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Should I get a Forex card or No markup DC

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sangalaviral

sangalaviral

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Hi All,

I am going on a month long US trip and contemplating if I should use a Forex card or a No markup DC?

I have checked Bookmyforex and they are charging about 15p when loading and about 80p when unloading.
 
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Card acceptance won't be an issue at most places in Hungary and Croatia. A thing to keep in mind is the exchange rates on the Diners/Discover network. It should be 0.5-2% more than Visa/MC rates depending on the currency.
 
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CARDBITRAGE said:
Card acceptance won't be an issue in most places Hungary and Croatia. A thing to keep in mind is the exchange rates on the Diners/Discovers network. It should be 0.5-2% more than Visa/MC rates depending on the currency.
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This is on top of the forex markup right? I'm assuming it'll be a better rate for Visa Infinite over Diners?
 
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wr8_utd said:
This is on top of the forex markup right? I'm assuming it'll be a better rate for Visa Infinite over Diners?
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Visa/MC/Diners charge a fixed % over the interbank rates. And forex charges are charged over and above the settled transaction amount by the issuing banks.
Visa rates- https://www.visa.co.in/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html
MC rates- https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.htmlhttps://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html
Diners- You will have to make a transaction to find out.
And yes, Mastercard and Visa have the best rates among all the card networks.
 
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wr8_utd said:
Thank you! Actually, I just had one more question. The DCB 5 RP on 150 spends are valid on international transactions too for sure right? Because I know DCB says "5 Reward Points on 150 retail spends". Just wanted to confirm once more.
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Yes domestic and international transactions both.
I have received mine for international transactions in Sept after few days.
 
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abhinav_ said:
Does HDFC milinea offer GVP?

And what will the effective Forex rate after Reward rate and such?

Should I go for Scapia? (0%) is there any other card with 0%?
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The effective return even with GBP for cards lower than DCB is negative.
There are many 0 forex cards in market like RBL world Safari , IDFC Wow , Niyo Global CC/DC, Scapia, Axis Burgundy Private , Indusind Exclusive DC ,RBL Signature Plus DC. Etc
 
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CARDBITRAGE said:
Visa/MC/Diners charge a fixed % over the interbank rates. And forex charges are charged over and above the settled transaction amount by the issuing banks.
Visa rates- https://www.visa.co.in/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html
MC rates- https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.htmlhttps://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html
Diners- You will have to make a transaction to find out.
And yes, Mastercard and Visa have the best rates among all the card networks.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this. The Euro to INR converter on the Visa site is showing as 2.42%. I guess its still better than using a forex card and the exchange rate fluctuations for loads ins and outs though.
 
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wr8_utd said:
Thank you for this. The Euro to INR converter on the Visa site is showing as 2.42%. I guess it’s still better than using a forex card and the exchange rate fluctuations for loads ins and outs though.
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Yes. That’s roughly how much you would pay after the forex conversion fee(2%+GST).
Forex cards are a hassle. Croatia has now adopted Euro as their currency. But Hungary on the other hand, would require transactions to be settled in forint. So that would mean double conversion charges on your forex card. Not to mention the ridiculous sell rate upon surrendering the card with the excess forex currency.
All in all, I think the right set of CCs & DCs should work out to be best in most cases.
Having said that, please carry a portion of your expenses in cash for contingencies.
 
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CARDBITRAGE said:
Yes. That’s roughly how much you would pay after the forex conversion fee(2%+GST).
Forex cards are a hassle. Croatia has now adopted Euro as their currency. But Hungary on the other hand, would require transactions to be settled in forint. So that would mean double conversion charges on your forex card. Not to mention the ridiculous sell rate upon surrendering the card with the excess forex currency.
All in all, I think the right set of CCs & DCs should work out to be best in most cases.
Having said that, please carry a portion of your expenses in cash for contingencies.
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Yeah, I've always taken forex cards but I also didn't have the Zenith+ or the DCB earlier to take advantage of the lower markups/reward points. I think the combo of two will work well and ofcourse, euros as well. Thank you, again!
 
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IMO, the best credit card for international spend is IDFC wow. You get 0 markup as well as 4X rewards for international spend. They were running a 10X international spend offer a few weeks back.

However, it is a LTF secured card - the credit availablity is a function of IDFC deposit. They do give good interest rates.
 
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HimachaliJeeper404 said:
Any thoughts about using Amex Plat Metal card as it gives you accelerated MR on International spends. Also the Amex transaction backing is a blessing.
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Yeah that is a good card but please calculate the forex rate charged against the benefits. Generally Amex charges more. Diners is comparable to Visa or Mastercard at least in USD.
 
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Even if we have 0% markup fees by bank I guess visa or mc charge 1% forex fee. Hence I think even if we use free forex cards this 1% fee shall be coming. I have seen in sbm bank not sure of other banks
 
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Are there any forex card available where I can load forex (INR equivalent) with credit card? I remember last time (3 years back) I used HDFC forex card which allowed me to load EUR/GBP with (HDFC only) credit card.
 
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