Beware of ‘Hidden Currency Charges while using your credit card overseas
Posted June 30th, 2009 When you make a purchase overseas, unscrupulous merchants may charge you in pounds sterling rather than the local currency, without consulting first. The benefit of this to the merchant is that it allows the Merchant’s bank to set the exchange rate to the local currency, which results in the card owner paying a lot more than approved.
The BBC is running a story about Kirsty, from Warwickshire, who lost £17 on a €350 car hire purchase. Although these amounts seem fairly trivial, they can easily add up over time.
Kirsty having a short break in Spain, when she went to a local office of a car hire firm Centauro to pick up a car she had reserved online.
She was asked to pay a deposit of €350 on her credit card but did not check the receipt she had been given until she got home.
To her anger and surprise, the €350 she thought she had paid, had been changed into sterling at an exchange rate set by the car hire firm’s bank, not her own.
When she looked at her credit card statement, she realized that whilst the company took the deposit in pounds, it paid her back four days later in euros.
Kirsty comments
“If they’re doing this to every customer, every day, for every hire car, they’re making a tidy little profit at our expense,”
“[It's] a bit like giving the customer the small print after they’ve signed on the dotted line.”
The merchant has subsequently offered to refund Kirsty her £17, but this is still something a careful credit card owner should be aware of.
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This card is designed for people with bad credit ratings, this is why the rate is quite high. |
Typical 34.9% APR variable | 34.9% APR | 34.9% APR | No Annual Fee | 56 days for purchases. 0 days for balance transfers and cash. |
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The Virgin Prepaid MasterCard from Virgin Money is a prepaid Mastercard that you can add funds to, and use these funds for normal purchases. |
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Vanquis Visa Card is designed for people with no credit history or who have previously had bad debt. |
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The award winning prepaid card with no credit check or bank account needed. | Funds in your Account will not earn interest | Prepaid only - N/A | Prepaid only - N/A | £59.40 p.a. (£4.95/month) | Prepaid only - N/A |
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