Good Money Blog

By Heshan Demel
CardRatings.com

Foreign exchange fees on credit cards should be of keen interest to those traveling beyond the borders of the United States. Exchange rates offered by credit cards may or may not be the best rates out there. Of equal and perhaps greater importance, however, is the foreign transaction fee that your credit card bill might show once you have returned home from your trip.

Many travelers now rely on credit cards to pay for overseas travel and purchases. For many consumers, credit cards are easier to keep up with than traveler’s checks and they’re almost universally accepted now.

Foreign transaction fees charged by credit card issuers will mean you may pay a little extra for that umbrella drink in the Caribbean or that Parisian pastry.

Also, you may find surprising that purchases of certain products from web sites that are based outside the United States may be subject to this fee. For example, I paid for an Asian online TV service recently using a credit card. I found out that the actual processing of that transaction happened overseas using the bank there. So I was charged this fee even though I never left the U.S.!

Virtually every credit card assesses an international transaction fee for purchases done outside the 50 states, and that could even include U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Visa and MasterCard charge a 1% processing fee and most card-issuing banks add additional fees as well (on top of the 1% fee levied by MasterCard/Visa).

This fee is generally a percentage of the U.S. Dollar value of the transaction. So, even if you paid 100 Euros for a meal that was actually $125.00 (U.S. Dollars), the foreign transaction fees will be assessed on the $125.00 amount.

A March 2008 survey of credit card issuers revealed the following foreign transaction fees:

• American Express - 2%
• 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.

Despite fee hikes in the past year or so, credit cards are often still the most cost effective payment method for overseas travel, but you should consider fees when planning your trip and budget accordingly.