How much is Commission on Credit cards??

[Soprano]

I understand different cards may have different commission costs, but for example, what (roughly) would the charge for spending $1500 on a credit card in the US be?

I would be interested in hearing how much people were charged for what amount.

Nationwide promise "commission-free use abroad, unlike the banks" so I may go for this either way.

 

[kristieuk]

Definitely go for the Nationwide Card. Most credit cards charge 2.75% of the transaction as a commission. This sometimes appears as a separate charge, but sometimes it is sneakily built in to the exchange rate they use (ie you get a worse rate - took me a while to realise they did this!).


Therefore, as a guide, if you spent a total of $1500, you would have 'wasted' about $42 (or £25) on commission. Not a huge amount, but why bother - the Nationwide card is great, and you benefit from the $ market rate, which is about 4 or 5 cents higher than the tourist rate you would get at, say, the Post Office.

 

[eyoreaud]

Hi Kristie,

Another vote for the Nationwide card We have been using it for years and it really is worth it!

 

[Goofyish]

Another Nationwide CC owner The commission on other cards is usually taken off the exchange rate that you are given, but with the Nationwide card you get close to the bank rate of exchange

 

[barry7767]

One thing worth bearing in mind is not matter how good Nationwide appear to be, they are a financial company who will not give you something for nothing. Not to start an argument or anything, but I spent $4000 at Tiffany's on my Barclaycard - commission was £56, but, and this is where I disagree with the other posts, the rate I got was higher than the bank rate/tourist rate. Nationwide give you a lesser rate but don't charge you commission. They have to get their money back some way. It would probably work out the same, they are all a con, but I would opt for the Nationwide card too, as at least it appears better on paper as I resented paying the commission even though I got a higher rate.

 

[kristieuk]

One thing worth bearing in mind is not matter how good Nationwide appear to be, they are a financial company who will not give you something for nothing. Not to start an argument or anything, but I spent $4000 at Tiffany's on my Barclaycard - commission was £56, but, and this is where I disagree with the other posts, the rate I got was higher than the bank rate/tourist rate. Nationwide give you a lesser rate but don't charge you commission. They have to get their money back some way. It would probably work out the same, they are all a con, but I would opt for the Nationwide card too, as at least it appears better on paper as I resented paying the commission even though I got a higher rate.

That's not right. Nationwide will charge you whatever Visa set the rate as on a particular day. They don't 'make' on the foreign currency transaction itself (only on the interest etc in the same way it does for sterling transaction).

Some credit cards will 'build in' their charge to the exchange rate to make money back, but this is the same as them charging the 2.75% fee as a separate entry (as I believe Barclaycard do). Nationwide could not advertise their card as a 'no commission charge' card if they did this.

The tourist rate today is around $1.71. The actual market rate is around $1.75. If you were to use Nationwide card for a $ purchase today, you would get the rate that Visa set (it is not set by Nationwide) for the day. This would be $1.74 or something very close to it.

Was the Nationwide card and Barclaycard transaction on the same day?

 

[arieliwish]

Ou Natwest CC bill was waiting for us when we returned 2 weeks ago, it only had 3 purchases on in the US, but the rates were $1.78 and $1.75 which was definitely higher than the normal rate while we were there - I'm sure it was $1.70 and below. Off the top of my head I can't remember seeing the commission charge, but I'll check it out.

 

[steve_rob]

I will soon be able to settle this once and for all!

I recently got a Nationwide credit card (after some gentle persuasion from people on these boards!) and will no doubt be using it while I am in Florida in November.

I previously had a Barclaycard and whenever I bought something in the States, the rate I got it at was better than the tourist rate. However, when you took their commission into account as well (which I will give Barclays credit for, they were quite up front about it - clearly put separately on the statement, not hidden away in the total) it almost always matched the tourist rate available at places like Travelex and OnlineFX - it was never more than half a cent out either side - and that was true for over 30 purchases over a number of different trips.

So when I get my first Nationwide statement, I'll work it out on my trusty calculator and let you know how the rate REALLY compares!

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
I bought our Disney annual passes last month online and the rate I got with Nationwide was $1.837 the "commercial rate" for the same day was $1.843
That's good enough for me...

Mick.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

I might have to take a look at getting one of these Nationwide cards nearer next May....no point now, I have 6 credit cards on the go and even though I have almost zero actual debt (apart from a 46k mortgage), I doubt Ill get accepted for another until I close some of the others !
At the moment I am only interested in cards that have a 0% period and free balance transfers (which is a feature thats getting hard to find).

 

[Ruth B]

another nationwide card owner!!

 

[Pootle]

The tourist rate today is around $1.71. The actual market rate is around $1.75. If you were to use Nationwide card for a $ purchase today, you would get the rate that Visa set (it is not set by Nationwide) for the day. This would be $1.74 or something very close to it.

I agree with all the positives people say about the Nationwide card too, but it is important to remember that the rate changes all the time during the day, so you can buy something an hour later and get a different rate.

We use our Nationwide for all our overseas purchases - I go to the USA 3 or 4 times a year and DH works abroad, so we are heavy users. Almost daily I watch foreign transactions go through on our Nationwide account (we have online banking which links to our Nationwide account) and it's an excellent product, even though they no longer give the cashback on overseas use.