Credit Card Foreign Currency Exchange Fees

[jpr9954]

On my recent trip to the Eastern Cape I took two credit cards with me. One was from Wells Fargo which is my regular bank. It was the WF Signature Rewards card. It was quite surprised when I saw my statement because it had a 3% fee for "foreign currency conversion." What made this even more surprising is that I have what they call Premier Banking which waives fees for foreign wire transfers and cash withdrawals using an ATM card overseas.

I have had this card for years and it isn't offered anymore. WF never bothered to mention that I could upgrade the card to one that had no fees for foreign currency transactions.

They now offer the WF Autograph and the WF Autograph Journey cards which do not have these fees. The plain autograph doesn't generate points as quickly as the Autograph Journey but it also doesn't have a $95 annual fee. I was able to transfer my older card to the newer Autograph card today keeping my same card number and same credit limit for no charge.

This is a bit of a head's up if you bank with Wells Fargo - or any bank for that matter - to check about these fees before you leave. They want to keep you as a customer so probably will have options without those fees.

 

[wesheltonj]

All my credit cards have no foreign transaction fees. I would not use any card that did.

The banks make plenty of money on the bid/ask transaction. I try to keep as much of mine as possible.

Thanks for the heads up for those who use Wells Fargo.

 

[mdwest]

All my credit cards have no foreign transaction fees. I would not use any card that did.

The banks make plenty of money on the bid/ask transaction. I try to keep as much of mine as possible.

Thanks for the heads up for those who use Wells Fargo.

Yep. Same.

I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to… but it’s still often enough that I purposely bank with and use credit cards from firms that do no charge foreign transaction fees…

 

[jpr9954]

It is one of those things I never considered when I chose which cards to take with me on my hunt. I only considered which cards had the highest limit in case of an emergency. This was the first time I had run into this issue as in the past any charges in a foreign currency were just converted to dollars by the card company.

Bank consolidation plays a part as well. Wells Fargo is relatively new in North Carolina. I had started with First Union (affectionately known as 1st Onion) which merged with Wachovia which then got bought out by Wells during the mortgage crisis of 2008-09. Things change with each new merger and buyout.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

I take my Cabela's card no fees

 

[BeeMaa]

Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) has no CC fees, but there are some minor ATM foreign transaction fees if not done at a NFCU branch.

I'm guessing there aren't many NFCU branches in Africa.

 

[Rando8586]

No fees on Costco Visa,but Scheels does.

 

[jpr9954]

I take my Cabela's card no fees

I checked on mine from Cabela's today as well. You are correct.

 

[Denvir Tire]

I have a Cabelas card for overseas travel exclusively, the remainder of my credit cards stay home. Trying to minimize exposure of my credit to overseas bad actors.

 

[375Fox]

Most US credit cards will charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. I’d look for a travel card with no annual fee. There are several good ones with no foreign transaction fees. I use the Amazon visa and Bank of America travel card for international travel. If you get an option at the card reader to pay in USD or local currency always use local currency with a travel card. It’s a better exchange rate.

 

[375Fox]

I have a Cabelas card for overseas travel exclusively, the remainder of my credit cards stay home. Trying to minimize exposure of my credit to overseas bad actors.

Traveling with only one credit card can be a big risk. Your card might get used for fraudulent purchases while you are on your trip for reasons unrelated to your trip. Just when they decided to use stolen numbers. You aren’t liable for fraudulent transactions if your card gets stolen. No effect on your credit.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

always a good idea to take 2 cards just in case one gets lost, stolen or your number gets stolen an keep them separate

 

[SETH RINGER]

CHASE CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS ARE NO FEE

 

[SETH RINGER]

CHASE CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS ARE NO FEE

DAMN, MIXED THAT UP. CHASE DOES CHARGE, CAPITOL ONE CREDIT OR DEBIT DOES NOT.

 

[Edster]

I will tell you that if you have a card issued by Barclays …….. leave it home!!!!!
One of the guys in our group had a Barclays card, we were on the phone for well over 3 hours with them to get his transaction processed. It kept flagging as fraud and wouldn’t process. We were even on the phone with their fraud division and it still wouldn’t go thru.

 

[Edster]

DAMN, MIXED THAT UP. CHASE DOES CHARGE, CAPITOL ONE CREDIT OR DEBIT DOES NOT.

You had it right the first time Chase doesn’t charge

 

[SETH RINGER]

You had it right the first time Chase doesn’t charge

WE LIVE IN COSTA RICA, THEY CHARGE ON BOTH MY PERSONAL AND BUSINESS..

 

[samson7x]

Reviving this thread so I don't need to start a new one on related topic:

I recall a thread about credit cards and what everyone is using for travel points to use for flights? Can't seem to find it now but what are your favorites? For personal account, not commercial and the simpler to use the better. I would love to reduce my airfare expenses for future trips.

 

[SETH RINGER]

CAPITAL ONE

 

[375Fox]

Reviving this thread so I don't need to start a new one on related topic:

I recall a thread about credit cards and what everyone is using for travel points to use for flights? Can't seem to find it now but what are your favorites? For personal account, not commercial and the simpler to use the better. I would love to reduce my airfare expenses for future trips.

How often are you flying? Airline cards sound great but for most people a card that pays cash back without a yearly fee and has no foreign transaction fees is a better deal. I use an airline card for my business because I fly frequently and the points have some tax advantages over cash back, but for personal cards I don’t fly enough and use a cash back card instead. Bank of America travel card and Amazon Prime card are good travel cards to me. There are lots other options that are nearly equal. I’d rather get 1% cash back available anytime than 1% in airline points that I can only use sporadically.