cdn_flyer

If you use ATMs and debit a lot you should check to see what other banks your's has international agreements with. ScotiaBank in Canada has agreements with Bank of America, PNB Paribas (France), Barclay's Bank (UK), Deutsch Bank and some Australian Bank. Also, ScotiaBank has branches in many places in Latin America and the Caribbean. At any of these banks you won't be charged any service charges on withdrawels so it is a pretty good bank to use.

I think they also have US dollar accounts so you wouldn't have to lock into Canadian dollars and potentially lose a lot of money, even though right now you may make money...

The drawback to Scotia is that the cards only run on the Plus and Interac systems and I've found that most international banks run on Cirrus which can make it frustrating if you're in an area where there are no ATMs that take Plus and you have no other card.

fastflyer

I can confirm that Capital One charges 0% (zero) surcharge as of March, 2005. All of my Brazilian transactions on Capital One were posted at the daily exchange rate. I didn't know that there are different rates on Visa and MasterCard, but I have a Capital One in both configurations, so I will look into that also.

acf573

I've found in general that international wire transfers are not better than credit card exchange rates. CC exchange rates are 1% with a good card. For a wire transfer, the transmitting bank usually charges ~$15, then one of the two banks will charge at least 2% to convert, then the receiving bank will charge ~$10 to receive it. Do you have a cheaper way to transfer? Otherwise it definitely makes sense to just use CCs. Unless, of course, you have other reasons to need to have local currency accounts...

Dovster

I do have other reasons for the local currency accounts but the wire transfer charges are not always a problem. I have an "Advantage" account at Bank of America and wire transfers in and out are free. I have a similar arrangement with my German account. Unfortunately, nothing is free at an Israeli bank!

wahooflyer

Another FTer mentioned that Bank of America only allows free withdrawals at Deutsche Bank locations in Germany, not in Spain and the other European countries where DB has branches. I haven't tested this myself but you might want to check with B of A before making a withdrawal at a non-German Deutsche Bank ATM.

To avoid the $5 fee and have the freedom to use any ATM I desire when traveling abroad (which for me is only a few times a year), I transfer a few hundred bucks into my PayPal account and use the free PayPal debit card, which charges only $1 for foreign ATM withdrawals. No currency exchange fee if you use it as a debit MasterCard for purchases, either...and instant 1% cash back on these purchases if you're an eBay merchant like I am.

Some online banks and credit unions also offer accounts with low, or nonexistent, foreign ATM fees.

Laserjet

There is no mentioning of Diners Club card at all. Has anyone got any idea what if they are completitive?

RustyC

Seems a lot of Visa card holders are getting confusing notices in the mail. I think it stems from Visa dropping the "hidden" 1% fee they were keeping (and which I think they got sued over) in favor of something that reads like "We pick the rate."

My credit union sent out a highly confusing notice saying that the 1% currency conversion fee was gone, but they're starting up a 1% "International Transaction Fee" that'll be broken out on the statement separately. So now you get a separate fee breakdown, Visa's probably still taking money on the rate, and there's the "international transaction fee." I wonder if the C.U. has a real cost basis that they need the fee for (With banks the answer is almost always no, but the C.U. has been good so far in not trying to invent fees).

MasterCard for now seems to be staying with the old system, so a Capital One MasterCard may be the best deal for most people. A lot depends on whether Visa gets abusive or not.

pgary

Both E*Trade Bank and AmericanBank Online offer debit ATM cards with no fee for use of a foreign ATM (though the foreign bank might charge one). Both are Visa cards. Both gave good rates (within 1% of the interbank rate) when I was traveling in Asia in January. AmericanBank will reimburse some foreign ATM fees with certain of its accounts. It has another account with no minimum balance, which I use exclusively for travel, and keep $1 in it otherwise.

wahooflyer

US-issued Diners Club cards are now charging a 3% foreign currency fee as well, in line with the rest of Citibank's card products.

wahooflyer

The answer is no in this case too. Visa is the one performing the currency conversion, not the member banks...so your CU is just trying to nickel-and-dime its customers by introducing a 1% fee of its own.

marivk

Do you think the airplane ticket charges, even though the original charge is in US, since the charges are originating out of the US, is that included in what VISA has stated that they would add a 1% surcharge?

Dovster

It has never happened to me. I have used both my Visa and my Amex to buy airplane tickets in Israel, as well as shop at the TLV Duty Free where the prices are quoted in dollars, and have never had a surcharge added.

Likewise, when I have used my German Visa card in the Euro Zone I have had no out-of-country charges (although I did when it was still working in DM.)

ziobacio

I have the Fidelity MBNA MasterCard Platinum Plus card, and just received a packet, "Important Changes to Your Credit Card Account".

I assumed that it would have info about the new foreign transaction fee, but...nothing. Changes to APR, grace period, days in billing cycle, etc., but nothing about any change for transactions outside the US in 2.5 pages of fine print.

So, for those of you who were notified of the new Fidelity MBNA fee, was it in a separate mailing? If the Fidelity MBNA MC will now be subject to a fee, it's hard to imagine why they wouldn't include it in this larger notice about many other changes to the cardholder agreement.

If they want to impose 3% by May 25, they are running out of time.

craz

Just got this card a couple of months ago when the VISA I used started to give me 1 point instead of the old 5 points. Im not a UA flyer and figured not only to save on the fees but I can pick up some CO miles as well.

Last Thurs in London my friend needed to change $$ LGW the best I saw was $205 for 100GBP. I told him to hold off as I had a few pounds to tie us over and my CC would be good for what we needed for now. Later that day i saw slightly better rates along Oxford St bet 1.99-2.01 . I ended up having have him cash it at M&S ( Marks & Spencer) where it was 1.94. Looking at my acct online now I see that that my rate thru MBNA came to 1.88 which amounts to 3% savings to me.
There is really very little that one cant buy with the CC. I still ahve 35 GBP left so that should take me thru my next trip over there as well.
akll in all the 3% savings isnt substanial but its still better in my pocket than in my banks pocket.

m3m3m3

after reading all these posts I decided to call up all my credit card companies and found out im getting taken to the bank (pun intended

my UAL visa charges 3%
Starwood amex charges 3%
citi platinum dividend mastercard charges 3%

i called capital one regarding their go cash card and they do not charge anything but stated that Visa does and were unsure how much that is.

Whenever we travel overseas, we end up putting close to $10k on the credit cards and never knew about these fees!

are there any other cards that do not charge foreign exchange fees?

If not now im gonna apply for the capital one go cash card and use it exclusively overseas.. this capital one card could save me ~$300.. thats a great dinner or a night in a hotel!