Best currency exchange rates through credit cards, says study

International travelers can easily save up to 14.7% on currency exchange by using their credit cards. This has been found after a study was conducted by Card Hub. The US Dollar to Euro conversion rates were analyzed, where around 15 of the largest banks in the nation examined. MasterCard, Visa, and Travelex that are the largest airport currency exchange companies had showed that the lowest exchange rates were provided by credit cards. Consumers can save around 14.7% and 7.9% relative to airport services and banks respectively.

Card Hub’s study not only showed the benefits of currency exchange on credit cards but also that the best banks for conversion of currency were Harris Bank and the Northern Trust. But the Fifth Third Bank and U.S. Bank were considered to be the worst.

As of June 28, the US dollar was being traded at 1.4364 against one Euro and that makes traveling to the European Union an expensive proposition. Since, consumers are always on the lookout for ways and means to save, using credit cards for currency conversion also seems to be one of them.

Although, not all of these credit cards will provide such huge savings, according to the data provided by Card Hub at least 90.2% of the credit cards charge 3% fees on any of the transactions that are processed outside the US. So, travelers will still be able to save around 11.7% relative to Travelex and 4.9% relative to banks respectively in case they use such cards. However, these benefits will not be as obvious as the ones that are provided by the ‘no international fee credit card,’ where there is no 3% transaction fee.

Earlier, Capital One was the only major bank that did not charge its customers a transaction fee and offered the no foreign transaction fee cards, but that was some years ago. Now, Chase, Citi, and American Express have all entered this market and their offerings are made available to their customers.

But, if you wish to avail all the benefits then it would be a good idea to obtain a no international fee credit card even before you book your flight tickets or make hotel reservations. This is because foreign fees are applicable to all purchases that are processed overseas and not merely the ones that are actually made abroad. So, it would be insufficient if you just open the no international fee credit card only before going on a foreign trip.