3 ms·

PayPal doesn't have foreign transaction fees while most credit cards (at least in the US) do.

• naniwaduni 4y ago
  Paypal doesn't assess a forex fee as a separate line item, maybe. They document[1] that the "conversion rates" they give are 3-4% worse than wholesale, which is at least as bad as every credit card I've ever held. [1]: https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/where-can-i-find-paypal's-currency-exchange-rates-faq1976 https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/where-can-i-find...
  • joveian 4y ago
    Currency conversion is different but I'm not sure if it is necessarily worse with PayPal, although I haven't compared that as closely (I think credit cards often don't give great currency conversion rates either in addition to the foreign transaction fee). I sometimes make USD transactions outside the US (GOG, some donations) and for this PayPal doesn't charge me anything (not sure about the other side) while credit cards do (there are some that don't, but those have other issues for me). I'm not certain I've tried Bandcamp payments without a PayPal account, possibly there isn't a fee there since PayPal still processes the payments. I think I have made credit card payments to Canadian companies that accept USD without being charged the fee but I'm not sure if Canada is exempt or if the payment processor manages things so it doesn't apply. It used to be completely rediculous how much PayPal would charge for conversion at the time of a transaction, but recently (I think in response to a lawsuit) it is only somewhat unreasonable (probably the 4% you mention). You can still get a better rate if you have funds in PayPal and do the conversion first and pay in the correct currency. However, then you risk a lengthy pain if PayPal decides to close your account randomly or block your access to it.