Comments on: Credit card bill has an enormous loophole that could hurt travelers

By: Close the loophole in CCARD 2009 | TsuKata's Org*

Close the loophole in CCARD 2009 | TsuKata's Org* — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:19:27 +0000

[...] to a loophole in the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, banks can charge a [...]

By: Robert Fox

Robert Fox — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:02:00 +0000

I purchased two British Airways tickets Philadelphia/London and return via internet at home in Maryland. Bank of America/Master Card bill arrived and tacked on was an $80 charge for foreign currency transaction fee. A new scam. After 35 years with this card I will drop it as soon as possible. But imagine the implications for British Air and other foreign carriers. Folks in the U.S. will naturally steer away from them when selecting flights. I know I have already dropped them mentally from my options list for a later flight this year.

By: Robert Fox

Robert Fox — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:02:00 +0000

By: Les

Les — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:43:50 +0000

@Jim’s right. We just returned from several weeks in Eastern Europe where we used a Schwab CREDIT card, not debit, for major expenses. No fees or charges …. and the drop in Euro / Dollar rates was quite a nice gift.

The CitiBank cards stayed home, gathering dust in the safe deposit box.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:44:01 +0000

Citibank is now charging a 3% “Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee” on *all* cross-border payments, even if, for example, a US customer buys a product from a US company in dollars, and the US company is using an international payment processing company. Citibank refuses to refund these fees.
To all readers: which credit card companies are not charging this fee? I’m ready to switch immediately!

By: morgan benbridge

morgan benbridge — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:17:36 +0000

transaction fees are coming up everywhere, you need to be careful nowadays.

By: Howard

Howard — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:52:29 +0000

One has to believe that after each legislative bill is completed, it goes to the department of obfuscating loopholes. There is no other possible explanation for the number of holes and crevices in every single bill .

I wonder what relationship exists between the number of loopholes and the size of campaign donations.

By: Consumer Travel Alliance » Warning! Foreign transaction fees are popping up everywhere

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:05:16 +0000

[...] days ago, I warned that the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 had a gaping loophole that could force us to pay a foreign transaction fee whenever we crossed a [...]

By: Ames

Ames — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:55:19 +0000

I checked on my brokerage account and the card on that is really a debit card and it carries only a 1 percent foreign transaction fee, best one I know. They did warn me to be sure to tell them I was traveling so the fraud department would not freeze the account..

I have had the foreign transaction fee on purchases I made on the internet from companies in Europe, so I guess my American Express Card left home with out me!

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:01:00 +0000

We don’t need congress to do anything about this. If they try, they will screw it up.

Our daughter did study abroad last summer in Florence. We have several credit card accounts in the family, and I called them all to see if they had foreign transaction fees. One didn’t, and that was the one she took with her. Folks who do a lot of travel should make sure that they carry a card without these fees. Also, if you’re a good customer, banks will waive a fee like that. At least ask — the worst they can do is say no.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:39:52 +0000

That’s crap. This doesn’t affect only travelers, what if I make and Internet purchase in USD from overseas? Now I have to question the origin of any transaction I make?

At least exchange fees have a BS justification. There is ZERO justification, that I know of, for charging a fee based on country of origin.

By: Carver

Carver — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:29:19 +0000

@linda

Exactly. The same thing almost happened to my sister. Fortunately the teller at BofA warned her about the $5.00 per usage fee. Not to mention the danger of having too much cash whether on you, in your luggage, or in the hotel room.

By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:20:33 +0000

I was shocked to discover this recently too with Citibank, with whom I’d generally been pretty happy with since I swore to never allow a dime of mine to cross HSBC’s threshold ever again. The % fee on credit card transactions didn’t surprise me too much, more that they would charge me a fee for every withdrawal I made PLUS the 3% fee.

When I travelled with my Westpac (Australian- awesome bank) card, I was only charged any fee if I used an ATM of a non-partner bank. When I first moved to the US, I could merrily use BofA ATMS without any fee- in France, BNP- in the UK, I could use Barclays.

Citibank, despite pretensions to the contrary, does not seem to have any such agreement, even with branded Citibank ATM’s in a foreign country.

By: Linda Snow

Linda Snow — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:00:38 +0000

One problem with the ATM strategy – banks often charged inflated ATM fees in foreign countries. After returning from Australia a few years ago I was shocked to find that B of A had charged me $5 for every ATM withdrawal – PLUS an exchange fee!

By: Jasper

Jasper — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:49:23 +0000

Thanks for pointing out the loophole Chris.

There is a simple solution. Go as much cash as you can. In most of the developed world, you can use your ATM card. Just pull out the maximum and go old-school cash. Divvy up the cash in several smaller portions throughout your pockets, and bags, and you’re even safer than with one credit card in one spot.

Credit cards are now threatening their good customers with more fees and penalties if this law comes to effect. They forgot one thing. They’ve been doing that for years. It is not a threat they can make come true without loosing customers.

Banks: read my typings: Bring it on. I have already let go of two cards because of insane rate increases. Do you really want to kill your own branch of industry? Let me paraphrase their hero Ronald Reagan: “To the fee increasers I say: ‘Go ahead, make my day.’”