Personal Finance

Credit Cards with No Foreign Currency Transaction Fees

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Aug 16, 2005
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Credit Cards with No Foreign Currency Transaction Fees

I read that several American credit card companies waive foreign currency transaction fees on credit card transactions.

Are there any Canadian credit cards that waive these fees as well?
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Apr 16, 2006
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napoleon wrote: I read that several American credit card companies waive foreign currency transaction fees on credit card transactions.

Are there any Canadian credit cards that waive these fees as well?
AFAIK, every Canadian credit card charges a commission/rate conversion fee.

The cards with the LOWEST would be from Desjardins...their Visa charges 1.8% compared to 2.2% for AMEX Charge Cards and 2.5% for just about every other credit card out there.
Deal Addict
Jul 13, 2007
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Though the Desjardins card charges the lowest commission of 1.8%, if you're going to be purchasing things, you're better off with a Citi Enrich Mastercad which has a 2.5% commission, but 1% cash back and no annual fees.

The desjardins cards do have some interesting travel health coverages though.

Don't forget that you can get the BMO Mosaik US$ Mastercard if you're looking at avoiding US$ exchange fees.

Also, take a look at the Global ATM Alliance, it might be useful for you depending on where you're travelling.
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Jul 21, 2006
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HammerRFDer wrote: Though the Desjardins card charges the lowest commission of 1.8%, if you're going to be purchasing things, you're better off with a Citi Enrich Mastercad which has a 2.5% commission, but 1% cash back and no annual fees.

The desjardins cards do have some interesting travel health coverages though.

Don't forget that you can get the BMO Mosaik US$ Mastercard if you're looking at avoiding US$ exchange fees.

Also, take a look at the Global ATM Alliance, it might be useful for you depending on where you're travelling.
I thought the Desjardins card has 0.5% cash back?
1.8 - 0.5 = 1.3%
vs
2.5 - 1 = 1%
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Jul 13, 2007
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jchanq wrote: I thought the Desjardins card has 0.5% cash back?
1.8 - 0.5 = 1.3%
vs
2.5 - 1 = 1%
Ah, right you are (about the Desjardins cash back card, not the 2.5 -1 =1 bit).

They don't quite emphasize the 0.5% cash back on their "Elegance GOLD" card with no annual fee unless you go specifically onto their Rewards page.
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Dec 11, 2005
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HammerRFDer wrote: Don't forget that you can get the BMO Mosaik US$ Mastercard if you're looking at avoiding US$ exchange fees.
I wish people would stop it with ths fallacy. Unless you have $USD income then this statement is just false. You will at some point have to pay the bill and at that point your bank is going to charge you somewhere between 1.5% and 3% fees anyway. As such you are better off using a standard $CDN rewards card.

You should only get a $USD credit card if you have a $USD source of income, or substantial $USD savings.
To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. -- E. E. Cummings
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Jan 22, 2008
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brunes wrote: I wish people would stop it with ths fallacy. Unless you have $USD income then this statement is just false. You will at some point have to pay the bill and at that point your bank is going to charge you somewhere between 1.5% and 3% fees anyway. As such you are better off using a standard $CDN rewards card.

You should only get a $USD credit card if you have a $USD source of income, or substantial $USD savings.
I agree!
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Apr 23, 2008
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brunes wrote: I wish people would stop it with ths fallacy. Unless you have $USD income then this statement is just false. You will at some point have to pay the bill and at that point your bank is going to charge you somewhere between 1.5% and 3% fees anyway. As such you are better off using a standard $CDN rewards card.

You should only get a $USD credit card if you have a $USD source of income, or substantial $USD savings.
THANK YOU! I hear this all the time and it's so silly. The only circumstance in which this would actually be correct is if you were able to obtain USD at a substantially lower commission rate than 2.5% - I have a friend who works at BMO and gets preferred rates, for instance. Also, many who use XEtrade manage to get lower rates on their US cash.
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May 6, 2003
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brunes wrote: You should only get a $USD credit card if you have a $USD source of income, or substantial $USD savings.
One benefit to a US$ card that some people overlook is when you get a credit put back on your account - eg. cancelling a hotel reservation with a deposit, or returning an item purchased. If you used a CDN$ credit card, the credit may not be equal to the original charge, as the credit card will charge you for the conversion in both directions. I use the BMO US$ Mastercard for these reasons whenever I travel to the US or purchase something from a US website like Amazon.com where I might potentially return it.
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Jul 13, 2007
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Well, what I said was fact when it comes to the credit card itself, not fallacy, but what you meant is right, it certainly is not a useful card for everyone.

The US$ credit card also gives you a bit of market timing power, allowing you to separate the time of purchase transaction and the time of currency exchange.

If the OP were more specific in their requirements, we could all make more appropriate recommendations I'm sure.
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Dec 11, 2005
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HammerRFDer wrote: The US$ credit card also gives you a bit of market timing power, allowing you to separate the time of purchase transaction and the time of currency exchange.
.
If you're trying to save money by timing the forex market you will have better luck playing video poker at the local casino.
To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. -- E. E. Cummings
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Jul 13, 2007
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brunes wrote: If you're trying to save money by timing the forex market you will have better luck playing video poker at the local casino.
Not really, in aggregate, one's forex gains will be zero when there are no commissions being charged (or when commissions are the same whether you are speculating or not). There is a loser somewhere for every winner, in the short term anyway. The underlying economy that a currency is based on can change, and that can affect the worth of the currency, so I'd say it's as bad as investing in a country's economy.

On average, one will always lose while playing video poker at the casino though.

Meh, I've been timing my big USD$<->CAD$ exchanges pretty well over the past 10 years. Buying low and selling high is the strategy that I use, try it one day!
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Dec 11, 2005
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HammerRFDer wrote: Not really, in aggregate, one's forex gains will be zero when there are no commissions being charged (or when commissions are the same whether you are speculating or not).
So now you are contradicting yourself? You say a benefit of having a $USD CC is ability to time your exchanges, but then said on average your gains and losses will be zero? So why bother?

The point of my video poker comment is that the forex market is so volatile you can not hope to predict it even a week out let alone a month, which is what you have to predict to determine when you should make the exchange to pay your CC bill. Between your post date and statement date the dollar could *routinely* move up or down by as much as 5%-10%. So trying to time your payment a month ahead is no better than just playing the lotto.

Forex traders never buy & hold. The only way to make money in forex is to spot trends as they occur and buy into them early and get out early - most forex traders don't even hold onto a currency for more than a couple of hours, let alone days. This is not useful for paying a monthly CC statement.
To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. -- E. E. Cummings
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May 24, 2008
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Well if you can get forex at a lower fee/spread then that's when the savings occurs...

If you do USD/CAD a lot AND have access to low-cost forex transcations the best solution is to get a real no-fee US account and a no-fee credit card. Some will issue you a card based on Canadian credit and SIN (Target VISA, RBC Centura VISA)....
Newbie
Jan 6, 2006
77 posts
Digging up an old thread here...

Citi Mastercard just jacked their foreign transaction fee to 3+% (the + is due to the fact that they use a poor exchange rate to start with, and then tack on the 3% fee.) I only found this out because I made a large purchase in the US last month and got charged 3.35% over the posted exchange rate. A call to customer service confirmed that it is now 3%. Fun.

I didn't know that Desjardins only charged 1.8% - I have a Visa with them that I almost never use, I think it's time to break it out!
Newbie
Sep 25, 2005
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Does anyone know which of the following Cdn credit card offer low foreign currency exchange charges? I currenlty have:

RBC platinum AVION
AMEX platinum
AMEX business

Thanks.
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Nov 23, 2005
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ertman wrote: Digging up an old thread here...

Citi Mastercard just jacked their foreign transaction fee to 3+% (the + is due to the fact that they use a poor exchange rate to start with, and then tack on the 3% fee.) I only found this out because I made a large purchase in the US last month and got charged 3.35% over the posted exchange rate. A call to customer service confirmed that it is now 3%. Fun.

I didn't know that Desjardins only charged 1.8% - I have a Visa with them that I almost never use, I think it's time to break it out!

Not correct!

Its still 2.5% ....

For rates, check out http://www.oanda.com/
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Oct 2, 2006
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HammerRFDer wrote: Ah, right you are (about the Desjardins cash back card, not the 2.5 -1 =1 bit).

They don't quite emphasize the 0.5% cash back on their "Elegance GOLD" card with no annual fee unless you go specifically onto their Rewards page.
If you go with the their travel gold (70$ annual fee) you get 2% cashback on currency exchange rates so i think your actually paying less that what you should... (daily rate)
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Nov 23, 2005
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ertman wrote: Feel free to call Citibank Canada yourself, it's 3% now.
I know for a fact its 2.5% ..... :)

You were misinformed by that one rep ...

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