What is Currency conversion fee?

A currency conversion fee is the cut your card issuer takes when money is converted into the currency of the merchant or cash machine. The rate your card network quotes already includes a margin, so this charge is on top of the exchange rate itself, and it usually applies to travel spending, online purchases in another currency and foreign cash withdrawals. What you pay depends on the card, and the gap between providers is large. Access Bank Cards charges a fee of 5%, while ACB Grenada Bank charges 1% and 1st National Bank Saint Lucia charges 2%. On ABN AMRO Zakelijk the fee is 2.5%. Fees this far apart make currency costs one of the clearest reasons to compare cards before applying.