Foreign transaction fee? Currency conversion fee? Forex markup?

[CardShard]

Too many terms used interchangeably. Reading this bankbazaar article, my understanding is the following.

Say I buy something that costs $100. There's a currency coversion fee on it. Assuming 1%.
Then there is the foreign transaction fee. Assuming 3.5%.
So the final amount payable is ($100 + 1%) + 3.5% = $101 + 3.5% = %104.535 (Which is a total of 4.535% on top of retail price)

Is my understanding correct?

Also, all banks list the foreign transaction fee, but how do I find the currency conversion fee? Can you provide links for some of the popular cards?

 

[TheMentalist]

For me, it has been like $100 converted to INR by Google + 3.5% bank charges on that

 

[Harry1]

Every card network has different conversion rates. Just go to visa or MasterCard site based on ur card, enter date, amount and % charged. It will show you the final amount.

Typically, u can assume google conversion rate at the time of transaction and increase by 4.13% (3.5%+GST). That is pretty close. The charges mentioned by bank include everything except GST.

 

[Dr. Drake]

Here is an example. I purchased a service approx. ~$54-55 I was charged 3.5% + CGST/SGST.

 

[Mohur]

As far as I know there is no currency conversion charge when paying for purchases. Currency conversion is charged when receiving money from abroad. Pls check

 

[CardShard]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Another follow-up question:

When travelling abroad with cards which offer low foreign markup and good base rewards (such as Infinia), and also don't have any cash withdrawal charges, is there any practical benefit of a forex card?

Forex reload conversion rate is usually 1-2% higher than ongoing (Google) rate. So for POS transactions credit card is better for sure. (Considering reward rate covers the forex fee).

For withdrawing currency overseas, if there is no cash advance fee, and considering I pay off the outstanding amount on my credit card in full within a day or two (so no/negligible interest on the cash amount), credit card seems to be better here as well, since forex cards also have some cash withdrawal fee.

Am I missing something?

 

[TheTrickySid]

Here is an example. I purchased a service approx. ~$54-55 I was charged 3.5% + CGST/SGST.

What if this payment was made using niyo global card which have zero markup charges??

 

[Dr. Drake]

I am aware of that. I have numerous Cc, for which there would be a 1% markup, but I would get reimbursed, so I don't care. Additionally, this transaction brings the completion of milestone-based rewards closer.

 

[jack333]

Is it true that Rupay credit cards have zero foreign currency markup charges?