No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards

[michael888]

Hello, just wondering if anyone knows of any Thai banks offering no foreign transaction fee credit cards. No annual fee would also be a bonus. These are really my only criteria, but cant seem to find anything. I have a work permit and earn approximately 50K a month. Thanks.

[allane]

I have an SCB credit card which I obtained in approximately 2001. No annual fee, and no transaction fees when I use it abroad (There is the usual sort of spread on the currency exchange. Note: I was working in Thailand at the time I obtained it. No guarantee that anyone who doesn't have a job would be able to obtain same, or that the same terms are still being offered to anyone who would walk in there today. And yes, it is a credit card, not a debit card.

[sas_cars]

There's no foreign transaction fee levied separately on thai issued debit and credit cards. Instead, they'll add up to 3 % on top of visa/mastercard currency exchange rates. So in practical, there are no cards exist in thailand which doesn't charge this markup on foreign currency transactions.

[baggies666]

I use the krungsri credit card, when I was in the uk I brought and paid for things in uk currency there was no extra charges and the MasterCard currency rate was good, I use it also on ebay & tested ebay conversion and what I got for choosing to pay in foreign currency and the rate turned out to be better, the card had to sent to my home address & I bank with this bank, while it say invitation I just went in and asked and no annual fee atm, I do not understand the charges for carrying over a balance I always pay mine in full each month.

http://www.krungsricard.com/kccstatic/en/creditcard_exclusive-signature.html

[theoldgit]

This might be better in the Banking Forum.

[michael888]

There's no foreign transaction fee levied separately on thai issued debit and credit cards. Instead, they'll add up to 3 % on top of visa/mastercard currency exchange rates. So in practical, there are no cards exist in thailand which doesn't charge this markup on foreign currency transactions.

wow, never knew that is how they do. interesting to know. so, they add a 3% fee on top of the exchange rate? if this is not a foriegn transaction fee, what do they call this fee? and what is the difference? thanks

[michael888]

This might be better in the Banking Forum.

oops, didn't know about that forum, will move

[sas_cars]

There's no foreign transaction fee levied separately on thai issued debit and credit cards. Instead, they'll add up to 3 % on top of visa/mastercard currency exchange rates. So in practical, there are no cards exist in thailand which doesn't charge this markup on foreign currency transactions.

wow, never knew that is how they do. interesting to know. so, they add a 3% fee on top of the exchange rate? if this is not a foriegn transaction fee, what do they call this fee? and what is the difference? thanks

They call it a currency exhange risk fee. Its just added on top of the amount, and not added in a separate transaction thus most of the people wont notice it.

[michael888]

I use the krungsri credit card, when I was in the uk I brought and paid for things in uk currency there was no extra charges and the MasterCard currency rate was good, I use it also on ebay & tested ebay conversion and what I got for choosing to pay in foreign currency and the rate turned out to be better, the card had to sent to my home address & I bank with this bank, while it say invitation I just went in and asked and no annual fee atm, I do not understand the charges for carrying over a balance I always pay mine in full each month.

http://www.krungsricard.com/kccstatic/en/creditcard_exclusive-signature.html

did they charge you that "hedging fee" of 2% (listed at the bottom in the fees section). Is this their version of a foreign trans. fee? A hedging fee?

[Pib]

There's no foreign transaction fee levied separately on thai issued debit and credit cards. Instead, they'll add up to 3 % on top of visa/mastercard currency exchange rates. So in practical, there are no cards exist in thailand which doesn't charge this markup on foreign currency transactions.

wow, never knew that is how they do. interesting to know. so, they add a 3% fee on top of the exchange rate? if this is not a foriegn transaction fee, what do they call this fee? and what is the difference? thanks

They call it a currency exhange risk fee. Its just added on top of the amount, and not added in a separate transaction thus most of the people wont notice it.

Currency exchange risk fee is just a smoke and mirrors name for foreign transaction fee....just like cross borders fee is another smoke and mirrors name for foreign transaction fee. And I've seen other vague and less threatening names given for foreign transaction fee such as international transaction commission, foreign cash fee, non-sterling transaction fee, etc. Bottomline: when a percentage fee and/or flat fee is applied on a foreign transaction it's a foreign transaction fee (or whatever your card-issuing bank prefers to call it).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Presumably, the reason those banks extract the fee by giving you a worse exchange rate than the normal MC/VISA network on the transactions is EXACTLY because a lot/most people won't notice the difference there since exchange rates are fluctuating all the time -- whereas -- if they come right out and say they're charging you a 2-4% foreign transaction FEE, that's something that's going to attract more customer notice and dislike.

[Pib]

And based on many ThaiVisa posts over the years many card holders don't even know their card-issuing bank is charging the fee and instead think Visa/Mastercard/AmEx (i.e, the card networks) is the one giving the lower exchange rate/charging the fee.

Yes, the card-networks do charge a currency conversion fee in the 0.15 to 1% range which is passed to the person's card issuing bank and then it's up to the bank if they pass that fee along to the card holder or absorb the fee. Unfortunately, most pass the fee the along to the card holder and then add on another percent or two and maybe even a flat fee to make a nice little profit. But some western banks/companies do absorb the fee and don't add on any more fee...but I know of none in Thailand. Seems Thai banks charge a 2.5% foreign transaction fee and they usually call it the older term of currency conversion risk fee which implies the bank is taking an exchange loss risk--they are taking zero risk because the exchange rate is set by Visa/Mastercard, set for a 24 hour period, and based on forex rates from the previous day..not the current day....the bank is taking zero risk.

[NUUM]

You can usually chose to be billed in the currency of your credit card issuing country...and enjoy an even worse exchange rate...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You can usually chose to be billed in the currency of your credit card issuing country...and enjoy an even worse exchange rate...

Here's an example of that, being the ripoff practice called DCC -- Dynamic Currency Conversion. That's where you get to see the charge/debit in your home country's currency amount, instead of seeing it in the local Thai baht currency. And suffer a 4% or so higher price for purchases or lower return on ATM withdrawals as a result.

DON'T DO IT!

This is what a Krungsri Bank ATM screen looks like when offering you DCC, and an exchange rate that's about a full baht below the prevailing market rate at the time.

And you'll see at the bottom: "including a hedging margin not exceeding 3%."

If you choose "Continue Without Conversion" at the bottom of the screen, the withdrawal will be processed at the normal VISA or MC rate, and you'll save your money.

[Pib]

Seems folks with Mastercard get approached with the ATM DCC ripoff frequently.

With my U.S. "Visa" debit cards I've never been offerred a DCC transaction at a Thai ATM. In fact, I used two of my Visa debits cards in a Krungsri ATM (image above is a Krungsri ATM also) just today and was not offered the DCC ripoff.

And I just love the paragraph wording on the screen and the choices given...seems to me the words are carefully chosen and geared to fool a person into accepting/continuing with the DCC transaction (i.e., selecting the Thai bank lower ATM exchange rate) when the person thinks he is really selecting the higher Mastercard exchange rate.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Pib

[hawker9000]

CapitalOne VISA. I have the Venture Card: no foreign transaction fee, but there IS an annual fee. However (and I'm not certain about this) I believe their no-fee cards also have no foreign transaction fee as well. Some credit unions offer VISA cards with no foreign transaction fee.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

CapitalOne VISA. I have the Venture Card: no foreign transaction fee, but there IS an annual fee. However (and I'm not certain about this) I believe their no-fee cards also have no foreign transaction fee as well. Some credit unions offer VISA cards with no foreign transaction fee.

You didn't bother to read the first post, did you?

Hello, just wondering if anyone knows of any Thai banks offering no foreign transaction fee credit cards.

Apart from that, why would you assume that someone was requesting a card from the USA on a Thailand forum?

Edited October 7, 2015 by Jiu-Jitsu