Foreign Transaction Fee

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I have one credit card, pay it off monthly and have never carried a balance on it, so I am pretty familiar with how it operates. Lately, I have had two transactions that have carried a "Foreign Transaction Fee". Never heard of this before. So, of course, I googled it and found out that not only is that charged when the card is used in another country, but if the business is based in another country or has a bank account it passes through in another country. Both purchases were when I bought CBD hemp oil, but from two different vendors. Both in the U.S. and the hemp is marketed as being grown in the U.S. etc. I thought I was dealing with a totally U.S. company, but now I wonder if some part of it, or at least it's banking is somewhere else? One company, Bluebird Botanicals, is in CO, and the the other one, CBDmd, is in NC. I am a little perplexed why in all the purchases I have made, it would be two for the same type product but different companies? Hummm....

[razz]

I have a newer Visa card through my local credit union but the Visa is based in the US. If I purchase anything in the US, there is a transaction fee.

An old longterm Visa from a local bank that is based in Canada does not charge the foreign transaction fee for purchases made in the US. The exchange rate on the old Visa may be more.

I had read somewhere that for transparency, a transaction fee is charged now but the exchange rate is less.

I also thought that Visa was just one company but it apparently is not. Not sure of the facts of that.

To the OP, it may be that CC is simply being transparent now. Whatever happens they will make money some way.

[SteveinMN]

Both purchases were when I bought CBD hemp oil, but from two different vendors. Both in the U.S. and the hemp is marketed as being grown in the U.S. etc. I thought I was dealing with a totally U.S. company, but now I wonder if some part of it, or at least it's banking is somewhere else? One company, Bluebird Botanicals, is in CO, and the the other one, CBDmd, is in NC.
I wonder if, given the odd legal status of cannabis/hemp in this country, those companies are using transactors or banks outside the U.S. to avoid legal issues. CO may be okay with marijuana and derivatives, but the U.S. as a whole is not.

[jp1]

I wonder if, given the odd legal status of cannabis/hemp in this country, those companies are using transactors or banks outside the U.S. to avoid legal issues. CO may be okay with marijuana and derivatives, but the U.S. as a whole is not.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't follow the issue closely but I remember reading a while back that the whole marijuana industry, at least as of a couple years ago, was entirely cash based because banks wouldn't open accounts for them due to the federal illegality of their product. (By the same token most insurance companies don't want to sell insurance to them either. For my employer this class of business is an automatic decline for all lines of coverage because of that.)

[happystuff]

Just got back from South Korea. Before leaving I notified two credit cards of the potential appearance of charges in a foreign country. My VISA said there would be Foreign Transaction Fees, however my Discover said there would not. As it turns out, I did not use either card during travel, but found it interesting that one card charged while another did not.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Hemp products are legal in all 50 states, so that shouldn't be an issue. I called VISA and they did remove the foreign transaction fee and couldn't really tell me why it was charged except some coding of GB made them think the transaction was made in Great Britain.