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No fees and better UX are the main selling points. It might shine for foreign transactions: no fee (usually 2%) + 1% cashback seems pretty good. If we're being

by pcr0 7y ago

No fees and better UX are the main selling points. It might shine for foreign transactions: no fee (usually 2%) + 1% cashback seems pretty good. If we're being realistic though, they'll probably have a terrible FX spread.

HeavenFox 7y ago
iirc the forex rates are set by the payment network i.e. MasterCard, hence you should be no worse off than any other MC card
- pyromine 7y ago
  While forex is set by the network, some cards charge a cross border assessment (CBA) fee on international purchases. Though admittedly I have 3 cards with no CBA and only that charges a 3.8% CBA... but I did prioritize for cards better for international travel. Most of my friends have cards that do charge a CBA
- TazeTSchnitzel 7y ago
  MC provide a currency conversion rate, yes, but a lot of card issuers also add a foreign transaction fee of some kind on top of that, sometimes both a percentage and a fixed charge.
arcticbull 7y ago
In the credit card world, "no foreign transaction fees" means, literally, the mid-market rate. If they charge a spread on forex, it's very clearly spelled out in the disclosures as required by law. It's not advertised as a no foreign transaction fee card if they have a forex spread. That's not something they mess around with. No forex fee is pretty much table stakes these days. Just be careful, if someone in a foreign country offers to bill you in your local currency you literally cannot win. They whack you with a ~10% "convenience" fee and if your issuer charges foreign transaction fees, they'll do that anyways because it's based on point of sale and not based on currency.
- matwood 7y ago
  > No forex fee is pretty much table stakes these days. Agreed. > Just be careful, if someone in a foreign country offers to bill you in your local currency you literally cannot win. Yep, always take the bill in local currency. ATMs will often try to scare a person into converting, but the rate and fee is almost always much worse than a person's bank.
  - arcticbull 7y ago
    > ATMs will often try to scare a person into converting, but the rate and fee is almost always much worse than a person's bank. Not just worse, additive haha. You pay both fees stacked on top. But it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind knowing exactly what your exchange rate is going to be in the moment, if the ATMs are to be believed haha.
astura 7y ago
Shine? It's not even competitive on foreign transactions... There's a whole bunch of cards that give you (at least) 1.5% cash back with no foreign transaction fee or annual fee. Off the top of my head: BoA Travel Rewards, Cap One QuicksilverOne, Navy Federal CashRewards, PayPal MasterCard (2%). Fidelity Visa gets you 1% cash back on foreign transactions (normal 2%-1% fee)

by pcr0 7y ago

HeavenFox 7y ago

iirc the forex rates are set by the payment network i.e. MasterCard, hence you should be no worse off than any other MC card

pyromine 7y ago
While forex is set by the network, some cards charge a cross border assessment (CBA) fee on international purchases. Though admittedly I have 3 cards with no CBA and only that charges a 3.8% CBA... but I did prioritize for cards better for international travel. Most of my friends have cards that do charge a CBA
TazeTSchnitzel 7y ago
MC provide a currency conversion rate, yes, but a lot of card issuers also add a foreign transaction fee of some kind on top of that, sometimes both a percentage and a fixed charge.

arcticbull 7y ago

In the credit card world, "no foreign transaction fees" means, literally, the mid-market rate. If they charge a spread on forex, it's very clearly spelled out in the disclosures as required by law. It's not advertised as a no foreign transaction fee card if they have a forex spread. That's not something they mess around with. No forex fee is pretty much table stakes these days. Just be careful, if someone in a foreign country offers to bill you in your local currency you literally cannot win. They whack you with a ~10% "convenience" fee and if your issuer charges foreign transaction fees, they'll do that anyways because it's based on point of sale and not based on currency.

matwood 7y ago
> No forex fee is pretty much table stakes these days. Agreed. > Just be careful, if someone in a foreign country offers to bill you in your local currency you literally cannot win. Yep, always take the bill in local currency. ATMs will often try to scare a person into converting, but the rate and fee is almost always much worse than a person's bank.
- arcticbull 7y ago
  > ATMs will often try to scare a person into converting, but the rate and fee is almost always much worse than a person's bank. Not just worse, additive haha. You pay both fees stacked on top. But it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind knowing exactly what your exchange rate is going to be in the moment, if the ATMs are to be believed haha.

astura 7y ago

Shine? It's not even competitive on foreign transactions... There's a whole bunch of cards that give you (at least) 1.5% cash back with no foreign transaction fee or annual fee. Off the top of my head: BoA Travel Rewards, Cap One QuicksilverOne, Navy Federal CashRewards, PayPal MasterCard (2%). Fidelity Visa gets you 1% cash back on foreign transactions (normal 2%-1% fee)