No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards

There is one Visa exchange rate for every type of currency, which can change once every 24 hours. And that rate is automatically applied to any international transaction made with a Visa credit card or debit card. You can easily check the latest Visa exchange rates online to get an idea of what to expect when traveling.

Here’s how to see your Visa exchange rate:

1. Go to Visa’s online Exchange Rate Calculator.

2. Select United States Dollar for your card’s currency.

3. Select the currency used by the merchant.

4. Enter your bank fee (foreign transaction fee), if applicable. Ideally, you should use a no foreign transaction fee credit card.

5. Put in today’s date (the tool can’t predict the future).

6. Click “Calculate Exchange Rates.”

Using a no foreign transaction fee Visa credit card when traveling abroad will save you up to 9% compared to converting hard currency, according to WalletHub’s Currency Exchange Study. But a Mastercard will do the trick, too. There’s actually not much difference between the exchange rates offered by these two worldwide card networks.

Lastly, you should always avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). This is when a foreign vendor converts the price of a purchase to U.S. dollars, supposedly for your convenience. But that gives the merchant a chance to use an unfavorable exchange rate in place of the low rate you’d automatically get from Visa.

The American Express foreign transaction fee is 2.7% for all the cards that charge it. But there are plenty of American Express cards with no foreign transaction fee. Those cards tend to be your best options for travel.

In case you’re unfamiliar with foreign transaction fees, they’re a surcharge you have to pay for using your credit card at a foreign merchant, usually 1%-3% of the purchase price. That can really add up, especially since Amex’s 2.7% foreign fee is on the higher end of the spectrum.

Here are the American Express foreign transaction fees:

• American Express cards with a foreign transaction fee charge 2.7%.
• Amex foreign transaction fees apply when you buy things abroad OR shop at foreign merchants online.
• Many American Express credit cards have no foreign transaction fees. They include Amex Platinum and Premier Rewards Gold, the PenFed Premium Travel Rewards card, and the Amex cards affiliated with Starwood, Hilton and Delta.

If you’re looking for an international credit card, it’s best to get one with no foreign transaction fee, and American Express does have a good selection. But American Express cards aren’t accepted by nearly as many foreign merchants as Visa and Mastercard. So you may find yourself somewhere your Amex won’t work. And that’s why it’s probably better to have a Visa or Mastercard for travel.

There is no Capital One foreign transaction fee. Or, in other words, the Capital One foreign transaction fee is 0%. That goes for every single Capital One credit card and debit card, too from travel rewards cards like Venture to cash back cards like Quicksilver. Want proof? The Capital One website says: “Capital One does not charge a fee for using your credit card for foreign currency transactions.”

That means you won’t pay extra just for shopping at foreign merchants, whether you’re traveling abroad or buying things online from merchants based in other countries. Typically, a foreign transaction fee will cost you an extra 1%-3% of the purchase amount. Capital One, Discover, USAA and PenFed are the only major credit card companies that don’t charge foreign fees on any of their cards.

Even though there are no Capital One credit card foreign transaction fees, there’s still one thing you need to watch out for: Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). Capital One doesn’t impose this on you, but they can’t protect you from it, either, unfortunately. Dynamic currency conversion is when a merchant charges you in U.S. dollars rather than the local currency and uses an unfair exchange rate to inflate the price. You should always tell merchants to charge you in the local currency. And if you see on your receipt that they didn’t, you should ask them to void the transaction and do it over.

The Bank of America foreign transaction fee is 3%, when it’s not waived. There are 9 Bank of America credit cards with no foreign transaction fees, including their Premium Rewards and Travel Rewards cards. Those no foreign fee BofA cards clearly are a better choice for international spending than the ones that add a 3% surcharge onto everything you buy abroad. That’s actually one of the highest foreign fees on the market. So international shoppers need to be careful when picking a Bank of America credit card and perhaps consider cards from other issuers too.

Here’s what you have to know about the Bank of America foreign transaction fee:

• Unless your card doesn’t charge a fee, it’ll be 3%.
• You don’t even have to travel to get charged a foreign transaction fee. It gets added onto online purchases from foreign merchants too.
• There are 9 Bank of America credit cards with no foreign transaction fees.

At 3%, the Bank of America foreign transaction fee is too steep for anyone planning to make international purchases. But the cards that charge it are meant more for everyday spending than travel. The good news is there are a handful of foreign fee-less alternatives.

These are the best Bank of America no foreign transaction fee credit cards:

• Biggest Bonus: Bank of America Premium Rewards
• No Annual Fee: Bank of America Travel Rewards
• Best Airline Rewards: Alaska Airlines Credit Card
• Best Student Card: Bank of America Travel Rewards for Students

Plus, more and more cards from other issuers are shedding their foreign fees. So you can shop around for the best deal.

The Discover Card foreign transaction fee is 0%, or $0, however you want to frame it. In other words, any Discover credit card that you apply for now will have no foreign transaction fee. That’s been the case since 2011, when Discover joined Capital One as the only major credit card issuers to remove foreign fees from all of their offers. So when you make purchases abroad or from foreign merchants online, you can rest assured that you won’t be paying any extra money.

The only Discover cards with foreign transaction fees are discontinued offers issued prior to 2011. You can’t get them anymore, but some people still have them.

Here are the Discover card foreign transaction fees:

• Discover it: $0
  
• Discover it Miles: $0
  
• Discover it Chrome: $0
  
• Discover it Secured
  
• Discover it for Students: $0
  
• All other available Discover cards: $0
  
• Discover More Card (Discontinued): 2%
  
• Discover More Card – $150 Cashback Bonus (Discontinued): 2% 

So if you’re in the market for a new credit card, any Discover card you get will have no foreign transaction fees. But keep in mind that Discover has far less international acceptance than Visa or Mastercard. So you could run into places abroad where you can’t use your Discover card anyway – France, for example.

Assuming Discover is accepted where you’re going, the only thing that might actually cost you more is Dynamic Currency Conversion. That’s when a merchant asks if you want to pay in the local currency rather than U.S. dollars. You should always say no to that. Most of the time, you’ll get ripped off with high exchange rates.

There’s a different Mastercard exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and approximately 150 other currencies, and they all fluctuate from day to day. You can easily see what exchange rate your transaction will have by going to Mastercard’s exchange rate calculator. 

It’s very simple to use. All you have to do is put in the date, currency of the merchant, transaction amount, foreign transaction fee (if applicable) and United States Dollar (USD) as your card’s currency. Then click “calculate,” and you’ll see the amount you’re paying in USD at the bottom right. The exchange rate will be to the left of that.

Let’s take a look at some of today’s exchange rates for popular travel spots. These rates are current as of 06/06/18 but are subject to change as time goes on. 

Popular Mastercard exchange rates:

• Euro: 1 EUR = 1.17 USD
• Bahamian Dollar: 1 BHD = 1 USD
• Canadian Dollar: 1 CAD = 0.77 USD
• Great British Pound: 1 GBP = 1.34 USD
• Mexican Peso: 1 MXN = 0.05 USD
• Chinese Yuan Renminbi: 1CNY = 0.16 USD
• Japanese Yen: 1 JPY = 0.01 USD
• Russian Ruble: 1 RUB = 0.02 USD

Credit cards are actually the cheapest way to convert currency. But you may still be subject to a foreign transaction fee, which is an extra charge when you buy from a foreign merchant. While all Mastercards offer the same exchange rates, only some of them charge foreign transaction fees. 

You can compare no foreign fee Mastercard credit cards on WalletHub. And if you’re still unsure about which to apply for, you can join WalletHub for free to get personalized credit card recommendations with high approval odds.

There is no USAA credit card foreign transaction fee. In the past, some USAA credit cards charged a 1% foreign transaction fee on some of its cards, but USAA made all of its cards no foreign fee in 2016. That means you’ll never pay extra for purchases processed by a foreign-based merchant.

USAA credit cards are designed for U.S. military personnel and their spouses and adult children. The decision to discontinue foreign transaction fees was made to reduce the costs for servicemembers making purchases abroad.

Here is some additional information on USAA credit card foreign transaction fees:

• No USAA credit cards have foreign transaction fees.
• Some USAA credit cards used to charge a 1% foreign fee. It was removed from USAA Visa card offers first, then Mastercard and Amex offers.
• A foreign transaction fee is a surcharge credit card companies add to purchases processed outside of the United States. You don’t have to be in another country to be charged the fee. It also applies to online purchases processed through an international merchant.
• USAA, as a credit card issuer, has discretion over foreign transaction fees. Credit card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express) do not. They negotiate where in the world their cards will be accepted and handle currency conversion.

Military servicemembers and their families stationed abroad are the biggest beneficiaries of no foreign transaction fees on USAA credit cards. Even at the previous 1% rate, all those additional fees tacked on to everyday purchases begin to add up over time.But USAA isn’t the only credit card company to not charge foreign transaction fees on any cards – they’re joined by Discover and Capital One.

Two good USAA credit cards for international travel are the Rewards American Express and the Cashback Rewards Plus American Express. With the Rewards American Express, earn 2,500 points after your first purchase. You’ll also get 3 points per $1 on dining and 2 per $1 on gas and groceries. Along with a $150 bonus for spending $500 in the first 90 days, the Cashback Rewards Plus gives you 5% cash back on your first $3,000 in gas and military base purchases per year and 2% back up to $3,000 at supermarkets each year.