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International Transaction Fees

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Welcome back!

Cardholder Fees On Foreign Transactions !!!!

Planning a vacation out-side of the United States ??? Planning a large ecommerce purchase from a foreign country ???? Well be prepared to pay a “International Transaction Fee” if you are using your credit card. These fees are charged by issuing-banks to cardholders who make purchases outside of the United States and may include US Territories, such as the Virgin Islands or St. Thomas.

Keep in mind that the fee is based on US Dollar Amount of your purchase, ie.. if you make a purchase in Europe at $100 Euros, your fee is based on $125 US Dollars after the currency conversion. With the current value of the dollar being at historic lows, you may want to take this into consideration when planning major overseas purchases.

Fees may vary between different issuing banks, with Capitol One claiming they do not charge any fee on foreign credit card transactions. Here is a list of popular issuing banks published at CardRatings.Com, with their current fees for international purchases:

A January 2009 survey of credit card issuers revealed the following foreign transaction fees:

American Express - 2.7%
Bank of America - 3%
Chase - 3%
Citi Bank - 3%
HSBC - 3%
Washington Mutual - 1%
Wells Fargo - 3%
Capital One - No Foreign Transaction Fee !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Discover- No fees. Accepted in China, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and certain parts of Europe. Note: Discover is adding a 2% fee on May 1, 2009.

CARDHOLDER’S BEWARE:

We hope this saves you a huge surprise when receiving that credit card statement after making that large foreign purchase. Reading that fine-print in a cardholder agreement is never easy, but knowing the facts can keep you from falling into a trap.

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