Thrifty Thinking: WalletHub's Foreign Transaction Fee Survey

 

With international travel bound to increase this summer despite selective travel bans, WalletHub today released the results of a nationally representative Foreign Transaction Fee Survey, along with a report identifying the best credit cards to use when traveling abroad.

• No Pandemic Relief: 61% of people don't think it's fair that banks have continued to charge foreign transaction fees during the pandemic.
   
• Credit Card Politics: 73% of people think foreign fees should be cheaper in countries allied with the U.S.
   
• Unfair Fees: 63% of people say foreign transaction fees are unfair. Women are slightly more likely to feel this way than men.
   
• Not-So-Foreign Fees: 8 in 10 people don't realize foreign fees can apply without foreign travel (all it takes is shopping from an international merchant).
   
• Unaware of Foreign Fees: 47% of people don’t know if their credit card has a foreign transaction fee. This is most common among people over the age of 45.
   
• Best Credit Cards for International Travelers: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
   
• Best Credit Card Companies for No Foreign Fees: Capital One, Discover and USAA are the only major issuers that exclusively offer no foreign transaction fee credit cards. Getting such a card, along with a no foreign fee debit card, enables international travelers to minimize the cost of currency conversion.

Q&A with WalletHub
 
Should banks have stopped charging foreign transaction fees during the pandemic?
“More than 6 in 10 people think banks should have stopped charging foreign transaction fees during the pandemic, according to a new WalletHub survey, but unfortunately no bank did that,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “To be fair, banks did work with customers to give them a break on a lot of bills during the pandemic, and foreign travel must have been at the bottom of their list of priorities.”

Should foreign transaction fees be cheaper in countries allied with the U.S.?
“Around 73% of people think that foreign transaction fees should be cheaper in countries allied with the U.S., according to a new WalletHub survey, but this would be a nightmare logistically and everyone would have a hard time keeping things straight,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “Besides, if you want to avoid foreign transaction fees no matter where you go, you can simply get a credit card with no foreign fees.”

 Do you think most people know when a foreign fee can apply?
“Most people know that purchases made while traveling abroad are subject to foreign transaction fees, but 88% of people don’t realize that foreign fees can also apply without foreign travel, according to a new WalletHub survey,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “If you are making a purchase from an internationally based retailer, whether online or over the phone, foreign fees could add 3% to your total if you’re not using the right credit card to pay.”