The Washington Post reports that card holders will likely be allowed to reclaim foreign transaction fees collected by credit card companies.
Consumers will share in a $336 million settlement of a lawsuit accusing several banks and credit card groups of conspiring to charge excessive fees on foreign currency transactions, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
The settlement covers holders of U.S.-issued MasterCard or Visa credit cards or debit cards, and Diners Club credit cards who made foreign transactions from February 1, 1996 to the present. Tens of thousands of cardholders, including companies whose employees travel internationally, may recover money.
Elsewhere in the article:
Coughlin said one benefit of the litigation was that card issuers now break out currency charges as a separate item on customer bills. “This makes banks competitive in setting those charges,” he said.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs had announced a pending settlement in July. Pauley’s approval is preliminary, and carries several conditions. A hearing to enter a final judgment was set for November 2, 2007.
We’ll continue to follow this story as it develops, but on the surface this looks like very good news for people who have paid foreign transaction fees while traveling internationally since February 1996.
25 Comments to "Class Action Lawsuits to Allow Cardholders to Recover Foreign Transaction Fees"
November 8, 2006 
This is very good news to me since I have traveled a lot and for a long time have used credit cards.
To day i received my statement from Citibank and i was charged the 1% Foreign Transaction Fee for using a Citibank ATM machine in Athens, Greece.
I hope that all credit card, debit, and ATM users get back their money … it is only fair.
Unfortunately, some of the credit cards that did not charge foreign transaction fee before started to charge it now. My card did not have it until 11/01/06, and now I must pay 2%. I tried to dispute it saying that it was one of the main benefits that I used, and now I don’t see why I should keep this card, but the bank did not care. I guess they gain more from the transaction fee than from the clients like me who used this particular card for overseas travel only. Would they still add the fee if they were under the threat of paying it back in the future?
Investigator, what credit card are you using that recently started charging foreign transaction fees?
The answer to your question is yes. The new litigation doesn’t stop credit card companies from charging foreign transaction fees. Rather, it addresses the way companies disclose those fees. As long as the credit card company complies with certain disclosure practices, they’re not in danger of needing to pay fees back to customers.
It’s also worth noting that in the case above, the credit card companies in question do not acknowledge any wrongdoing.
I am also dealing with Citibank and The 3% Foreign Transaction Fee (FX). Was - 0- then 1% now 3%. I did not use a credit card. I used direct debit and cash withdrawal. They have told me that Mastercard charges 2% and they charge 1%. I am asking for a return of my funds. The fees charged were not explained properly.
I am an American living overseas, and I use a U.S.-based Citibank account for banking.
Only by doing some calculations on my latest statement did I discover that Citibank is now charging a 3% foreign currency conversion fee whenever I use a non-Citibank ATM.
As many have posted in other forums, Citibank used to charge 1% for all foreign cash withdrawals, whether at Citibank or non-Citibank ATMs.
The good news here is that Citibank will no longer charge *any* foreign transaction fee, as long as a Citibank ATM is used. That’s no problem for me, as I live in New Delhi, and Citibanks are ubiquitous.
Finally, I want to let others know that I called Citibank and complained that I had not been properly notified — which is true. (I do not receive paper statements and received nothing in the regular mail or by email about the change.) They immediately offered — without my requesting — to credit my account ALL fees since the change went into effect.
Obviously, I’m quite pleased with their response.
Best regards.
Well… I’m in the same situation… however, I was not so fortunate in getting the Citibank fees refunded. I ultimately did manage it, but it took a three different levels of customer support, a lot of talking, and finally only a reimbursement of the fees from December until now above the usual 1%… for an astounding total of $63. Given that I was in the U.S. for half of December and two weeks in January, that’s really incredible. Can you imagine one month’s charges for regular use? Or for a year? By my calculations, we’d pay somewhere north of $500 per year… just to use the ATM!
I’m not at all pleased with either the response or the policy that made it necc. We are switching to another bank (we’ve found one in our tristate area in the U.S. with no foreign fees and/or f.fee reimbursements.
Meanwhile, apparently Citibank has charged at least the 1% fee all along without any disclosure at all. I’ve been a customer of theirs for 9 years and living overseas for six. So I am definitely interested in finding out how to become part of the class action lawsuit.
Does anybody know the information on this?
So far getting no place with Citibank. Trying to get the 3% Foreign Transaction Fee returned. Now, so mad i would like the 1% fees charged back as well and all charges with interest. Never received proper notification. So if any info on Class Action on this I want in.
Cathy, they did refund mine (only the 3%, but up ’til now and no refunds going forward)… but it took an extremely long time on the telephone, getting kicked to one customer service person to the next. The argument they make is circular.
“We’ve always charged this but just didn’t tell you, so 1% is not wrong/We disclose this now, which makes our 1% charge not wrong/We charge 3% now, with no explanation… but we’ve always charged at least 1%, even before telling you, so this is not wrong. Just different.”
And this… with an account I opened because of the promise of no charges. I’ve found another bank, local to the PA tri-state area and DC/Balto, that charges no fees for overseas ATMs (as of yet). I’m scared to advertise it here, for fear the flood of new customers will change that. But here it goes: Commerce Bank. They seem very personable and customer service oriented. Next time we’re Stateside, we’re moving all our accounts.
Meanwhile… still hoping someone will post the info on the Citibank class action suit here. I’d found a page of lawyers that seemed to be involved, but I haven’t heard anything from the posting I sent them, using their site (and, sorry, no longer have the URL).
Found the info…
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
http://www.lieffcabraser.com
mail@lchb.com
Details about the lawsuit have just emerged. See here for more information…
I have just been ripped off by Bank of America/MasterCard
for a $145 “Foreign Transaction Fee”. Avoid Bank Of America - they stink! There are better credit cards that do not charge such fees.
Just checking in today to see if you guys had any additional info on CitiBank. Will check out the links, can’t wait to read. Told CitiBank I was going to close accounts, but not till I send a letter to the Federal Reserve with all the different explanations given to me. Totally Unfair practices.
Thanks Again will get reading.
Contact your state’s Attorney General Office of Consumer Protection. You can file a complaint to recover your fees!
Can someone send me the link to the entire Washington Post article on the class action
suit? thanks.
It looks like the Washington Post article is no longer available. But the lawsuit in question has been settled. Find details here.
I’ve lived in Australia since 2002 but maintain my US credit cards and bank accounts. I’ve been complaining about the foreign transaction fees since they started being listed separately on my statements (initially they were hidden).
My main card is through CitiBank. Since the credit card fees were 3% and the cash withdrawal fees were 1%, I switched my spending habits (this had to be over several months) and now do ATM cash withdrawals for most of my spending here. That worked for a time - but recently, I can see that the ATM fees have been hiked to 3% and the credit card fees are now about 2.55%. I reckon the only way to deal with Citibank is to file a claim in the lawsuit and then work harder to find a bank that won’t rip me off.
I appreciate being able to read everyone’s comments - I thought I was going crazy for a while there - now I can see I’m not alone in this bank and credit card money-making scheme.
REQUEST A CLAIM FORM
I think I would rather file a personal complaint.I just posted this in another forum, and I would like to hear feedback to see if this site knows what they are talking about. I did not know you can file a personal complaint
” I was searching online for some advice as to whether I should bother trying to recoup my losses. I used a credit card and ATM heavily during the 4 years I lived overseas. I estimate my total billing amount to equal about $15,000. http://biyts.info/credit_card_fees.html which I also found by looking for advice, really put it into perspective for me. According to the calculations on that site the maximum, I could expect to get is $25!!!!! I dont think I am going to bother for that money especially since I may be perpetuating a bad system.”
I just received my May 22, 07 statement. I know it’s July but thats the delay living over seas. I received a notice in my statement about the transaction fees being charged. So is this the official notice or What???? So are the fees charged before the date on this notice due back to me??????
And another thing. I tend to take out the same amout of money when making a cash withdrawal…and it’s converted into CI…Cayman Island dollars…..Once again Citibank has told me that I have always been charged these fees, they are just breaking them out for me to see the amounts. Well thank you but why is it that the withdrawal amounts remained the same if charges were included????? I now have the same withdrawal amounts with additional fees????????
At first I thought the letter in the mail was a scam to get my last 4 digits of my SS number and address.
So this is legit?
Based on the letter I got, I might get the 1-2% back.
What qualifies? Any foreign transaction?
From what I read, this is legit. (I pulled up a couple of the court cases online to make sure they existed.) You have 3 options for recouping fees: flat $25; estimation refund (based on time spent traveling outside the US - up to 1%); or Annual estimated refund (up to 3%). The catch with the annual estimated refund is that you have to provide credit card account information. For those of you that haven’t gotten the letter, yet, you can read about it at http://www.ccfsettlement.com.
I am delighted to hear that the U.S. District Court has stepped in on these charges. I had begun my own battle against this earlier in the year, prior to receiving notification. Not all credit card companies charged the same - but visa, particularly Chase Bank was big in getting the large sum return. One of my steps was writing to Southwest Airlines, whose travel card was represented by Chase Bank. Intereting - a service whose focus was travel was represented by a Bank squeezing extra money out of their customers. Even American Express entered into the game - late compared to the leaders in reaping ‘bounty’ from their clients. Interestingly, MasterCard - Capital One never charge the card user the 3%. Even with the settlement of $336 million, the banks have still made out like bandits over the last 10 years!
Are there any credit cards that don’t have a charge or where it is only 1%?