One can use regular credit cards for cash advances at ATMs overseas but the cost seems unlikely to be less than when using debit cards. Interest charges will also be counted from the day of the cash advance, unless the card is prepaid or paid on the same day.
On longer trips, or for people traveling regularly, such high percentage costs cannot be ignored in the name of convenience.
Some credit cards have no exchange rate surcharges on foreign purchases, so that the only cost is the half spread charged by the credit card company. The amazon.ca Visa card from Chase is an example that is popular on the Financial Wisdom Forum. Such cards can be used for purchases overseas, with balances paid in full every month to avoid interest charges. On a $1000 purchase in the US, the total fee is $3 (0.3%, note 1). The cost would be about 0.4% or $4 a $1000 purchase in Europe (note 2), assuming no surcharge by the merchant.
A cash advance on the Amazon.ca Visa can be obtained from a local bank overseas (ideally, at which the customer has opened an account), in which case Chase will add 1% (or a minimum of $5) on top of the Visa International half spread. Interest charges will apply from the day of the transaction, unless the cash advance has been pre-paid or is paid back on the day of the transaction (for example using online banking at a Canadian institution). On a $1000 cash advance in the US, the total fee is about $13 (1.3%), or $14 (1.4%) in the Eurozone. Note however that the cash advance limit on the Amazon.ca Visa is only one fifth of the total credit limit, constraining the amounts that can be transferred this way.
If larger amounts of cash need to be transferred before or during the trip, then it could be useful to have a bank account in both countries and do an international transfer, although the money will take several days to arrive at its destination so this should be planned in advance. There are typically two components to an international money transfer: the transfer itself, and the currency exchange. The transfer fees are typically transparent, whereas the forex fees are a percentage hidden (or not) in the exchange rate. A traditional wire (SWIFT) transfer from a Canadian bank will cost a few tens of dollars (say $25 or more), and the receiving institution may also deduct a fee, e.g. $10. In theory the currency can be the same at the other end, in which case the fees end there. But commonly there is forex involved and then the originating bank applies an undisclosed but high percentage charge (about 3-4% depending on the currency ). On a $5k transfer to the Eurozone, the total cost would be about $25 to send, $10 to receive, and $170 in forex charges (3.4%), totaling $205 or 4.1%.
There are now FinTech alternatives to traditional wire transfers, with much lower fees. Examples are discussed in the Financial Wisdom Forum post: Money Transfer, by user Quebec. The advantage of these new money transfer companies is that the forex fees are reasonable and transparent, typically ≤0.5-1% depending on the currencies involved.
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