Reimbursement for foreign conversion fees
 

I've read a lot of this thread since I do have foreign transactions charges. I did a search here and elsewhere on FT for "settlement", but did not notice any posts about the class action lawsuit to recover some of the foreign conversion charges that Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa have made us pay since 1996. I received an extra form in my mastercard and visa bills last month, but no one here seems to have mentioned it yet. If it is covered elsewhere, the moderator can move or close my post. If you are interested in recovering some of the foreign conversion charges and it seems many of you have had substantial charges, see the link below.


https://www.ccfsettlement.com/claim/


-outoftown

Charles Schwab seems to be good, but lately it depends on your luck and it becomes a YMMV situation. Someone claimed not being charged any fee, while others said 1%. I've also heard that Discover card is free of charge.

Thanks for the link, outoftown. I didn't know anything about this and haven't been sent anything by any of my issuing banks.

I think I'll submit my claim manually on paper...not comfortable with putting my bank account numbers online.

BMW Visa now assesses a foreign transaction fee
 

Older account holders may be grandfathered in some manner, but new applications are not.

Capital One NoHassle GoCash (1% + 0.25% bonus)
 

would be the best choice for now since Capital One doesnt even pass along the 1% FOREX fee that MC and VISA charge them.

This is better than PenFed 1.25% cashback since PenFed passes along the 1% fee, so just 0.25% cashback on overseas purchases.

Received letter from FIA (who handles Schwab Visa), effective May 1, they charge 2% that is in addition to the 1% of the Visa fee. So Schwab Visa eventually becomes inline with all other MBNA/BofA cards which charge at least 3%. I updated the Wiki accordingly.

It really does not matter if Discover charges a fee or not as they are not accepted any where except the US/CAN/CAR.

I'm pretty sure that Discover is more widely accepted in China than Visa, MC or AMEX due to some recent partnership with a major Chinese credit issuer. I forget the name right now, but I read something about this a few months ago.

-Jeff

Yes, Discover is in the process (perhaps finished by now?) of rolling out acceptance with China Union Pay throughout the PRC. Outside the US, China, Mexico and the Caribbean, however, the Discover card remains essentially useless:

http://www.discovercard.com/discover...shtml#general1

Settlement
 

Thanks outoftown. My search found your post only. It is certainly not clear what we will get back, but a lot of money seems to be at stake. ($135 Million
in the settlement notice). Luckily I keep all my charge records back to 1996, so now I have some work to do.

Note - The deadline for submitting the form is January 2008

Two more questions I have:
1. How do the credit cards charge their fees? I've studied my statements from time to time, and haven't figured it out. I haven't yet read this long thread, and I'm sure when I do, that will help.
2. What did the companies do wrong to lead to this settlement? I have
no idea.

1. Some CC companies just build it into the cost of the transaction. So if you made a charge in Euros equal to $100, they might just list it as a $103 charge on your card. These days most CC companies will break it out somehow, either in the transaction description, or by putting the $3 in the finance charges at the bottom of your statement.
Read the wiki to learn more about how the fees work without reading this whole thread.

2. They encouraged customers to use the cards overseas without disclosing that they were charging 1-3% fees.

I called AMEX a couple of weeks ago to inquire about fees on a personal card, and the rep informed me that the fees are currently still at 2.0%, but will be going up to 2.5% sometime this year (think he might have said May or June??).

I was calling specifically about the Delta SkyMiles card, but I think he may have said it's for all personal cards.

HSBC MC now charging 3%?
 

I just received an offer in the mail for an HSBC (USA) Cash or Fly Rewards Mastercard. In the fine print, the offer states that a 3% fee will be imposed on foreign currency denominated transactions.

Not too long ago HSBC was charging only 1%.

when I got this card a few months ago they didnt say anything to me, nor have I gotten anything in the mail about it as yet. The reason I got it was for the 1%

HSBC USA is not know for integrity, run, run while you still can.