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Now that Visa and MasterCard will no longer be charging their 1% foreign currency conversion fees to customers, banks such as Bank of America and Chase have amended their cardholder agreements to assess a 3% conversion fee of their own to customers using their cards outside the US. In theory, this won't increase fees for these banks' cardholders; rather than the 1% Visa/MC charge + 2% bank add-on, the bank will simply be charging 3% on its own.
MBNA and a few other card issuers never charged the additional 2% for foreign currency charges, making them an excellent value to use while abroad.
Has MBNA announced any new policy regarding foreign exchange fees? Will they be charging 1% now that Visa/MC isn't doing so; will they raise the fee to 2% or 3%; or will they let it stand at 0%?
My girlfriend is thinking of applying for an MBNA card and a continued low FX fee will be the tipping point for her. Thanks for any info you might have.
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I have not heard anything and I use the MBNA World Points card on a daily basis for doing business in Europe. If they increase the fee I would dump the card as the points are not worth much. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!!
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I have the MBNA Worldpoints card and called to inform them I was traveling to Italy and asked if the conversion fee was still 1%. The person said yes it was but that it would be going up to 3% in the near future, he thought April. Fargo
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Ouch. I hope not. My girlfriend just applied for the MBNA Amtrak card last week for her trip to Europe at the end of April.
At least the card will be useful to her even if MBNA raises the FX fees to 3%, as she travels frequently on Amtrak's intra-California routes and accumulates lots of Amtrak points anyway.
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I just called My MBNA card to confirm and was told that it was not going to be increased by the person I spoke with. I hope that is correct. Fargo
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In case MBNA raises the fee, then what are the other alternatives?
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Capital One currently doesn't charge an extra currency conversion fee, but they're known for giving ridiculously low credit limits to new customers ($300 is the most common!) and have mediocre rewards programs.
Most credit unions' cards also don't assess the extra 2% fee.
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Effective April 1 stating they will add "up to 3%" to foreign currency transactions.
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Capital One does offer a Platinum card with reasonable credit limits (5000 and up). I use it strictly while abroad (use AMEX for points while in the US), and AFAIK the fee remains 0%.
The Capital One awards scheme is not linked to an airline, but is instead a program where a travel agent can use your accumulated points at $0.01 per point to buy a revenue ticket on any carrier.
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Capital One does offer a Platinum card with reasonable credit limits (5000 and up).
Probably only if your FICO score is 750 or above. Over on creditboards.com, I've seen people with reasonable FICOs (650-720 range) who hold other cards with reasonable limits have gotten $300 toy cards, with the "Platinum" designation," from Cap 1.
My father (FICO 770 or so) did get a $5000 Cap 1 card a few years ago, but people with credit scores that high are the exception, rather than the rule. His Amex card has been reporting to the bureaus since 1976, and he's had mortgages on his reports since 1986, so such history is a big plus in his case.
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USAA Cash Rewards card only charges the 1% from Visa.
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Probably only if your FICO score is 750 or above. Over on creditboards.com, I've seen people with reasonable FICOs (650-720 range) who hold other cards with reasonable limits have gotten $300 toy cards, with the "Platinum" designation," from Cap 1.
My father (FICO 770 or so) did get a $5000 Cap 1 card a few years ago, but people with credit scores that high are the exception, rather than the rule. His Amex card has been reporting to the bureaus since 1976, and he's had mortgages on his reports since 1986, so such history is a big plus in his case.
Are FICO scores above 750 the exception? I thought most people had 750+. I thought you had to have delinquencies to have a score lower than that.
In any case, my buddy got a Capital One recently (on my recommendation for its low foreign transaction fee of 0%) "Platinum" with a 2500 dollar limit, which is really quite low. However, it does what it needs to do, as everything else goes on a miles card. Mine has been kicking around for years, and I have no idea what the initial credit limit was.
Is Capital One the only credit card remaining with a 0% surcharge on foreign transactions?
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Are FICO scores above 750 the exception? I thought most people had 750+. I thought you had to have delinquencies to have a score lower than that.
I believe the average FICO is somewhere between 700 and 720. 750 or higher is relatively rare---to get a score like that, you have to have a long credit history, with at least one account open for 15 years or more and of course, no delinquencies and low debt-to-available-credit ratios. FICO does not consider income at all, so an elderly woman who makes $20,000 a year may have a much better credit score than a young investment banker who makes $500,000 a year.
It's definitely possible to have a FICO below 700 with no delinquencies. I haven't checked my score recently but I've only had credit (credit cards and student loans) for 3 1/2 years, and I'm somewhere around 680. Once my accounts age, I'm sure my score will improve.
Generally, to get the best interest rates on mortgages, I've heard that a score of 720 is necessary.
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The median FICO score is 720 and it is considered the cutoff for the very best interest rates. I have a 760 FICO with only a few years of credit history. But I think the number of people above 720 starts falling pretty fast. 850 is perfect and above 800 is very rare. The big driver is available credit vs. your average balance.
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Interesting discussion of FICO. And of Capital One, for that matter.
What do the big US card-issuing banks surcharge on non-USD transactions:
Capital One charges 0%
MBNA charges 1% may increase to 3%
BankOne?
Citibank?
Bank of America?
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I've got a CapOne card with a $10,000 limit and as important for me a 2% annual rebate (not sure why the rebate was offered to me, but I grabbed it when they offered it). I've switched almost all of my purchases (except gas and groceries -- 5% rebate with CitiRewards and overseas to an MBNA 1% rebate card) to the CapOne card. I'd not realized that CapOne doesn't add on to foreign transactions, but will probably use it for those now as well.
My FICO ranges from 790 to 800 depending on who knows what.
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BankOne?
Citibank?
Bank of America?
Currently = all 2% plus Visa/MC 1% so 3%
After April 1 = all will add 3% now that Visa/MC won't be charging 1%
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Argh... One thing I've appreciated about MBNA is their very low currency conversion rate... I'm disappointed if they decide to join everyone else in charging 3%
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So the concensus is that Capital One is the only card with ZERO currency conversion fee?
Also, I have a BoA - formerly Fleet - Mastercard, and my latest statement has a cryptic note on it saying,
"The section of your Cardholder Agreement called "Payments" is being clarified to reflect that effective April 2, 2005, transactions that are converted from foreign currency into U.S. Dollars will no longer have an increase of 1% included in the transaction amount."
I don't know if that means BoA is only charging their original 2% or what.
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So the concensus is that Capital One is the only card with ZERO currency conversion fee?
Capital One is definitely not the only card charging 0% for foreign purchases.
MBNA, Nordstrom (yes they issue a Visa card in addition to their store cards), Target (ditto), and most credit unions do not assess an extra currency conversion fee.
It's typically only the big banks---Citi, Chase/Bank One, and Bank of America---that charge 3%.
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Watch out for Capitol One as they do hard inquiries on all three credit reports before issuing a card. Most card issuers only pull one report
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So the concensus is that Capital One is the only card with ZERO currency conversion fee ?Some 10% of MBNA credit cards will keep the same currency conversion fee, notably AAA, Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, and Fidelity. Still unclear whether they will now be 0% since MC and VISA no longer charge 1%, or whether MBNA will now add 1% to these few cards.
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In addition, MBNA confirmed that AAA, Wachovia and Suntrust MBNA cards would not be increased at the moment, that they will eat the fees, according to the rep.
This leads me to a point I don't yet understand:
1. Is Visa/Mastercard raising the 1% to 3% for native foreign transactions
OR
2. Is Visa/Mastercard raising the fee from 0% to 1% for the dollar denominated transactions overseas? (e.g. Pay in France in Dollars).
Thanks for the help.
Rob
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1. Is Visa/Mastercard raising the 1% to 3% for native foreign transactions
OR
2. Is Visa/Mastercard raising the fee from 0% to 1% for the dollar denominated transactions overseas? (e.g. Pay in France in Dollars).
Neither. Starting today, for U.S. cardholders, Visa and MasterCard convert all transactions made in a foreign currency to U.S. dollars at the prevailing interbank rate, with no added fee. It's up to the individual banks (such as Chase, Citi, Bank of America, et al.) to add a currency conversion fee of their own. The three aforementioned banks are now adding 3% to all purchases in a foreign currency, while MBNA and Capital One still don't add any extra currency fee, effectively putting them at a 0% transaction fee for those same purchases.
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Some 10% of MBNA credit cards will keep the same currency conversion fee, notably AAA, Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, and Fidelity. Still unclear whether they will now be 0% since MC and VISA no longer charge 1%, or whether MBNA will now add 1% to these few cards.
Where did you get the 10% figure from?
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Since 4/1, I've made a phone transaction for theatre tickets in GBP and have used the card here in Japan. When I checked online, each transaction appears to be posted in dollars at the interbank rate for that day. Really a nice surprise, especially with the dollar on the rise, there is a noticeable savings over what I'd planned.
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Same here..From down under, sunny Australia, charged a few small items and found no %3 fee, usually pennies difference when I checked.. http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi.. the same day.
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The 3% fee wont start till May 25th for those MBNA cards affected.
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The 3% fee wont start till May 25th for those MBNA cards affected.
Which MBNA cards will be affected with this new fee?
Sorry, I'm still confused. :confused:
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WOW, the large charge at the ryokan yesterday went through at 108.36 YEN. No more ATM for me. My bank only gave me 106.11 yen Monday.
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Which MBNA cards will be affected with this new fee ?No complete list yet exists. MBNA Merrill, NEA Quantum, Schwab, SunTrust/SunCredit seem to be exempted. But there probably are others, maybe the Fidelity Rewards.
If you dont soon get a snail mail about it, your MBNA card is NOT affected.
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What about Amtrak? :confused:
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Someone posted in Miles Buzz that they received written notice that MBNA Amtrak will be 3% on May 25th.
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Someone posted in Miles Buzz that they received written notice that MBNA Amtrak will be 3% on May 25th.
that is correct. I have the Amtrak card.. the 3% foreign fee will now shift my spending to my cards that only charge 1% or less.
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I called MBNA today about my Quantum card, and the rep told me that the fee did apply to Quantum accounts. He also said that the fee would be a separate line item on the statement and not just tacked onto the transaction, which will suck mightily for reimbursement. I haven't received notice of the change yet and am hoping that he's wrong.
First they stopped issuing the opaque cards, and now this...
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Yes, the fee applies to all non-affinity Quantum accounts, but affinity Quantum accounts like NEA are not going to 3% at the present time.
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I have an MBNA Elite Rewards card, and I just got my notice in the mail. Looks like it's time to apply for the Fidelity branded card -- will also call MBNA and tell them I'm voting with my feet/pocketbook.
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No complete list yet exists. MBNA Merrill, NEA Quantum, Schwab, SunTrust/SunCredit seem to be exempted. But there probably are others, maybe the Fidelity Rewards.
If you dont soon get a snail mail about it, your MBNA card is NOT affected.
Is there a way to find out exactly what cards are exempt? Has anyone compiled a comprihensive list. I wish MBNA would tell that on their web site.