# Credit Card - Avoiding Foreigh Currency Transaction Fees - Sears Mastercard



## Davage (Nov 14, 2012)

Just yesterday (November 16th), Scotiabank took ownership of the Sears Mastercard business from Chase in Canada. For a few years we've been using the Sears Mastercard when traveling to the USA because they don't charge the 2.5% Foreign Currency Transaction Fee that most of the other Canadian credit card companies charge.

I called and talked with the Chase people, and they said that the Scotiabank Mastercard will offer the same "No Foreign Currency Transaction Fee" that the Chase card did, but I am concerned that there may be a change to the terms and conditions that Scotiabank will introduce down the road - likely the week before I'm going to travel to the USA.

This morning I signed up for the Amazon.ca Rewards VISA card that has 1% cash back on purchases (which is simply a bonus), No Annual Fee and No Foreign Currency Transaction Fees. That 2.5% fee can really add up. On a typical 1 week trip to the USA, we would spend at least $1000 on the card. A Foreign Transaction fee would add $25 to the bill. With a couple of trips to the USA planned next year, I figured that I'd play it safe and get the Chase Amazon.CA VISA card to avoid the 2.5% fee. We will be paying the balance of our Disney vacation in February.. (We've only paid the deposit so far, hoping that the Canadian dollar will strengthen a bit before February) The amount we are paying to Disney is going to be about $3000 Canadian. The lack of a 2.5% fee is a savings of $75 for that 1 transaction alone. 

Anybody who travels to the USA, or elsewhere in the world, should take a look at their current credit card and see if they charge the 2.5% fee.. Saving 2.5% on your vacation is a good way of remaining frugal.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

We have been using the Amazon Visa for all transaction here and in USA for over a year. We also have it as our means of payment on eBay (although we don't use that much these days). No problems. Withdrawing cash is another problem regardless if our Canadian bank doesn't have branches in area we visit.

One problem with the Amazon VISA - It won't work at our local Home Depot. We have complained to both Chase and HD. Problem is apparently with card readers at HD. But they have done nothing about it. As a result, we are using Rona (They include air miles) or Lowes.


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## Davage (Nov 14, 2012)

We don't used credit cards on a daily basis - we mainly use them for hotels and gas while traveling in the USA for ease of currency conversion. We also use credit cards for dental visits, which we are reimbursed by our insurance company in a couple of days. 

We likely would never have even noticed that the Amazon VISA doesn't work at Home Depot. I've only shopped there for a couple of small items in the past year. I do appreciate the heads-up about it though.


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