Foreign Currency Transaction Fees List
I just made a trip to China and one of the interesting things I learned before I left was that a credit card will often tack on a foreign currency transaction fee if you use your card abroad - this fee is tacked onto the cost of the purchase and is used to cover the foreign currency exchange, in theory. No matter what the reason, the fee still exists and it certainly would be helpful to know which card issuer charges the most and which charges the least right? So, check out the table below:
| Card Issuer | Fee |
| Capital One | 0% |
| Discover | 0% |
| Wachovia | 1% |
| Washington Mutual | 1% |
| American Express | 2% |
| Bank of America | 3% |
| Citibank | 3% |
| JP Morgan Chase | 3% |
| Wells Fargo | 3% |
| US Bank | 3% |
Visa and Mastercard automatically charge the card issuer 1% for the foreign currency transaction itself so a lot of the Visa/Mastercard cards will pass that onto the end user (which is included in the number above). Capital One is the lone exception, eating the fee, and Discover and American Express obviously aren’t on that network so don’t have that extra overhead.
It looks like Capital One and Discover are the best for this though I’d argue that you likely want to get a Capital One card because Discover isn’t as widely accepted overseas.
Print Article
Email Article
Subscribe
del.icio.us
reddit.com
Tags: American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Discover, Fees, Foreign Transaction Fee, US Bank, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo
Related Posts
- Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1409) Settlement
- Large and Shady Bank Transfers Are Reported
- Capital One Just Doesn’t Get It - Give More Rewards!
- Cash, Cheques, or Credit When Traveling Internationally
- What is an American Depository Receipt?
Did you like this article? If so, you can get all the latest articles delivered to your email inbox for free each morning by entering your email address in the box below. In addition to receiving all the published articles, you are automatically entered in every giveaway on this site. Your email will only be used to deliver this once-daily subscription and you can subscribe at any time.
24 Comments - Share Your Thoughts
Thanks for the research! My wife and I are going on a Mediterranean cruise this fall, and this will be helpful for our planning.
The banks and credit cards love these fees because nobody knows about them. Thanks for posting this. I’m actually working along side the Merchants Payment Coalition to educate consumers about interchange fees, one of biggest hidden fees out there. The industry makes over $30 billion a year off of these fees. The kicker: Only about 13 percent of the fee actually goes to transaction processing while the rest goes toward funding reward programs and direct mail campaigns.
Thankfully, congress is starting to pay attention and is willing to tackle interchange and other hidden fees the credit card companies cherish.
The fees are relatively new, since using a credit card overseas used to be the best way to travel and still get the interbank exchange rates. I was in China 3 years ago and found it difficult to use my card anywhere but ATMs (even the domestic airlines wouldn’t take them).
For myself, I didn’t realize those fees existed until I went on my honeymoon last August. It was a bit of a surprise when I got my bill at the end of the month.
Thanks for the list; next time I’m travelling abroad I’ll have to look into it again.
The implicit assumption here is that the exchange rate each one uses is the same inter bank rate? Any reason to believe one company might have a systematically higher rate (upon which the fee is added)?
I did not know about those fees. Thanks for useful information. Perhaps, it will be really better to apply for Discover or Capital One to go somewhere abroad on vacation to save some money.
I’ll second the suggestion that Discover isn’t widely accepted abroad by saying that I’m in the UK and before I started reading pfblogs I’d never heard of Discover and until reading this I had no idea it was a separate card network, I thought it was just a brand of Visa.
Thank you for your timely info. I am about to go abroad to Taiwan and Hong Kong for a month. After reading your article, I will try to use my Discover card rather than my MC, but like the previous poster said, I don’t think Discover is widely accepted outside the US. Probably non-existant in Taiwan, I’m guessing.
Hmm, if I’m looking like i’m going to be doing some out of state travelling, I’ll definitely pick up a Capital One card. Although, since I earn 5% cash back on some things via my Chase, I could still make out - if reward points are counted in foreign countries.
Jim, you should put another post about foreign ATM fees, especially since you just went to China where it’s mostly a cash-based society (can’t get cash back on that knockoff Coach purse!). I know BofA has agreements with a very small number of foreign banks in particular countries, like 5, and I capitalized on that in the UK (Barclay’s) and China (China Construction Bank) but sometimes those particular ATMs weren’t easy to find. And the deal is only good for specific ATMs in specific countries (a Barclay’s ATM outside of the UK will still charge you).
Anyways, my brother who is now going to work in Europe for the next eight months claims that Washington Mutual is the best. I think he said they don’t charge fees for money taken out at foreign ATMs. Most other banks charge at least 2% and most do 5%.
And in case anyone didn’t know, NEVER EVER EVER exchange foreign cash unless you have to. Those booths you see in airports or train stations (or even your local bank back home) will charge ridiculous fees for exchanging cash (I was left with less than $10 after exchanging $20 USD to Dutch back to USD). Stick with the ATM withdrawals in well planned amounts so you spend exactly the amount of foreign cash you take out.
Note that there’s also the BMW Visa that has 0% foreign exchange fees. Also, using it earns you 1% toward a new BMW. (Granted, not quite as useful as Cap One’s 1%.)
[...] some card issues will charge you a currency conversion fee as high as 3%, I tracked down a list of credit card currency conversion fees a few days ago - tops on the list was Capital One that had no [...]
Do they show this fee as a separate line item? Just about to go to India this week and would like my company to reimburse me for the fee that Citibank is going to charge me. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe I will find a different credit card to use.
I think that depends on the company, American Express does not (but does put an asterisk and say that they charge a fee) and I’m not sure about any others. In the beginning they didn’t even note it, the just added the fees and didn’t mark it with anything!
Hi! Travelling abroad is always great and we always need money as much as possible. To pay additional fees…Now I will be more accurate in choosing credit cards on vacation. Thanks for sharing this information.
[...] only advantage that I see with a Capital One card is the fact that Capital One does not charge foreign exchange fees (for when you use your card overseas) and they actually eat the 2% fee that Visa/MasterCard charges [...]
[...] Convenience: I don’t like to carry large amounts of cash with me. If you lose it, it’s gone. If it’s stolen, it’s gone. Credit cards are small, convenient, and carry better protection. They are also convenient to use to buy things on-line, or to buy large dollar items. Another, convenience is travel. I will be going on a cruise next week and if I use my credit cards I won’t need to exchange as much currency. Some credit cards don’t even charge a foreign transaction fee. [...]
I also have a discover card and the reason they don’t have a transaction fee is because you cannot use the card in China or Thailand, as they have no relationships with banks there. I called internationally to check specifically.
Regards cheapest international banking, HSBC has branches all over asia, such as India, Bangkok, Chengdu (gateway to Tibet) etc where one can access one’s savings or checking for free cash advances, or just simply a withdrawel from other cirrus etc. ATM’s at a nominal fee. HSBC’s service for international customers in BKK is exceptional. Unfortunately the US service is one of the absolute poorest.
Capitol One appears to have removed this verbage of no foreign transaction fee from their new card disclosures, such as No hassle Miles Ultra Reward card.
[...] you know that there was an anti-trust case brought against the major credit card issuers regarding foreign transaction fees? For those who aren’t aware of foreign transaction fees, these are fees that some card issues [...]
[...] exchanging cash at the ripoff counter at the airport. (if you have a Capital One card, you can make international purchases without that pesky surcharge, Discover too but that’s less widely [...]
I’m living and working in Beijing and Discover is by far the most widely accepted American card in China. Discover has an agreement with the national payment network China Union Pay and is accepted at almost every legitimate business in the country. Most merchants outside of tourist areas don’t know this however, and unless your Mandarin is decent, expect confusion and possibly yelling. The awkwardness is definitely worth it on larger purchases.
This clearly shows that Americans have no guts - or they are simply too stpuid to realize they’re being screwed from behind. Anywhere else in the World the people would have united in an outrage and simply stopped using the services. There are always an alternative.
The best example of this, although not directly comparative, is in Italy where they some years ago raised the price of public transportation significantly. People did not accept that and simply started not buying tickets (but still getting on the trains/busses). When they were fined, they did not pay the fine. Eventually, it all collapsed in a horrific administrative chaos and no income and they rolled the price increase back.
This sort of thing is called civil action and I don’t think Americans have used it since the 60’s. Since then, they’ve been affraid of any authority.
It’s a little more complicated than just getting a Capital One card and leaving home. We recently spent two weeks on Ukraine and Russia and had no problem using our Capital One card. Then we fly to Amsterdam expecting to withdraw Euros at the airport. I got a minimal amount from one credit card and then planned to 250.00 Euros on Capital One. It was denied. This left us without enough cash to leave the airport. The Capital One office in the US was closed (time difference) and gave us only a recording when we called the 800#. We had to wait at the airport until 7 AM ET before we could talk to someone with Capital One. They said they were sorry for the mistake and we were able to withdraw the needed cash. We were great inconvenienced and lost nearly a day. We had advised Capital One before we left home of the Countries and dates we would be visiting. Next time we travel abroad I will leave home with a fair amount of cash of each country we plan to visit.
Previous Article: « $300 Bills and Good Relationships
Next Article: Buy That Home Warranty »