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Capital One...the credit card of choice for purchases abroad?

(3 posts)

  1. DYRL84
    Member

    This information is kinda nerdy but while shopping online for anime stuffs from sites that only accept payment in yen like Hobby Link Japan, I tried to use the best payment options available. Most credit cards charge around a 3% currency exchage fee (ex. $100 charged on a card, fee = $3).

    Instead of calling each of my credit card companies to ask them about charges in foreign currency I found this article:
    http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/latest-currency-conversion-fees-2.aspx

    If you compare the bullet "Credit card purchase:" by each credit card issuer you will notice that Capital One has a 0% charge. I have confirmed on my Wells Fargo card that they charge a 3% currency conversion fee and I called Capital One (since I have this card also) and they confirmed that there is NO currency conversion fees (as of the date of this posting) or additional fees charged to the card.

    Another payment option that was available was Paypal. Usually Paypal will exchange currency at the current exchange rate but will ultimately charge the seller around 3.8% of the transaction's total as a fee which the seller may pass along to the buyer. I'm not sure if Hobby Link Japan does this.

    I have also noticed that buying anime stuffs is like the stock market. The exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen may fluctuate daily with trends upwards or downwards and "timing the market" comes into play.

    here's a link to illustrate historical daily exchage rates:
    http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory

    Disclaimer: For anecdotal purposes only. I have no affiliation with mentioned companies. These rates were quoted for me as of the date of this post. Individual rates may vary. Please contact your credit card issuers and sellers before purchases.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. Ann
    Key Master

    Yeah, foreign transaction fees can really make a difference. I've traveled abroad and buy quite a bit of stuff in other currencies; I also have a Capital One credit card that I got for making purchases in other currencies and it's one of the best you can get for that. If you're going to be living abroad for a while I'd also recommend doing research into banks. These days it's pretty easy to just use your U.S. Visa bank card at any Visa ATM in a foreign country to withdraw cash in the local currency. While it's pretty convenient, depending on the bank you can really get hit up for fees and ultimately end up with a poor conversion rate.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. DYRL84
    Member

    I tested out my Capital One card's currency conversion rate by buying a stuffed Boota from Hobby Link Japan.
    http://www.hlj.com/product/CSP36770

    The transaction date was NOV 30, 2009 but the charge posted to my card 16 days later on DEC 16, 2009. My closing date was DEC 11, 2009.

    After crunching numbers I got a rate of 88.79 YEN per USD. I watched the exchange rates for Thursday, DEC 16, 2009 and I saw that the rates were between 89.5 to 90.00 YEN per USD. My rate could mean that 1) Capital One really does charge roughly a 1% currency conversion fee (which is still a good rate) or that 2) there is no currency conversion fee and because of differences in time zones the Wednesday, DEC 15, 2009 rates were used instead which would mean that Capital One used the lowest rate of that day. Regardless, this was a better rate than PayPal's Thursday, DEC 16, 2009 rate of 86.85 YEN per USD or paying with a different credit card with a higher currency conversion fee.

    I don't know if this is standard practice for Capital One or if the posting delay was due to the holiday season but the card posting 16 days later was a good thing because I don't have to pay for the charge during the upcoming JAN 2009 statement. Posting to the credit card at a later date was also a good thing because the rates on the day of posting were more favorable than the rates on the day of the transaction (around 86.30).

    Posted 2 years ago #

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