I'm not shocked nor am I against paying something for the service. There IS value for me in being able to access money while standing in a small town in the outer reaches of Turkey...as I was 2 weeks ago.

But I also believe in transparency. I would like them to SHOW me the additional charges...list the 1% VISA fee, the international service fee..whatever. That way I can decide if it is good value or not. Rarely do people read the small print...don't hide it in there. That's why people say "I pay nothing" when they look at their bill. Akin to the exchange bureaus'..."no fee" claim.

Which also leads to another thread for another day about mutual fund fees paid to brokers....but not shown to the customer. If you have to hide it...I'd like to know why.

Robespierre, I hope my comments weren't interpreted as believing that such things don't cost the banks anything. I just felt it was easier to say "even if it doesn't cost them a pennny" it's still worth it to me, than argue about how much it does cost them.

I've been in business and I know the hidden costs of being in business. It always irritated me when people reacted like there was no reason to mark up above my cost of merchandise. Or that whatever I sold something for above my actual cost on it was going into my pocket. Huh? Those markups have to do everything -- from pay the rent and the electricity to salaries, insurance, taxes, accounting, advertising, and everything else. It's really funny that people think all those things just come free, I guess.

>what is the justification for this 3% flat surcharge on foreign transactions.<

I don' need no stinking justification. You don' like it, get another card.