Credit Card Commissions on Forex Rate

Dear moneyland users,

I'm surprised by the fact that it is not mentioned anywhere the gap between the forex exchange rate and the one applied by the major credit card providers.

Let's pick for example UBS credit cards: for every purchase in a foreign currency we should take into account the known 1.75% commission but on top of that there is a "hidden commission" that is around 2% of the exchange rate.

This is a total commission of 3.75% that I find crazy especially because the total commission for Amex credit cards is around 2% and I know this because I'm using an amex corporate.

Is there a way to know in advance the cost of the commission applied from credit card providers on top of the forex exchange rate?

It is weird that nobody at Moneyland has ever taken this into account. This would provide a real insight into credit card business.

Cheers

Hi there,

In addition to the foreign transaction fees charged by credit card issuers, the moneyland.ch credit card comparison also accounts for CHF/EUR currency exchange spreads. These are included in the total costs of foreign currency transactions shown in the comparison.

Selecting the plus symbol corresponding to credit card costs lets you find a detailed breakdown of costs. The costs of foreign currency transactions - based on the selected profile or your custom profile - are shown under "Purchases abroad costs (EUR)".

The moneyland.ch guide to credit card foreign transaction fees provides a general overview of the fees which cardholders pay when charging foreign currency transactions to credit cards.

Best regards from Moneyguru

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Swiss credit card comparison