The big question is what they charge for foreign exchange. Schwab supposedly charges zero, and also refunds ATM fees (although there usually are none outside of North America).

Can verify Schwab charges no exchange fees and refunds ATM fees (at least in the UK). Also, the Schwab Invest First card gives 2% cash back on top of that.

what kind of documentation exists re FX rates used?
 

Last Thursday (April 9) I bought some airline tickets issued from Seoul, Korea using my Cap1 card, and I'm concerned about the 2% difference between what I was originally informed by phone would be the USD charge and what was ultimately posted to my account (posting date Saturday). The KRW to USD FX rate noted on the statement is well below anything I ever saw on xe.net at any time Thursday, Friday or Saturday, and in lieu of other info, it appears to me that they added a 2% surcharge. At the suggestion of Cap1 telephone CS, I've written a letter asking for documentary support for the FX rate used (1,300.099 KRW = 1 USD, as opposed to a range of 1,320 - 1,356 that I observed during that period on various websites.)

I don't realistically expect to hear back anything, but I'm wondering whether anyone has had any experience re such queries ---- i.e. what type of documentation one might expect to receive to support the use of a specific rate? Thanks in advance!

I've often wondered the same thing. My guess is that you won't get back anything, but I'd love to see what you get back if you do get something. I don't think they're intentionally cheating you, though. Exchange rates are simply volatile and CapOne is constantly using different rates (I've had rates on CapOne vary by significantly more than 1% on transactions in the same currency in the same city on the same day).

a saga of three colors
 

There’s a new twist to the Schwab deal. They now have a savings account that can also be accessed via a VISA debit card. This one is black, unlike the checking ATM card, which is white (or silver), but it also offers no forex fee (or any other fee) charged by VISA or Schwab and reimbursement of ATM fees charged by the bank that owns the ATM. Like the white card, the new black one does not offer reimbursement of forex fees that may be charged by the ATM-owning bank, so avoid so-called dynamic conversion. There no limit on the number of ATM withdrawals on either the white or the black version, but the black one allows only six debits a month. For this reason, the black card cannot be conveniently used to make purchases. Purchases should be made with the greenish blue VISA credit card, which offers a 2% rebate in addition to no forex fee from Schwab or VISA. The advantage to the savings account is that it pays double the interest of the checking account on the funds left in the account. By the way, the white debit card is ‘platinum’ on the VISA scale, the greenish-blue credit card is ‘signature’, while the black debit card appears to have no special categorization.

It has been mentioned before, but bears mentioning again. A site like www.oanda.com would have FX history that gives the range a currency traded in for a given day (or week, etc.). That's where I go when I suspect a fictitious rate was used.

When I go to FXHistory on oanda.com (or xe.com) I can only find a single "interbank rate" (whatever that means) for a given day, not a trading range. Where are you finding the range? I've always just asked my commodities trader friend to pull the trading ranges from his Bloomberg. But note that you usually have to pull multiple days, since it's never been entirely clear to me which day's rate was actually used (the date of purchase? the date the transaction posted? some other date in between?).

Just received a notice today from BofA - apparently the bank is following Citi to the bottom of the barrel by adding a 3% forex fee to all foreign currency charges (old policy) and all charges that are processed overseas, even if charged in US dollars and incurred over the internet. :td:

Cap One is still the best :cool:

I'm leaving the country for 6 months and put everything into Schwab. I opened a checking, savings, and credit card (+brokerage for the 2%). Overall, they seemed like the best option... especially with fees and ease of use.

In my view, Charles Schwab Bank Visa is the best, both in terms of a higher rebate (2%) and better customer service! Penfed is second, if you qualify. CapOne is a distant third, as far as I can see.

Schwab ATM vs. Schwab Visa
 

Ok. Sounds like Schwab is the way to go for either ATM or Visa cards. That leads to the next question. Is it better to go with an ATM card and withdraw cash while traveling or use a Visa card? Obviously the downside of ATM is that you have to carry cash with you. And the downside of Visa is that you can't use credit cards everywhere. But on a purely financial basis, are the two the same? Does the 2% cash back tip things in favor of the Visa card?


And on a related note, anybody know of any way to earn miles/points for opening a Schwab acct?

-cnk

When I travel, I use my credit card everywhere credit cards are accepted unless there is a significant discount for using cash. Using a credit card reduces the amount of cash you need to carry around (which also reduces the chance of ending the trip with a bunch of foreign currency) and it gives you rewards. But you can't use credit cards everywhere, and sometimes there is a significant cash discount when shopping. So you'll need both credit and ATM cards when traveling.

Note that I also carry multiple ATM and credit cards in case one doesn't work. I usually have at least two ATM cards (preferably at least one Plus and at least one Cirrus) and at least one Visa, MC and Amex each from reputable banks. In my case, Schwab is my first choice for both ATM and credit. But I carry TD Bank and ING Direct ATM cards as backukps, and I carry CapOne Visa, Citi MC and an Amex card as backups as well, because you never know when a card won't work.


I did some searching when I opened my accounts and couldn't find anything. Let us know if you do find something, though!

As I checked today, Citibank said they would exchange at an ATM (I'm not sure if the CS rep. was giving me an example, or actual rate) would be "for example" 100 euros exchanges for 150 USD. Also, they charge 3% transaction fee for each transaction, so if you bought candy, they'd charge you 3%, if you bought a meal, they'd charge you 3% of the transaction, ad infinitum.

My question is, is it worth bringing US Dollars for the stay and exchanging at the prospective countries (I've had decent luck with Airport exchanges in Asia and MX)? How does the above Citi deal look to you (convenience vs. cost)?

Thanks!

The rate was an illustration, not an actual quote. Rates change constantly. Citi does indeed charge 3% for more ATM and credit card transactions overseas (plus $1.50/transaction at the ATM for most Citi account types). See our wiki for more details.


You will generally pay more than 3% to exchange greenbacks for local currency. Probably a lot more at the airport, where the rates are typically terrible. So if Citi is your only option, use Citi.

Is there any other, better option for us (cards don't usually arrive < a week?) that we could try? The other part of the question is the Citibank card a decent deal, if not great?

Where are Citibank's US exchange rates; can't find them anywhere?

Thanks all.