Bank charges cash fee for online credit card transaction

muhandis

Hi,

I used XYZ (a large UK based international money transfer firm) to send money to a foreign bank account. The payment options I had on the XYZ screen were bank transfer (free), debit card (20p fee) and credit card (30p fee). It didn't say on that screen that the credit card transaction would be reported as a cash advance or anything to that effect.

I stooze so of course I went for the credit card option. A couple of days later I see that ABC (major high street bank that issued my cc) has charged me a 2.5% cash advance fee on that transaction.

I contacted XYZ who said that the merchant code they use is 4829 (Wires, Money orders) and that most banks treat it as online purchases but added that they might use their discretion in that matter.

Cutting to the chase, I would like to get the fee refunded. Do you think I would have better luck talking/complaining to the money transfer firm XYZ or the bank ABC?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

K

eDicky

As it's ABC who are treating it as a cash advance and charging the fee, not uncommon with CCs for this kind of transaction, there doesn't seem much point in discussing it with XYZ.

Pound-Of-Flesh

Unfortunately I don't think you are likely to win this battle.

XYZ told you their fee (30p). They are not responsible for the fee your card issuer ABC charges you.

You yourself say XYZ is a "money transfer" firm and you used them to "send money" to a foreign bank account. I am not surprised that ABC treat this as a cash advance (I am in fact surprised that XYZ say that most treat it as online purchase! But are XYZ just guessing?)

I am pretty sure that ABC will say you should have checked with them first.

muhandis

Thanks for the responses.

I've emailed the bank with a query and emailed XYZ with a complaint (I've already talked to them, no point going to and fro over email. Complaints are usually dealt with much more seriously) saying that they should have made it clear on the payment page that cc payments might attract an additional fee from the card issuer or might be treated as a cash advance. I also sent a screenshot of a competitor's payment page where it clearly says that cc payments might be charged an additional fee by the bank.

Let's see what they say.

I don't have much hope with the bank, they're a typical high street bank that couldn't care less if I were with them or not.

Hopefully XYZ will pay more heed to my complaint, let's see.

Thanks,

K

[Deleted User]

I don't understand why you would send cash to someone else and not expect a cash advance fee!

muhandis

Well, XYZ thought the same Clearly there are card issuers that do treat such transactions as purchases. I'm sorry that you don't understand.

camelot1971 wrote: »

I don't understand why you would send cash to someone else and not expect a cash advance fee!

Pound-Of-Flesh

I think you have a good point that XYZ did not mention possible charges from your cc provider.

BorisThomson

Pound-Of-Flesh wrote: »

I think you have a good point that XYZ did not mention possible charges from your cc provider.

You said the opposite thing ninety minutes ago!

muhandis

Thank you. Most places where there is a risk that the cards issuer will see it as a cash advance (whether online or on the high street) it has usually been made clear with a warning so I could avoid it. If they had that on there and I still went ahead, fair play. I even checked their mobile webpage and app to make sure that it's the same there before sending them the complaint. As a fully FCA regulated firm, they have an obligation to treat customers fairly.

Pound-Of-Flesh wrote: »

I think you have a good point that XYZ did not mention possible charges from your cc provider.

BoGoF

Surely it's your responsibility to check your card issuers t and c's. Bet it's covered there somewhere.

noh

The money transfer service was probably Transferwise?
Looking at their Website I can see nothing that they have done wrong they clearly state their fees.
If you tell us your credit card provider we can find where their T+Cs cover this.