exchange rates than MC that week. But it does suggest that TD and Schwab may on average be slightly better options.

On the credit card side, we have less data, but again Schwab and TD proved the winners by a slight edge. The three-way shootout used a small amount (just 100THB), and CapOne came in at $2.86, while TD and Schwab each came in at $2.85, so it's hard to tell if the penny difference is significant or just a rounding issue. The two-way shootout, however, used a larger amount (1400THB) and yielded a more significant difference: $39.85 for Schwab vs. $40.09 for CapOne (a 0.6% spread). Like Citi, it doesn't appear that CapOne is adding any fee, and the difference may simply have to do with when the transaction was processed (although both cards are Visa cards and were swiped within minutes of each other, the transaction posted a couple days earlier to my friend's CapOne account than to his Schwab account, and exchange rates changed during the interim).

Based on this test, Schwab seems to offer the best credit and ATM card options as a primary card for most US travelers. Schwab's 2% cash back on credit card purchases, and their unlimited ATM fee rebates (if you encounter ATM fees overseas--they still aren't nearly as common overseas as they are in the US) make both their credit and checking products excellent--perhaps unbeatable--options for international travelers. TD comes very close, but since TD bank accounts aren't available nationwide, and new TD credit cards supposedly carry a 3% fee (my friend's account appears to have been grandfathered at the 0% Commerce rate following the Commerce/TD merger), TD won't work for nearly as many people reading this forum as Schwab does.

All of that said, Citibank (if you qualify for Citigold, Private Bank or other high-end accounts where they waive fees) and CapOne (ignoring their atrocious customer service) remain excellent options for overseas use as well.

edited to add: See also Part II of this shootout, with data from a trip to Mexico in December 2009.

Nice controlled experiment, themicah!
 

I'm sure it was a bit of a hassle for your friend, but it's great to have that comparative information.

One thing I can't figure out from the bofa site (or the flyerguide wiki) is whether the banks and countries listed indicate that ATMs are free for those banks only in those countries.

The site lists the following Global ATM Alliance partners:
Barclays (United Kingdom)
BNP Paribas (France)
China Construction Bank (China)
Deutsche Bank: (Germany)
Satander Serfin (Mexico)
Scotiabank (Canada)
Westpac (Australia and New Zealand)

But let's say I'm in Spain and us a Deutsche Bank ATM. Is it free? The web site states "Use your ATM card or Check Card within our Global ATM Alliance in the countries shown with no fees." so maybe it's not free in Spain, but I'm not sure. Anybody have any experiences with using BofA partners overseas who can comment?

It is only free in the home country of the partner bank. You will be charged by Deutsche Bank in Spain.

(However, if you have a card issued by Deutsche Bank, it is free at any DB branch in the world.)

FYI, Citi is now actually charging a full 3% foreign transaction fee for USD charges made outside the USA.

I have a monthly recurring charge (in USD) from an internet hosting company in New Zealand that I've billed to my Citi Mastercard every month for years. For the first time, my March statement added a 3% foreign transaction fee. I called, and they confirmed this is a new policy effective with my March statement (since I didn't reject the change of terms they sent me in January).

I guess I need to move that monthly charge over to my Schwab card...

I can confirm that as a B of A customer, using a Barclay's ATM in Dubai incurred a fee. (The usual $5 + 1%.)

Barclay's is only good for UK, the home country.

You only get fee waived when using the member bank of the Global ATM network in its home country.

I experimented with Deustche bank in Spain once and got charged the fee.

It is ironic that Santander, the biggest bank in Spain, is for Mexico, but not for Spain. In fact, the is no arrangement for Spain.

Getting Cash in Europe (Italy and Germany)
 

This thread and others has helped me understand that I may want to get another credit card with no or low foreign exchange conversion fee for credit card purchases. Rule 1: All credit card transactions use only local currency.

Who determines the exchange rate on VISA/MC credit card transaction? VISA/MC corporate or the local merchant's bank who initially processes the transaction?

Who determines the exchange rate on an ATM cash withdrawal from your checking account transaction? Can the local merchant bank charge whatever they want? Does the transaction get debited to your checking account as a local currency debit and your bank determines the exchange rate?

Thanks

I've been trying to find out more about this. But from what I can tell from reading the Visa and Mastercard annual reports to investors, when you make a purchase or ATM withdrawal in a foreign currency, the currency conversion can happen either at the Visa/MC level or at the card-issuing bank, depending on the arrangement the card-issuing bank has with the network.

My understanding is that the only time the conversion would happen at the merchant's bank would be where the merchant offers "dynamic currency conversion," and in that case you would get a receipt from the merchant with USD on it--not foreign currency. DCC almost always yields terrible exchange rates. You should never opt for it if given a choice by a merchant--especially now that US banks like Citi are tacking an extra 3% "foreign transaction fee" on these USD charges on top of the bad rates.

If anybody reading this works in the credit card world and has real working knowledge of how this works, I'd love to speak with you to better understand it.

Anybody have experience with First Republic Bank?

http://www.firstrepublicbank.com/dep...ing/index.html

It's a small bank, but owned by BofA. They state that there's no ATM fees anywhere in the world.