No foreign transaction fees on Amazon Visa card now

[grin]

I just received an email from Amazon with this info:

As an Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Cardmember, you'll continue to earn big rewards on every purchase ... but now, with no foreign transaction fees.

 

Also:

And now, eligible Prime members earn 5% Back at Amazon.com.

 

Grin

[pipeliner42]

I have this card, it's great for traveling but you still need to be careful sometimes as you won't always get the best exchange rate depending on the currency you want.

[stevenl]

I have this card, it's great for traveling but you still need to be careful sometimes as you won't always get the best exchange rate depending on the currency you want.

Always do currency of the country you're in.

Sent from my ROBBY using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[theswedishguy]

Remember to check the exchange rate that your CC card gives you. Most CC cards take 7-9%.

How you pay/transfer money to Thailand can net you almost 15% extra. I have a thai bank account and send money from Farang country. My bank forced my transfers in Thai baht. Only later did I learn that I lost almost 10% because of this. Sending money in farang currency and letting the bank change money in Thailand, you only loose 1%.

 

Remember the evils of CC cards. Every purchase you do the banks take 3-5%. A hidden tax in west. In Thai still many companies do the right thing and charge extra for CC cards. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Any foreign purchases you make with the Amazon Visa credit card should be at the normal VISA network exchange rate. And now, no foreign currency fee when using the card abroad, meaning you'll net the full VISA network rate without any deductions. Plus the 5% rebate on Amazon.com purchases when the card is linked to an Amazon Prime account.

 

Just got one more no-foreign currency fee credit card that I can use in Thailand now. Very good news. The change in the fee policy for the card took effect Jan. 10, so it's good to go right now.

 

PS -- As usual, you generally do NOT want to use credit cards for CASH advances or withdrawals in foreign countries (the Amazon card or most others), because credit cards typically will have high cash advance fees. Amazon's deciding to waive the foreign currency fee did NOT change their existing/continuing fees on using the card for cash advances.

 

[Suradit69]

56 minutes ago, theswedishguy said:

Sending money in farang currency and letting the bank change money in Thailand, you only loose [sic] 1%.

 

Still better, for those from the US or UK with a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand, you can have your US/UK bank do a free domestic transfer to the Bangkok Bank branch in New York or London (using the same Bangkok Bank account number you use here).  The NY branch deducts $10 and, depending on the amount deposited, Bangkok Bank in Thailand deducts about Baht 200. On the $2400 transfer I did this week the cost was around 0.4% of the amount transferred. For larger amounts it would be evena smaller percentage.

Your foreign bank is unlikely to charge for a domestic transfer, but I assume they might charge something for a SWIFT transfer directly to Thailand.

 

I've never used a credit card to withdraw cash in Thailand, but whenever I've used my Citibank Mastercard for a charge, the exchange rate used is usually as good or better than the rate posted on Bangkok Bank's website for a TT. As someone else mentioned, the charge should be in baht, not in dollars or whatever your home currency is. Allowing the latter gets you a poor exchange rate.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2017 by Suradit69

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

 

Still better, for those from the US or UK with a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand, you can have your US/UK bank do a free domestic transfer to the Bangkok Bank branch in New York or London (using the same Bangkok Bank account number you use here).  The NY branch deducts $10 and, depending on the amount deposited, Bangkok Bank in Thailand deducts about Baht 200.

 

At least for the U.S. originating transfers, you've got the general idea correct, but the details wrong. BKK Bank's New York Branch charges its fee on a sliding scale based on the amount of the transfer, ranging from free for very small amounts to a maximum of $20 for xfers above $50,000 U.S. Then, on the receiving Thailand end, BKKB also charges a 0.25% additional commission on the incoming funds, with minimum and maximum fee amounts of 200 and 500 baht. The latter fee typically is not shown on the receiving end, as it's deducted before the funds arrive in your Thailand account.

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUSA/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUSA.aspx

 

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

I've never used a credit card to withdraw cash in Thailand, but whenever I've used my Citibank Mastercard for a charge, the exchange rate used is usually as good or better than the rate posted on Bangkok Bank's website for a TT. As someone else mentioned, the charge should be in baht, not in dollars or whatever your home currency is. Allowing the latter gets you a poor exchange rate.

 

The reason to NOT use most credit cards for cash advances outside your home country isn't the exchange rate, but rather, the likelihood the credit card company will charge a substantial cash advance fee (3-5% typically) on whatever amount you withdraw, plus start assessing a usually high interest rate right from the date of the withdrawal (no grace period).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The new 5% rebate amount for Amazon.com purchases and their waiving of the foreign currency fee also applies to the Amazon Rewards Visa card that's issued through Chase Bank.  Here's a screencap of the updated features:

 

 

In the past, I'd never use the Amazon Visa card when traveling abroad because the 2% rebate on restaurants, gas stations and drug store purchases was more than offset by what was their 3% foreign currency fee.  But now with the foreign currency fee waived, having that 2% back feature on restaurants and the other purchases is a nice perk.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, in a similar vein, I noted that the Wyndham (Hotels) Rewards Visa card offered through Barclays in the U.S. also ceased charging a foreign currency fee as of Sept. 27, 2016. (It's a good card to have if you frequently are traveling and making hotel bookings at any of the many hotel brands under the Wyndham banner).

 

Not sure why some of the big bank credit card companies are dropping their FCFs, but hope it's a trend that will continue.

 

[Suradit69]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The latter fee typically is not shown on the receiving end, as it's deducted before the funds arrive in your Thailand account.

 

They send me an SMS when the amount is credited to my account here and it details the exchange rate, the amount deducted in NY and the amount taken here.

 

On the transfer I did this week (and every other transfer I've done), NY took out $10. since my transfers are always in that range. In Thailand they deducted  Baht 206.27. The exchange rate used was $1 = Baht 35.26. All that information is sent me every time I do a transfer. So typically it is shown.

 

Obviously for most of us, transfers will be less than $50,000 and mine are always over $2000, so the more you transfer if in that range, the smaller the percentage cost would be on the NY end. And for the amounts I generally transfer, the amount subtracted here is around Baht 200., as I said. 

 

Someone mentioned using credit cards and the related exchange rates, which is why I mentioned my experience using my MC for purchases. I don't use the CC for cash withdrawals because I've never had the need and it is an expensive way to get cash for living expenses.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

They send me an SMS when the amount is credited to my account here and it details the exchange rate, the amount deducted in NY and the amount taken here.

 

On the transfer I did this week (and every other transfer I've done), NY took out $10. since my transfers are always in that range. In Thailand they deducted  Baht 206.27. The exchange rate used was $1 = Baht 35.26. All that information is sent me every time I do a transfer. So typically it is shown.

 

 

If the customer acts to sign up for BKKB's notification SMS service for international xfers, then yes, you'll get that kind of info in their SMS.

 

But if you just look in their online banking ledger for your account, the fees won't be shown there.

 

[rickudon]

UK branch of Bangkok bank charge substantial transfer fees even to their branches in Thailand (So I have read). I n fact higher than some other UK banks would charge. 20 GBP if sent as sterling. I don't think you can have a personal account at the London branch.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 minutes ago, rickudon said:

UK branch of Bangkok bank charge substantial transfer fees even to their branches in Thailand (So I have read). I n fact higher than some other UK banks would charge. 20 GBP if sent as sterling. I don't think you can have a personal account at the London branch.

 

Here's the BKK Bank web page on their London to BKK transfer service, including the fee and currency conversion options:

 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

[rickudon]

Yes, looked that one up myself. Unfortunately every link from that page seems to only relate to Thai accounts ..... As said, 20 GBP - unless you want to gamble that the 15 GBP option actually uses the same conversion rates (I think probably like other UK banks, probably a very poor conversion rate at UK end). My bank cost 9.50 GBP.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BKK Bank's London-based transfer system to Thailand appears to have generally higher fees than their comparable U.S./New York to Thailand transfer system.

 

The U.S.-based one has a sliding scale of fees that starts at 0 for very small transfer amounts, and then maxes out at $20 for very large amounts, but has smaller fees amounts for transfer amounts inbetween.

[sitti]

I was working at Chase until I quit a few years ago. I can tell that forget about "no foreign transaction fee". It's nothing more than a marketing crap and loopholes to avoid similar class action lawsuites. It's not charity, and banks never reduce their profits to make customers happy. They make up that "no foreign transaction fee" elsewhere. No banks ever made any promise that you'll get the best or better exchange from using your "no foreign transaction fee" credit cards. When you happen to use your card at the wrong place at the wrong time, you get hit by even worse exchange rates. Banks don't take loses from your currency exchange, but only profits. We are the ones that take those loses.

[rickudon]

On 1/12/2018 at 2:39 PM, sitti said:

I was working at Chase until I quit a few years ago. I can tell that forget about "no foreign transaction fee". It's nothing more than a marketing crap and loopholes to avoid similar class action lawsuites. It's not charity, and banks never reduce their profits to make customers happy. They make up that "no foreign transaction fee" elsewhere. No banks ever made any promise that you'll get the best or better exchange from using your "no foreign transaction fee" credit cards. When you happen to use your card at the wrong place at the wrong time, you get hit by even worse exchange rates. Banks don't take loses from your currency exchange, but only profits. We are the ones that take those loses.

Well, i have been lucky then, Been using my no fee credit card for 7 years (no fee for purchases OR cash withdrawals) and always get a better exchange rate than from the Thai banks. In fact it is so much better that it is cheaper than using interbank SWIFT transfers (done in GB pounds) even allowing for the ATM fees in Thailand when i use my credit card. Cash when i need it, not 5 days time. Just pay off the card promptly.

[suzannegoh]

 

 

Well, i have been lucky then, Been using my no fee credit card for 7 years (no fee for purchases OR cash withdrawals) and always get a better exchange rate than from the Thai banks. In fact it is so much better that it is cheaper than using interbank SWIFT transfers (done in GB pounds) even allowing for the ATM fees in Thailand when i use my credit card. Cash when i need it, not 5 days time. Just pay off the card promptly.

 

That's the usual case with no-fee Visa cards issued in the US. Not sure why it is that people think that Visa sometimes gives a poor exchange rate unless perhaps they are using DCC.

 

 

[suzannegoh]

On 1/12/2018 at 2:39 AM, sitti said:

I was working at Chase until I quit a few years ago. I can tell that forget about "no foreign transaction fee". It's nothing more than a marketing crap and loopholes to avoid similar class action lawsuites. It's not charity, and banks never reduce their profits to make customers happy. They make up that "no foreign transaction fee" elsewhere. No banks ever made any promise that you'll get the best or better exchange from using your "no foreign transaction fee" credit cards. When you happen to use your card at the wrong place at the wrong time, you get hit by even worse exchange rates. Banks don't take loses from your currency exchange, but only profits. We are the ones that take those loses.

Why do you say that "no banks ever made any promise that you'll get the best or better exchange from using your no foreign transaction fee credit cards"?  Visa is transparent about their exchange rates and in my experience they are always better than the TT rate that Thai banks offer.  You can look up Visa's exchange rates here:
https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by suzannegoh