Understanding forex charges
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user3
Posts: 4 Newbie
in Credit cards
Hello all,
I have a Mastercard credit card (issued by an overseas bank) marketed as having 0% transaction fees on foreign purchases.
However, using Mastercard's online tool, I am getting charged a 1% bank fee on each transaction.
I have tried to chase this up with my bank, but I haven't really got a satisfactory response.
Their latest response was they have "no control over the charges levied by network" and confirmed that the card has a "0% foreign currency transaction margin".
I'm trying to figure out if I'm being given the run around by my bank, or if I'm misunderstanding how these things work.
What is meant by foreign currency transaction margin?
Is it feasible there is a middle-man between Mastercard and my bank, and they are the ones taking the 1%?
Many thanks in advance for any help!
I have a Mastercard credit card (issued by an overseas bank) marketed as having 0% transaction fees on foreign purchases.
However, using Mastercard's online tool, I am getting charged a 1% bank fee on each transaction.
I have tried to chase this up with my bank, but I haven't really got a satisfactory response.
Their latest response was they have "no control over the charges levied by network" and confirmed that the card has a "0% foreign currency transaction margin".
I'm trying to figure out if I'm being given the run around by my bank, or if I'm misunderstanding how these things work.
What is meant by foreign currency transaction margin?
Is it feasible there is a middle-man between Mastercard and my bank, and they are the ones taking the 1%?
Many thanks in advance for any help!
0
Comments
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What card are you using and where are you using it?0
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Issued by an overseas bank - so it's a card which is not from a UK bank, then.
Are you buying stuff with it here in the UK and are you choosing to pay in the local currency, or the currency the card was issued in?
Have you looked at, for example https://www.xe.com or somewhere similar to compare the exchange rate you are getting?
At the end of the day, while a 1% charge is a bit much when you expect 0%, it's not that much compared to a lot of others.0 -
What is meant by foreign currency transaction margin?
But what they mean by the 'charges levied by the network' is something you should perhaps get them to clarify.
Do you see the exchange rate for a transaction on your statement? It will be for the date of settlement, which is the date that you need to check the MasterCard rate for.Evolution, not revolution0 -
Deleted_User wrote: »What card are you using and where are you using it?
I appreciate this is a UK based site, but in my experience it contains a wealth of knowledge so I thought I'd try my luck in case I'm missing something obvious.0 -
Issued by an overseas bank - so it's a card which is not from a UK bank, then.Are you buying stuff with it here in the UK and are you choosing to pay in the local currency, or the currency the card was issued in?Have you looked at, for example x or somewhere similar to compare the exchange rate you are getting?At the end of the day, while a 1% charge is a bit much when you expect 0%, it's not that much compared to a lot of others.0
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I would understand this as the percentage margin or markup on the straight MasterCard exchange rate, that is usually imposed by the card issuer, in this case zero.But what they mean by the 'charges levied by the network' is something you should perhaps get them to clarify.Do you see the exchange rate for a transaction on your statement? It will be for the date of settlement, which is the date that you need to check the MasterCard rate for.0
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