The $400 limit doesn't work for me as I have done over $50K in international changes on my Merrill+ visa this year. Hopefully HSBC will help me the kind of offer you received.

Which companies have you seen that do this?

CapOne allows you to apply your cash back to your account balance. I prefer to do it this way as it's less effort on my part (no need to deposit the check).

Citi, Chase and HSBC/DirectMerchantsBank all issue checks.

But we're straying a bit here from the subject of forex...

This is for purchase, not for cash advance.

Some CC provide cash back/reward programs. For a foreign transaction, do they still provide same cash back rates? For example, assume I fill gas in Eurpoe with a US issued Master card. Supposedly, I earn 5% cash back. And there should be a 3% surchage. It is still better for some AMEX card that you earn 1% reward/cash back but pay 2% surcharge.

Do these banks still give 5% cash back (in some category) for oversea transactions?

Absolutely not! A fuel transaction has to have an SIC code for fuel to be eligible for cash back of 5%. SIC codes are different internationally and are not even called SIC codes, they also do not break down to the product type. The transaction will look like a purchase at kmart to a US CC company and there is no way for them to know it was for fuel, much less anything else.

Can't you write to customer service and get the cash back anyways? I am sure the catch is that they do not advertise to us that the merchant has to classify themself as a gas station or supermarket, but instead they tell us 5% back at gas stations, supermarkets and drugstore with no clear exceptions.....but it (terms and condtions) also do not say international transactions do not count for extra cash back....I would think that this is not in good business faith on their part even though it may be the rule and no doable.

No it is clearly in the T&C that most do not read and there is a clause that all transactions are treated as per the countries T&C where the transaction is conducted. Therefore,,, NO

drbond is correct. While you occasionally may find merchants classified according to the US system (e.g., I think I once got 5% back on my Citi Dividend card for a gas purchase in Canada), most int'l merchants aren't going to show up as the 5% categories, and there's nothing you can do to appeal, since the T&Cs clearly state that the cash back is based on how it's reported, even if it's in error.

Somebody posting anonymously from a Cablevision cable modem changed the wiki the other day to say that CapOne credit cards charged a 3% forex fee. I've since changed it back, since I've seen no evidence that it's true.

Does anybody know anything about this? Did the anonymous wiki editor know something I don't know? Or was it just somebody screwing around with the wiki?

That would have been the result of a Canadian station being on the US system. There are a few of those. A couple in the Carribean as well. None anywhere else.

Capital One does not charge a fee, and doesn't even pass along the 1% from Visa.

Wonder if this will have any effect on Forex charges for non-EU Debit card users, e.g., stick it to the foreigners. You may have to register with the WSJ to read the entire story on line. Some quotes below.

MasterCard Europe to Reduce
Debit-Card Fees Amid EU Probe
By ANNE JOLIS
December 5, 2006; Page B2 Wall Street Journal

BRUSSELS -- MasterCard Europe said it would lower bank fees related to debit-card transactions by 60%, a cut that could ease pressure on the company from European Union regulators to reduce card costs to retailers.
...
The European Commission said in a statement that it would "examine in depth the new interchange-fee scheme."

MasterCard Europe said its new fee structure would take effect in January 2008. The new fee for a �50, or about $67, transaction paid with a Maestro debit card would be between nine European cents and 20 European cents (12 cents to 27 cents), down from the current 25 European cents to 59 European cents, it said.

The new fee structure doesn't apply to MasterCard credit cards.

The European Commission said in 2003 and again in June that MasterCard was restricting cross-border competition among banks by setting the fees. MasterCard benefits by setting them because it can use the tool to provide incentives to banks to promote the use of its cards.

Shouldn't have an effect on forex. In fact, it won't even have an effect on EU debit cardholders. The only people it benefits are retailers in the EU who accept Maestro.

December 2nd they said they would start charging 3% for overseas non-Citi ATM transactions.

On Thursday, the 7th I did an experiment.

Real time xe.com mid-market rate before I left home: 524.700 CLP/1 USD

Non-Citi ATM transaction for 5000 CLP done 35 minutes later.

Real time xe.com mid-market rate when I returned home two and half hours later: 524.700 CLP/1 USD

Today on my online statement the breakout:

12-07 FOREIGN FEE $ 0.10
12-07 CASH WITHDRAWAL AT NON-CITIBANK ATM $ 9.51

This is still 1% folks (actually better than 1%). I told you I thought it was impossible for Citibank to implement something like this in a matter of a couple of months.

Chao.

And I just had two withdrawals at Citibank ATMs in Buenos Aires both of which show as "NON-CITIBANK":

*NON CITI ATM CASH WITHDRAWAL
AT CITIBANK ARGENTINA Av. Santa Fe 3168

CASH WITHDRAWAL AT NON-CITIBANK ATM
Florida 746 Capita

First one already got charged the 1% fee, the second one was only yesterday so I am sure the fee will post in the next few days.