Credit Card Usage Abroad Attracts Extra Charges

If you are going abroad and are planning to take your credit card on holiday or business with you, did you know that you could be hit with some hefty fees to the credit card issuer, just for using your credit card in a foreign land?

Most are totally unaware of the foreign usage fees that credit card issuers take, when you spend on your plastic abroad and when I say most I mean most, as two-thirds of credit card holders knew nothing of these fees.

The fees usually run in at 2.75%, which may not seem a lot but if you are spending in the region of £1000 on holiday, then a bill for £1027.50 will be waiting for you when you get back home, that is a charge of £27.50 for just using your credit card.

But it doesn’t stop there; a further charge will be added if you make the cardinal sin of using your credit card to make cash withdrawal while abroad, the fees for using an ATM will cost you in the region of 2%, but don’t let this reel you into a false sense of security, by thinking that it is cheaper to withdraw cash than it is to spend using your credit card in the normal way for transactions, because it cant be any further from the truth, as the 2% fee is added to the foreign usage fee, leaving you with a charge of 4.75% on your £1000 and a bill for £1047.50.

The best policy before you go on holiday or on a business trip, is to check with your credit card company, the charges that they make when using your credit card, to see if it is a worthwhile option to take it or to use travellers cheques or exchange your currency at home.

Though don’t be surprised if you find that your credit card issuer doesn’t make charges because even though most do, not all of them charge fees. The Nationwide Building Society for one wont charge you a usage fee, though they will take a fee for cash withdrawal but it is less than the average of 2% with them charging 1.5%.

Some banks and building society’s wont charge you a fee if you use the card inside the E.U, though regretfully they do charge in farther flung destinations, Liverpool and Victoria being one of them.