Best credit card for Overseas transactions (lowest currency conversion fee)

mmerlin

mmerlin

When purchasing goods or services in a non-australian currency (e.g. over the internet), the credit card companies charge a currency conversion fee.

I was wondering if those of us here who buy goods overseas using their credit cards could compare our bank statements to find which company charges the least % rate as a conversion fee.

Here are two to start the ball rolling:

- Virgin/Westpac Mastercard: 1.0%

- National Australia Bank Visa (Classic): 1.5%

I would be especially interested if anyone knows of a credit card that charges less than a 1% currency conversion fee.
 
Now Virgin/Westpac are same as NAB

I was notified by Virgin today that the "foreign currency transaction fee" on their credit card will now be raised from 1% up to 1.5%

Does anyone know of any credit cards that have a foreign currency transaction surcharge of less than 1.5%?

The 0.5% increase is significant because I spend tens of thousand of dollars per year on credit card transactions originating overseas (mostly the USA).

I have written to Cannex to see if they will consider collecting this information.

In the meantime if anyone has any other knowledge of what the rate for this fee is on their credit card, please post it here.
 
I wrote to Cannex and a friendly person there name Julie ran a report from their professional online service.

She forwarded it on as an HTML document and I have uploaded it here for all to see.

It's a very comprehensive list!

She did say they had not yet received notification about Virgin Mastercard increasing from 1.0% to 1.5% so she was forwarding that snippet of information on to their Data Operations team to follow up.
 
quiggles said:
Thanks for this mmerlin - I'm just about to head oversea with Westpac Visa and a Virgin Mastercard.
Click to expand...
Hi Quiggles,

It looks like you will be 0.5% better off using your Westpac Visa.

I am going to investigate some of those that have a "nil" in the purchase column. :)
 
Thank you mmerlin

quiggles said:
Thanks for this mmerlin - I'm just about to head oversea with Westpac Visa and a Virgin Mastercard.
Click to expand...
Ditto!!! :D Although I'm armed with my NAB Visa (classic) @ 1.5% ;)
 
mmerlin,

Thanks.

Strange, don't remember getting a letter or such to say my CBA M'Card had risen to 1.5%. Used to spend a bit too from USA.

Someone on here, forget who, a while back suggested using this mob for o'seas trans.

www.ozforex.com.au

Havn't tried them yet as have had no need lately.

A86
 
Overseas ATM withdrawals

I asked my bank "Metway" today what they charge was for withdrawals at foreign ATM's when you are O/S.

$5 flat charge... Happy with that :)
 
List update

For those who are interested, I have updated the list with the following

ANZ Low Rate Mastercard - was originally listed as Nil, but in fact it is 1.5%

Updated St George Bank from 1.5% to 2.5% (as per advice above from Smile)

Updated Virgin Money from 1.0% to 1.5%

I feel like a bit of a goose because on the advice of the original Cannex list, I went ahead and opened an ANZ "Low Rate Mastercard" which was listed as having 'nil' foreign currency conversion fee.

When the "letter of offer" arrived, I read that the currency conversion fee is actually 1.5% (just like all the other ANZ cards).

So don't trust the list implicitly, use it as a guide only, and verify the rate with the issuing bank BEFORE you apply for a card.

On the plus side, the ANZ application was really easy, filled in the online form on a Sunday and the card arrived on a Tuesday, I had to go into the branch to activate it which took 15 minutes and they even had bowls of chocolate easter eggs in which I freely partook.

Anyway, I am going to keep the ANZ card and close my other cards.

Now, which card should I apply for next...

Surely SOMEONE will give me a card with nil conversion fee! :D
 
It seems Adelaide Bank's is 2% instead of Nil as per sheet. I think I'll just stick with what I've got (Woolworths Ezy M/C).

Kind of on the same subject; what do people find best when o-seas in Europe (UK and "Euro" countries)? Pay everything on Credit Card where possible, and use the Cirrus or Maestro (whichever is the normal banking one) network to draw out cash? Or exchange currency elsewhere? Or use Travellers Cheques? Or ......?

I'm going in May, and would like to know what's most cost-efficient and/or convenient.

Thanks

Martin
 
Thanks for puting that together mmerlin.

We are about to go on an overseas trip. I was thinking of using our Citibank VISA card. That was until I looked at the list and realised that it has one of the most expensive fx conversion rate! :eek:

I will look into using a different card now.

Cheers,
 
Martin Vdb said:
It seems Adelaide Bank's is 2% instead of Nil as per sheet. I think I'll just stick with what I've got (Woolworths Ezy M/C).

Kind of on the same subject; what do people find best when o-seas in Europe (UK and "Euro" countries)? Pay everything on Credit Card where possible, and use the Cirrus or Maestro (whichever is the normal banking one) network to draw out cash? Or exchange currency elsewhere? Or use Travellers Cheques? Or ......?

I'm going in May, and would like to know what's most cost-efficient and/or convenient.

Thanks

Martin
Click to expand...

Martin,
I was in Europe for xmas and found that Visa was accepted nearly everywhere and I didn't notice any O/S transaction fees on my monthly statement.
I did notice though that the exchange rate was not the best on my VISA purchases but it didn't matter much as I had already saved money by not buying travellers cheques.
If you take cash the Aussie $ is best, you also get better exchange rates for cash than travellers cheques. Shop around as exchange rates vary between banks.
When you run out o cash you can always withdraw cash from an ATM.
Cheers
 
mmerlin said:
Hi BV,

What bank is your VISA card with?

Just curious, as I am looking for a new one (in case anyone hadn't noticed)
Click to expand...

Hi mmerlin,
I used the VISA that I got with my STGEORGE PORTFOLIO LOAN (LOC)
its called VISA CLASSIC and its not on your list.
I guess it would be similar to the START LOW STAY LOW one

I've got 3 c/cards but I am disciplined ;) and only use this one.
Its main purpose is to provide us with bank funds (OPM :D )
to do all our purchasing and it automatically gets paid off every month.

Fees is one thing to consider but the purpose of getting a c/card
and the convenience factor should also be carefully examined.

Cheers
 
Hi BV, thanks for the clarification.

I am not using my credit card all that much in Australia (I mainly use cash and eftpos).

However I am using my credit card to purchase approximately $35000 a year in goods and services, from overseas (mainly the USA).

Most credit cards charge a currency conversion fee on every transaction I make that originates with an overseas company.

The card I was using increased their fee 0.5% on overseas transactions, which represents an extra cost to me of about $175 a year.

If I can find and obtain a credit card that charges 'nil' currency conversion fee then I will be better off by approximately $525 a year.

I guess I am just penny pinching in a way, but I feel happier if I am getting the best deal possible. :)
 
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