Just wondering if anyone has been back from Ireland or any part of Europe since the recient bank fee hike on overseas charges. Have you had a chance to check your credit card statement? I Am very curious how much % for each charge card purchase.

Well, wouldn't the charges on the card represent what the disclosures specified..?
Anyway, I don't think the fees kick in until later this month, for those banks that weren't charging them already.

A lot depends on your own Bank/Credit Card issuer. I was not aware of any recent increase in a Foreign Currency Transaction fee some banks charge. When I did some research last year it totalled up to 4% of the cost of your purchases. Most of the big CC issuers (like FirstCard) charge the max. Any 'recent increase' would put that over the 4% threshold. That's too much!

I have a Credit Union Check Card that can be used for credit or debit or as an ATM Card. Credit Unions usually don't charge any transaction fee for ATM Withdrawals in Europe; I don't know about their Foreign Currency Transaction fee.

Call around. There are still credit cards that only charge 1% which is what MC/VISA require. One is MBNA World Points Platinum Plus and this one also covers CDW on the car rental issue in Ireland. Just got one of these for the trip.

As I recall, some of them were slated to start 5/25/05 (those from MBNA). I don't know about any other ones, I thought that was the only company. And it should be what they said, which was an additional two pct for those folks.

It wasn't really for overseas charges, either, it was for any foreign charge. That would be any country other than your own. I know my card which did not have the increase, specifically uses the term "foreign transactions" in that section, it never uses the term overseas or anything related to continents.

>>>Travelnut,
besides the 1% from MC/Visa, there has been talk of some issuing banks saying 2%, some 3% and some stating that it may vary depending on the country and exchange rate.

Some statements full of legalese seem unclear and alot of people are not getting consise answers from their card's cust. service.

I myself was told that it was 1% plus 2% but the 2% was from the retailer/vendor and when in that country, I could ask for them not to charge it (unbelievable!). Others are receiveg different answers daily from different CSR supervisors.

>>>Christina,
you are right, it is any country other than the one your credit card is issued in. I had my specific trip on the brain at the time.(sorry)

I also thought it began in April, so I shall wait.

I will mostly use ATM, but would like to know what happens on someone's credit statement with the exchange rate, and fees...it could add up quickly!

Well on my recent trip to Ireland, 2 of the merchants pulled the dynamic currency conversion scam on me and claimed they weren't (one clerk actually lied and said the US currency figure shown was simply an approximation but that the charge had gone through in euro)...

Lo and behold in checking my charges on the web site of USAA visa, the charges had gone through with the inflated almost criminal exchange rate and to add insult to injury, USAA added or more accurately passed along the 1% fee visa is ripping people off on foreign charges even if written in US dollars.

Two e mails to the merchants threatening to take actions against them for pulling this garbage (these were not big amounts of money but my name is Tucker not Sucker) plus sending them a copy of the visa web site which clearly indicates that merchants must give customers a choice to opt out of the dynamic currency conversion scam at the point of sale and I received apologies and both merchants processed credits of the US dollar amount and re-submitted the charges in euro saving me close to 6 or 7%.....so yes the 1% visa rip off is now in effect.

We all know, or should know, that if one CCissuer can charge a higher concversion fee, and without a lot of consumer "backlash" then the other banks will soon follow suit.

As to those CC-s that currently charge a lower rate...but do those cards require an "annual fee" or any other additionals?

The so-called rip-off from banks will only remain so as long as people continue to accept that way of doing business; I'm sure the banks simply think of it as "good" business.

I agree with you...this currency conversion fee rip off was started by Providian Bank about 5 years ago..they were basically sticking their big toe in the water to see if they should go in further. When consumers didn't immediately flock to other cards showed other banks this was not a big deal and so slowly but surely they began these fees.

If consumers had all stopped using the credit cards of these near criminal banks and used only the credit cards for foreign transactions of banks such as MBNA (at the time) and Capital One, then these fees would have gone the way of annual fees..remember AT&T issued a credit card which promised no annual fee for life and consumers flocked to it and the big banks were forced to remove annual fees so that today only the big reward cards charge annual fees (as well as Amex)...if you are paying an annual fee for your credit card (other than the big reward cards) I suggest you call customer service, tell the customer service rep you are cancelling the card because you don't wish to be ripped off with an annual fee and you'll see how fast the customer rep will remove the annual fee.

Anyway when MBNA discovered customers were not flocking to their card, that most customers were following the herd to the slaughter so to speak, why shouldn't they impose the 2% rip off fee...other banks were doing it.

USAA does not charge the 2% additional fee, they do pass along the new 1% fee on foreign transactions written up in USD but their exchange rate still seems to be basically interbank rate + 1% and they do not charge an annual fee.

Some banks are starting to add conversion fees to ATM withdrawals now.

As a general rule, I use my Credit Union ATM Card to withdraw Euros from my U.S. Checking account and pay for everything in Cash. I've encountered Hotels (ex. the Temple Gate in Ennis) where owner John Madden offers a convenience of charging 'U.S. Dollar' Credit Card transactions for Tourists from the U.S.

The Convenience charge, that most U.S. Tourists pay without question, can be very costly. I declined, went out to the O'Connell Monument where there are several Bank ATM's, withdrew Euros and paid my bill in that currency. I use that tactic everywhere in Euro-land. As I mentioned earlier, my C/U does not charge any transaction fee, foreign currency or other.

Nedsireland...

What you are describing is the dynamic currency conversion scam mentioned earlier in the thread.

Let me make it clear, no merchant has the right to charge you in any currency other than your local currency unless you agree to it. Visa uses the words meaningful choice in describing this scam.

Why is it a scam? Because the terminal asks the merchant before printing the charge whether the customer has agreed to be ripped off...uh sorry to have the charge written up in their currency. This is a lie if they have not asked but it seems to be a practice in Ireland that they do not have to ask if you wish the charge written up in your currency or in euro and if you notice it well either they apologize and write up the charge properly or as I described above, they give you some sort of lie.

I have written to the Irish Tourist Board about this scam....it is my opinion that merchants should be required to put up signs saying that at your specific request, they will write up charges in your currency and state the exchange rate. Also bear in mind visa is now adding a 1% charge for transactions in a foreign country even if they are written up in your currency and mastercard will be doing the same shortly (I don't think Amex allows this scam but I could be wrong).

In the case I described, the crooked merchant tried to charge me $1.338 for a euro when it was re-submitted it was priced at $1.29 a euro and to the $1.338 visa added another 1%.

I can't stress enough that this scam will stop when people stop cooperating and allowing the merchants to screw them the way they are.

>>>xyz123
In may, (if I am understanding it all correctly) it will actually get worse!

You buy something, get "scammed" by being charged in US dollars at a much higher rate (like you said) then come home to find that Visa/MC has still added their 1% fee (that used to be a "conversion fee" and is now a "foreign transaction fee&quot so they can still charge this even if you paid the currency in the cards country of origin...

...then, in May, on top of all of this, there will be another 2% or 3% fee from the bank that your card is issued through so that they can also have their slice of the "foreign transaction" pie!

WOW! Rate for $$$ to Euro is 1.26316. That should make some travelers happy.

Just got back from a trip to Germany. As usual, my Chase/Bank One statement covering the first part of the trip was waiting. Average exchange rate for these purchases was 1.29; Exchange Rate Adjustments averaging 3.84% in US currency were added onto each bill, after application of the Exchange Rate. Makes one want to go back to a total cash system.

You know I keep reading from people how they are considering going back to cash after these credit card fees...do remember the rate for exchanging cash is much higher than even the inflated rates the cc companies are charging. After fees and all that, it would cost you close to $1.40 for €1 if you exchange cash or TC's I suspect.

I returned from my trip to London in February and was greeted with a 2% charge on my British Airways Visa (Chase) transactions - even though I was reassured by one of their ever-so-knowledgable customer service reps that they weren't charging additional fees.

Got a notice from them that is soon going up to 3% - the dirty, rotten scoundrels!

Kayb95, in SEP 2003, First USA, the predecessor or Bank One and Chase, sent a new cardmember agreement for the BA card informing us that 2% would be added to transactions in foreign currencies beginning the first day of a billing cycle that included Nov. 1, 2003. That made it 3% including the 1% Visa charge.

The rep was correct. There hadn't been a change. The 2% had been in effect for over a year.

I've been reading these threads since many of the financial institutions sent printed information regarding their "foreign currency exchange fees" and while I agree that the percentage increases are unfair, what are we really talking about here?

Unless you're a budget/backpacker traveler, assume you charge $3,000 during a 10-days trip to Europe (or anywhere) - we're talking $120 (1% to V/MC and 3% to financial institution). Might seem like a lot to some, but in the scheme of the total cost of your entire trip - if you can't afford this for the convenience of using your credit card, then why are you traveling? You've probably purchased $120 in souvenirs for yourself or others and wonder "what was I thinking?" or "what am I going to do with this?" or "whom can I give this to?"

Visa/MC has been including the 1% for as long as I can remember and nobody knew of this or if they did, complained about it. As to the financial institutions... they're been hiding their fees for who knows how long, until they were sued. Now they have to clearly define these percentages.

So either you find a financial institution that charges no fees, or you pay what they're charging. We're not talking millions of dollars here - it's your vacation. You should enjoy your time and not be counting every penny that goes on that credit card* - or just go to the foreign ATM and pay with local currency.

*remember that most of our credit cards are affinity cards = Frequent Flyer miles = free or upgraded air tickets or hotel room nights. You can't have it both ways. Get over it!

Sandi--

I'd prefer to have the $120. What is the bank now doing for me that it didn't do in the past?