Everyday accounts · Basics · 3 of 6 · About 3 minutes
Spending overseas: the international transaction fee
The percentage many banks add to a purchase in another currency, and what it comes to in a year.
- 1Many accounts add a fee to anything you buy in another currency.
- 2The fee runs from nothing to 3.65%.
- One question
Many accounts add a fee to anything you buy in another currency.
It’s called the international transaction fee: a percentage of each purchase, worked out in Australian dollars.
- It’s charged when you pay with the debit card on a trip, and when you buy online from a shop that charges in another currency.
- Some banks also charge it on a purchase in Australian dollars from a shop based overseas. Each bank’s terms say when.
- The middle fee on the accounts BankMate lists is 3%. 8 of the 61 that publish one charge none.
Drag the year’s spending.
The fee runs from nothing to 3.65%.
31 of the 61 accounts that publish it charge 3%. 8 charge nothing.
- It’s the same percentage however much you spend, so the dollars grow with the spending.
- Accounts priced by plan, like Crypto.com, Revolut and Wise, work differently. That’s a later module.
Drag the purchase.
- International fee
- 3%
- You spend overseas
- $3,000 in a year
What does the fee come to in a year?
- $9
- $90
- $900
The answer is $90.
3% of $3,000 is $90. An account with no international fee would charge $0 on the same spending.