Capital One isn’t all sweetness and light just because it has no foreign transaction fees. You most probably are going to be spending a lot time on the phone with Capital One to straighten out their overzealous monitoring and restrictions of your account.

Good points….As far as Capital One I had an issue this week when they knew I was in the UK, but it took one call and they e-mailed an apology and acknowledged that I was there. They also let the charge go thru before I called so I did not have a denial on the spot, just a red flag between they and I the merchant never knew about. I do agree 150% they are w ay way too overzealous on the security crap though.

As far as Old National, you don’t say where in Indiana and their service does vary, but in the central area (Indianapolis, etc) I find them to be delightful, though they entered this area rather late and are very attuned to the boutique bank style and customers using them whereas I am told in the more rural areas they are less-accommodating though I do have some connections if you need and will say what area you are in. They never say no…and only rarely wince when I ask for this or that out-of-the-ordinary thing so they are pretty used to me waltzing in with a pocket full of Euro or Canadian money I need changed but again that’s downtown Indianapolis!

I have to agree with you about using lsmall local banks. If you establish a relationship, not necessarily a large balance, regional banks have managers that can waive many fees. They want to maintain a good relationship with you so you will use them as your “TOTAL” bank (mortgage, credit cards, checking, savings, investments).

I have the Charles Schwab card and have never had any problems with extra fees for foreign transactions. I also have found their currency conversion rates very competitive with the forex rates of the day.

I have thought of getting a Capital One card but am worried about the DENIALS for overseas transactions. I travel extensively, especially in Asia, and would not want my card refused if I had made prior arrangements with Capital One to record my travel itinerary. I do not mind organizing things ahead of time because I feel that is responsible behavior. I also appreciate the level of credit card fraud that is prevalent today and know that measures have to be taken to contain it. I just feel that if there is prior notification to the credit card company there is no reason for repeateddenials for authorized charges. I pay all my credit card balances off in full each month and never carry a balance. So I imagine I am not a very “profitable” customer even though I charge over $2400 a month on credit cards.

I appreciate the heads up about OLD NATIONAL BANK. I have a house Indiana and have seen this bank around but never used it. I may give then a second look.

The average market rate on that date (interbank rate) on the date of your transaction was 1.323 , euro to dollar. Thus, you should have been charged $18.13, or very close to it (using the extreme value it hit during the day it would have been $18.23). In effect you were charged a fee of $1.39, but that was hidden in the exchange rate. In effect, you were charged a fee of over 7% !
So much for Capital One’s widely advertised “no transaction fee”.

How do I know that the rates I am using in these calculations are not for $1M and over ?
Whenever I am in a foreign country I buy in local currency which I obtain from ATM’s in that country. I use a VISA debit card fro my credit union. My CU states that they charge a 1% transfer tax which is separately itemized on my monthly statement. Now,
I checked the transfer rates I got and they are within the daily variation.

Sarah: As you’ve learned there’s little recourse and you may never know if your transaction is deemed international because of someone’s processing company. The Visa and MC associations created this foreign transaction fee a few years ago and nearly all banks and credit unions pass the charge to you.

It’s been mentioned before here that Amex and Discover do not charge for foreign transactions processed in USD. They do charge for foreign currency transactions.
Discover charges 2%, most Amex issued Amex cards charge 2.7%.

Since you are a BofA card holder, you may wish to switch to the Schwab First Visa or Fidelity Rewards Amex which are both issued by FIA Card Services, which is a BofA company. Both offer 2% rewards on all purchases. The Fidelity Rewards Amex charges a 1% foreign currency transaction fee, but at least with the 2% reward, you are still ahead.