"TKM" wrote:
>Since then, I have found
>that virtually all other cards have or have recently added such a fee and it
>ranges from 1% to 3%.
Minor point of clarification: There are really two fees involved. One is from
Visa or Mastercard International. It used to be considered a fee for converting
from one currency to another and was approximately 1% more than the wholsale
rate on the date of posting (not necessarily the transaction sale date). Now,
since some international businesses convert charges to dollars themselves, both
MasterCard and Visa call it something else and charge it anyway.
On top of that, many banks charge a premium for foreign charges that runs from 1
to 5%. Then again, many do not! While its impossible to avoid the first charge,
your challenge is to find a bank that doesn't add on more. |