Credit Card vs. PayPal exchange rates

[bylo]

Here in Canada the amazon.ca Visa (offered by Chase) doesn't charge any commissions of FX. They simply use the mid-bank rate. I've verified that this is the case. You can't get a better deal than that. I assume that's what CapitalOne and Discover do in the US.

As for pinching pennies, in principle I agree with you. However I've found that sometimes it's not worth the effort. For instance it's not worth getting a 0% FX conversion credit card just for a single $20 transaction. OTOH I use mine when in Europe to pay for all expenses that I can charge to a credit card. So for me the savings applies to several thousand dollars a year. That's significant.

> The exchange rates are not the same either.
The conversion commission rate varies by credit card. With credit card issued in the US it's typically 1% but can be as high as 3%. With cards issued in Canada it's typically 2.5%. Chase charges 0% on their CA cards but 3% on their US cards so it's important to do your homework.

And then there is this scam: Dynamic currency conversion

[rfranzq]

I bought something today from amazon.co.uk and they seemed to offer something like DCC also:

Originally Posted by bylo

And then there is this scam: Dynamic currency conversion

It could be avoided but seemed rapacious with the rate.

[f300]

Both paypal and amazon conversions are usually worse than 1-1.5% charged by the bank. If you have a card that doesn't have those % for foreign charges (even if is a card from some small online-only bank, but of course without any other recurrent fee) it is worth having it handy just for such things.

There's also the issue with the ATMs - more and more are offering you their echange rate, i.e. you take for example 100 EUR cash and they charge your bank 150$ (I'm exagerating, just for simplicity). It doesn't matter if you have a good bank because they don't see your cash amount, they only see the 150$. For most ATMs you can chose to have it either the "normal" (ok) way or the above way (which is bad and usually default). Make sure you chose not to have the exchange or walk away (if you have the option because in some countries you might not - I mean all ATMs dispense local currency and take USD directly from your bank).

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by f300

If you have a card that doesn't have those % for foreign charges (even if is a card from some small online-only bank, but of course without any other recurrent fee) it is worth having it handy just for such things.

There's also the issue with the ATMs - more and more are offering you their echange rate, i.e. you take for example 100 EUR cash and they charge your bank 150$ (I'm exagerating, just for simplicity). It doesn't matter if you have a good bank because they don't see your cash amount, they only see the 150$. For most ATMs you can chose to have it either the "normal" (ok) way or the above way (which is bad and usually default). Make sure you chose not to have the exchange or walk away (if you have the option because in some countries you might not - I mean all ATMs dispense local currency and take USD directly from your bank).

Ironically, 2 of 4 of my credit cards' companies were swallowed up by an ever increasing giant cc company who does NOT charge a percentage fee--and really does not advertise this actual benefit enough to attract people who could and would use it for the customer's advantage. One of my four cards was already with the company.

Having not been out of the US this decade, I have not had an opportunity or previously a need to use an ATM out of the US. Here in the US I do not use ATMs either. A habit then, I seem to practice universally. I imagine for getting cash in a 'foreign' country would be very convenient from an ATM.
Thanks for the warning.