Visa Trans Fees on PayPal.

[Tandum]

I've noticed today that stuff I buy offshore with Paypal is attracting an International Transaction Fee even though the transaction is in AU$.

All these examples where purchased in AU$ :-
I see one Paypal for $45.72 followed by a $1.05 fee. This was for a server security certificate from a US firm.

I got another straight Visa buy for $879.12 followed by a $20.22 fee which I believed was paid to Symantec Australia.

Then in contrast I see a Paypal to Tan in Honkers with no fee applied?

I rang the bank and they just brushed me off saying they were International transactions, including the one to Symantec.

After a bit of googling it appears Bankwest Credit Cards don't do this so I might swap.

Does anyone know what's going on here, is this a new thing?

[Larryp]

Fees for international transactions are by no means new-I have been paying them for at least 25 years. Cost of currency conversion and so on.

[Tandum]

These are all in AU dollars, paypal does the conversion. I don't believe Paypal has been around for 25years.

[RickS]

I have a NAB account that didn't include international transaction fees until recently. They introduced them to push people to their new travel currency card which is presumably more profitable for the bank. It's certainly not more convenient for the customer. I'm planning to apply for a card elsewhere that doesn't include these fees and they'll lose the business.



They're not new but it's not a matter of covering the cost of currency conversion. They're already taking a spread on the exchange rate that covers that and then some...

[Larryp]

No, Paypal hasn't been around for 25 years, but international transaction fees have. Paypal charges a fee, and if you use a credit card, your credit card issuer charges the international transaction fee-it shows up on my credit card statement. Even years ago when I went to the bank to get a cheque in US$, I was charged a fee

[Tandum]

I thought so. I just dug up some old statements and none from 2010 show this fee. Can't find any from 2011 but most of the 2012 statements show it.
The misses tells me she doesn't get charged on her credit union visa card. Time for a card change I think.

[jjjnettie]

ANZ slapped me with fees when I bought the 1100D from Sth Korea. :(

[Danack]

As everyone else has said, it's due to the banks slapping fees on international transactions, because they can.

I believe that you may be able to avoid the fee on your card if you are able to pay through https://www.paypal-australia.com.au/ rather than paypal.com as Pay-pal deliberately setup an on shore business to allow customers to avoid these charges.

[GrahamL]

I asked a CBA employee the other week why the exchange rate is skimmed pretty hard and was told to cover our costs on international transactions, which seems a fair enough answer , but why the fee then , it does seem like they are charging twice .

[tlgerdes]

Sort of a sideline thing, but i would rather a fee and better cross rate than no fees a lousy cross rates. Works out better for me when doing tax returns.