Here's another 1% card....

Nordstrom's just converted my Nordstrom's charge card (with my approval) to a Nordstrom Platinum Visa...I just called and they claim to charge only a 1% conversion fee on foreign purchases.

Guess I'll be using this for foreign purchases and my debit Visa for cash.

While back I read where AMEX was going to refund some exchange "fees" due to improper charging. It was up until a date last fall (November???). Has anybody seen any credit on their account?

I just want to add that MBNA really stands out here. I have the M+ card, and just did the transaction. Full charge was interbank + 1%, which is much better than rates I can find at money changers/banks in Chicago.

Much much much better. :>

Are ATM foreign exchanges also subjected to the 1% univeral surcharge as well? Even if the withdrawal is done at a US-based bank with international branches (ie: withdrawing money with my Citibank ATM card at a Citibank ATM machine in HKG)? For some reason, I have always thought ATM withdrawals are better than using a no additional surcharge credit card (ie: MBNA).

LAX

I've found that I get near identical exchange rates on the same day using my Umbrellabank.com Visa Debit card at an ATM overseas, using the same Umbrella card at point of purchase, or using my Target Visa credit card at point of purchase. All come very close to 101% of the rate that day as posted on xe.com.

I agree, and that's why I'm with MBNA and why I would switch if they join the pack with higher fees. Plus, they really don't offer much in the way of airline tie-ins at present.

There seems to be a steady stream of posts here about MBNA raising their fees. Are these just rumours from people with a desire to hurt MBNA? Maybe not. But if not, perhaps future posts could quote a letter or website posting by MBNA announcing the change. These unattributed (and so far untrue) comments are unfair.

I received this form and sent it in. No word back or credit yet, though.

I just called MBNA and asked. The agent went off line for about five minutes and came back saying that an exchange fee will be instituted on "some" MBNA cards, but not on the Fidelity card. So now everyone will have to phone MBNA and ask if their card is being targeted.

As for airline cards, MBNA has both Star Alliance (Lufthansa) and oneworld (Aer Lingus), as well as several of its own travel-earning cards. Whether these will be surcharged or not is another question.

I, too, received the postcard .. but I was very skeptical of the whole matter. The website looked very 'homemade' and unprofessional.. and regardless of your choice to participate in the lawsuit, they were requesting your full information (name, address, etc) and card number. It just reeked of potential identity theft, even if it was legit.

I received the postcard and had the same concern. I called their number and checked the court reference in the material. I couldn't dig out the case they referred to, but it was in the proper format. Perhaps someone could dig deeper on the court's website and ensure that the reference is valid. That would support the post card's promise.

All these Flyertalk messages got me worried, so I called MBNA to make sure they haven't started to charge the rip-off 2% extra fee that most of the other banks are imposing now for foreign currency credit card charges. Agent checked and said they are now charging the extra fee for some cards but not for others. Fortunately, my card (Worldperks or something like that) doesn't have the new charge so I don't have to start looking for another card. But watch those disclosure notices they send with the billings. The agent said they wouldn't change the fee without notifying you (in small print, perhaps).
I think it would be a dumb move for MBNA to start charging the fee like the other banks because so many of us use the MBNA card only to avoid the 2% charge and would cancel if they changed their policy. I have no complaints about MBNA and their service has been excellent, but the lack of a foreign exchange fee is their big selling point in a very competitive industry.

The latest word from MBNA is that as of May 25th, ALL MBNA cards will charge 3% for foreign transactions. I got the same story from a supervisor.

Not the affinity cards from AAA, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Schwab

Dont know as of what date.

VISA uses RBS's less competitive exchange rate, so MC is the best overall choice.

Any Capital One MC that earns some kind of rewards is Golden since the FOREX fee will now be 0%. Another good choice would be a MC branded affinity card from MBNA that will not be affected by their recent changes. MBNA Fidelity should be one.

I called MBNA again and was told specifically that the Fidelity Investment Rewards card will attract the 3% fee. The representative gave me the following list of cards that will remain at 1% after 25 May:

AAA, A G Edwards, Edward Jones, National Education Association, Wachovia, Sun Trust, Merrill Lynch, Schwab. He didn't know if these institutions themselves would be adding charges. He also said that the MBNA American Express card would be at 0%, but then a different representative read me a statement saying that AMEX itself adds 1% and then MBNA adds no more. He said that situation would continue.

Another representative swore that there was no change at all for any MBNA cards. So, I guess we will have to wait for a few days and let the dust settle.