I did a quick search, but didn’t find this topic covered.
Is there an additional charge (or an “overseas charge”) when using an American credit card in Taiwan? For example, if I wanted to use my Citibank MasterCard (which I have from the States) to buy, say, a computer here in Taiwan, then is there some additional charge?
I have been told there is. The person at the store said NT$ cash would be fine or even a credit card from Taiwan, but if I wanted to use my Citibank card (from the USA), this would be OK, but then I would be charged a fee or a currency transaction fee or something. Can anyone confirm this?
I’ve also run into this with a travel agent, who mentioned such a fee when I told her that I wanted to use my Citibank card to pay for some tickets.
I know that the simple solution is just to pay cash or use a Taiwan-based card, but I just wanted to hear if anyone else had heard of this.
I also plan on contacting Citbank (in the USA) to find out some more info about this.
Typically there is an insane ‘foreign transaction fee’ for charges in a currency other than USD. I think the fee can run on the order of 3% of the total bill. It is crazy. Best not to use US-issued cards when overseas unless you’ve checked this stuff in advance.
*In addition, the exchange rate the card issuer gives you will effectively add another 1-1.5%. But most consumers are clueless about this little sleight of hand. All in all it is much better to pay bills with cash or a local credit card. Otherwise you raise transaction cost ~5%.
[quote=“Opihiman”]Typically there is an insane ‘foreign transaction fee’ for charges in a currency other than USD. I think the fee can run on the order of 3% of the total bill. It is crazy. Best not to use US-issued cards when overseas unless you’ve checked this stuff in advance.
*In addition, the exchange rate the card issuer gives you will effectively add another 1-1.5%. But most consumers are clueless about this little sleight of hand. All in all it is much better to pay bills with cash or a local credit card. Otherwise you raise transaction cost ~5%.[/quote]
Thanks, Opihiman. This is exactly what Cit Cards wrote to me this afternoon.
[i]If you make a transaction in a foreign currency, other than a cash advance made at a branch or ATM of one of our affiliates, MasterCard or Visa, depending on which card is used, will convert the amount into U.S. dollars. MasterCard and Visa will comply with their operating regulations or foreign currency conversion procedures then in effect.
The foreign currency conversion rate in effect on the applicable processing date for a transaction may differ from the rate in effect on the Sale or Post date on your billing statement for that transaction.
For each purchase made in a foreign currency, we add an additional Finance Charge of 3% of the purchase amount after its conversion into U.S. dollars.[/i]
I’ve certainly learned a lesson on this one.
Cash or a local credit card from now on for purchases made in Taiwan (or in other parts of Asia).
