Fx fee and conversion rate ?

[Zoe Nguyen]

Hi,

I'm new to Amex and tried to find in Amex website regarding to fx transactions fee and commission fee when purchase in another currency, unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere. Does anyone know ? And what fx rate they use ?

I tried to see if it's worth to use Amex for online purchases or eftpos overseas ?

Thanks

 

[Duffa]

Hi,

I'm new to Amex and tried to find in Amex website regarding to fx transactions fee and commission fee when purchase in another currency, unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere. Does anyone know ? And what fx rate they use ?

I tried to see if it's worth to use Amex for online purchases or eftpos overseas ?

Thanks

I spent hours on this. Web searches and on the phone. Best I could get after much messing around was their conversion rate "right now". Of course, they went on to say that the foreign transaction may not be processed for 2-3 days so the exchange rate could change significantly in that time - note A$ crash last week !! I have read of other members who have tried buying two of one product, on different cards at exactly the same time, to see who has the best exchange rate. All I know is that they all charge a nice fat commission except for the "28 degrees Mastercard".

 

[cove]

Getting hit up for 3% on foreign transactions is a real ouch if the amount is hundred or thousands of dollars but ok for say $50.
28 degrees card works great for the larger purchases.

 

[Zoe Nguyen]

I have found this useful link for foreign transactions fee:

Foreign Currency & International Fees for Credit Cards | Credit Card Finder

I did a calculation to compare which options are the best ( for my situation):
I have 2 cards - Amex Platinum Edge Card, Citibank Visa Platinum Card, and looking to apply Wizard Card.
I only want to convert them into Kris Flyer points (because that's where I flied most of the time with). I value 1 point of KF = 1.1c (or 1.1%)
Amex Card : $ 1 = 1 point = 1.1c ( 3 % transaction fee)
Citibank Visa Card : for foreign currency transactions : $ 1 = 3 points = 2 KF points = 2.2c (3.3 % transaction fee)
Wizard: no points = no fees

-->

For Amex Card : fee - points = 3% - 1.1% = 1.9% charge
For Citibank Card: 3.3% - 2.2% = 1.1% charge
Wizard : no charge

My conclusion agrees with cove, the best way is using Wizard Card for online shopping.

When being overseas, I normally use Wizard for cash withdraws, so I prefer to leave the card in debit balance. Between Amex and Citibank, based on my calculation, it is better to use Citibank compares to Amex by 0.8% charge. However, how's about the conversion rate ?

 

[cove]

I trialled CitiSelect in the Us last month and I did get 5 Citi points per dollar for the 3.3% fee.
Now on this expensive card that works out at a true point a dollar as Citi points convert to SQ Kris points at 3.33 per 5 Citi Rewards points. Paying $700 for a card to do this is OTT so in Canada I just used 28 Degrees and didn't bother earning points. Getting a clean cost is very satisfactory and paying 1% or more for points creates a pain barrier.