What's the Citibank foreign transaction fee?

The Costco Credit Card does not have a foreign transaction fee. This means that you will not be charged extra for using your Costco Credit Card anywhere in the world where Visa is accepted. That would obviously come in handy at the more than 230 Costco stores abroad. Some locations include Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Taiwan. There’s also no fee when shopping online from foreign merchants.… read full answer

Their lack of foreign transaction fees isn’t the only thing that makes the Costco Credit Card a worthwhile global travel companion. This card also gives 4% cash back on eligible gas (up to $7,000 spent per year), 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% back on Costco and Costco.com purchases, and 1% back on all other purchases.

Ultimately, it is also worth noting that the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi also comes with a 0% foreign fee and a similar rewards structure as the Costco Credit Card.

The Visa foreign transaction fee is usually either 0% or 3%, depending on which Visa credit card or debit card you have. The Visa foreign transaction fee is typically 0% on travel rewards credit cards, which are built for spending all around the world. And some credit card companies, such as Capital One, don’t charge foreign fees on any of their cards, Visa or Mastercard. But many other Visa cards come with foreign transaction fees of 1%, 2% or even 3%. … read full answer

If your Visa card does have a foreign transaction fee, you’ll have to pay it any time you make a purchase from a merchant that’s based in a country other than the U.S. So that means it applies to online purchases, too.

While it’s difficult to list every Visa’s foreign transaction fee – the are a ton of Visa cards – we can go over a few popular examples.

Here are some Visa foreign transaction fees:

• All Capital One Visa cards: $0 foreign fee
• All USAA Visa cards: 0% foreign fee
• All PenFed Visa cards: 0% foreign fee
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: $0 foreign fee
• Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students: 0% foreign fee
• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card: 0% foreign fee
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®: 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars foreign fee
• Wells Fargo Reflect℠ Card: 3% foreign fee
• Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa®: 3% or $1, whichever is greater foreign fee

As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities to get a Visa card with no foreign transaction fee. That’s definitely a good idea before traveling (or shopping) abroad, since Visa is accepted just about everywhere that takes credit cards worldwide.

The Mastercard foreign transaction fee is 0% to 3%, depending on which card you have and which bank or credit union issued it. There are plenty of Mastercards with no foreign transaction fee, and that goes for both credit cards and debit cards. But many Mastercards charge up to 3% of each international purchase you make.… read full answer

The Mastercard foreign transaction fee comes in two parts. Mastercard, as the credit card network, always charges a 1% fee. Then, the credit card issuer can choose to add their own fee on top of that, or cover Mastercard’s fee for you. If your card’s foreign fee is higher than 1%, it means the issuer added their own fees. If your Mastercard’s foreign transaction fee is 0%, it’s because the issuer pays the 1% network fee for you.

You certainly don’t want to pay 3% more than you have to when traveling abroad or shopping from foreign merchants while in the U.S. After all, the average foreign transaction fee on a credit card is about 1.5%. And some major credit card issuers have done away with foreign transaction fees altogether.

It’s also worth noting that Mastercard foreign transaction fees and Visa foreign transaction fees are pretty much the same. Some cards charge as much as 3%. Others don’t charge a dime. And like Mastercard, Visa is accepted in 200+ countries and territories.

The best approach is to compare no foreign transaction fee credit cards on both the Visa and Mastercard networks. Check your credit score to see which ones you have best chance of getting approved for. And then find the card with the best collection of rewards, rates and fees for your needs. If you’re approved, you’ll save up to 3% on each foreign transaction. It’s as easy as that.