with the money i saved, gonna get me engraved
i just talked with my credit card (the rei visa, which is generally great) about using it overseas. i needed to get it opened up for transactions while i’m in morocco, which was a snap. i also asked about getting my pin, which i don’t have since i never use it for cash advances. they couldn’t give me my pin and i can’t get it online, either, which poses an inconvenience since i stupidly waited until a week before my departure to investigate this and now there isn’t enough time for them to mail it to me, but this is definitely the approach i would hope they take with information like this so again, i’m happy.
what surprised me were the fees! cash advances, overseas or domestically carry a 4% commission. now i remember why i don’t h
use it at ATMs. plus, they charge a 3% fee above the exchange rate for credit card transactions overseas. so much for the myth that credit card transactions just get the exchange rate and are the best way to shop internationally. add to this whatever fees the local bank throws on their ATM for non-native cards and for the international transaction and it adds up to “you’re screwed!”
now im actually contemplating finding out these fees from my credit union and using my ATM card overseas. this was Tanya’s first idea and i had dismissed it since unlike our credit cards which, if they are stolen and used fraudulently, we’re insured to $50 and ATM cards generally have no such protections. fraudulent use of either means our credit ratings go in the toilet and we probably spend years getting it straighened out, so it’s no walk in the park with credit card fraud, but given the choice between ruined credit and ruined credit AND being broke, i’d take the former. but when that comes at about a 10% premium, it makes me think twice.
I made a few more calls to Visa and my credit union and found some
useful notes:
- My credit union won’t charge anything on top of what Visa charges
for international transactions. - Visa charges me only a 1% commission on the exchange rate. This
is confusing since when I called my Visa issuer they said their 3%
commission is from Visa, not USBank who issue the REI Visa and when I
called Visa international they also cited a 3% commission, but my
credit union rep confirmed the 1% number when I mentioned Visa said it
was 3%. - As long as any fraudulent use of my Visa check card (debit card)
is reported within 30 days, I’m not liable for any misuse at all.
So now it sounds like my best option is to simply use my check card
since the fees will be lower, they seem to have an answer to my
concerns about fraudulent use, and I know the PIN for that card! But
the real lesson is that this is way too confusing and I’ll plan on
taking the hour to make some calls before I travel internationally
again and make sure I understand what fees I’ll be looking at.