Going abroad with my cc - im told a 2.65% fee will apply on any transaction, being its a MasterCard, do MasterCard give wholesale rates? wholesale - 2.65% is usually better than tourist rate.
- posted
20 years ago
travel money
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- posted
20 years ago
usually better
Most card issuers add 2.75% or so foreign exchange conversion fee, regardless of whether it's Visa or Mastercard. Visa/MC themselves levy around 1% conversion fee (less in Eurozone) and card company add the rest. Only Nationwide (Visa) levy nothing, and their conversion rates are pretty close to wholesale money market rates.
Alec
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- posted
20 years ago
Pretty close - probably 0.5% - 1% off the interbank rate at most.
Yes, you'll probably get a slightly better rate than the "tourist rate". This is what the cc companies rely on, they expect people to come back off their holidays, look at the rate they've been charged and compare with the Thomas Cook rate and be pleased they got a better rate.
But the cc company are charging you for doing bugger all other than a simple division on their computer. Thomas Cook at least have the excuse of the costs involved in handling and storing lots of different foreign currencies.
If you're going to spend a lot, and you've got time, get a Nationwide (or Liverpool Victoria) card where you won't get charged anything over the visa/mastercard rate. A flex account is also good for withdrawing cash free (Nationwide cc charge 1% plus immediate interest).