No more Forex fee on Westpac Amex for Dynamic Currency Conversion transactions

[kevrosmith]

Just received an email from Westpac, and seems they are removing the 3.5% foreign currency conversion fee on foreign transactions that are charged in AUD:

When making a purchase in a foreign country, you may have the choice to convert the cost of a transaction to your home currency (AUD). This service is provided by the retailer and is known as Dynamic Currency Conversion.
Dynamic Currency Conversion gives you flexibility at the register when offered online or overseas. By using your Westpac American Express[SUP]®[/SUP] Companion Card to make purchases in AUD you'll no longer pay the 3.5% foreign transaction fee and will always know the exact amount being charged to your card at point of sale.

Still pay conversion fees on Transactions in foreign currency and on other cards.

Transactions not made in AUD, on your Westpac American Express card will incur a 3.5% foreign transaction fee. A 3% foreign transaction fee applies to non-Amex credit card on the Australian dollar of any foreign transaction A 2% cash advance fee applies to credit card withdrawals where the "Credit" option is selected.

 

[Mark3000]

Wow thanks kevro, that is great news!

 

[akeno]

DCC fees still apply to the Visa or MC card. I received the email too, and its welcome news for the companion amex card.

 

[Austff]

Got the email too , great news.
I arranged for mrs Austff to get the WESTPAC ALTITUDE PLATINUM when it was offered on the QF website with 30k points & no fee in April.
I think this will be the first Amex to pay points & no foreign fees for OS .

 

[basso]

I think this will be the first Amex to pay points & no foreign fees for OS .

Careful. This applies to OS charges made in AUD. If the OS charge is in a foreign currency you will get whacked 3.5%. (FWIW I think the difference between AMEX and Visa on this is that Amex aren't charging Westpac for the cross border AUD thing...)

 

[opusman]

A nice step, although DCC is still a rip-off compared with the spot rate at least this takes some of the sting out of it.

Does this mean they are dropping fees for all charges in AUD made off-shore? E.g. if you book an EK flight online it is charged in AUD but processed overseas, and so normally the FCF still applies.

 

[nicky286]

I think it pretty much they convert the overseas currency in AUD

So they making profit in currency conversion. Anyone know where they get they exchange rate?

 

[kevrosmith]

Does this mean they are dropping fees for all charges in AUD made off-shore? E.g. if you book an EK flight online it is charged in AUD but processed overseas, and so normally the FCF still applies.

Yes, I understand that they are dropping fees for all charges that are processed in AUD when processed off-shore. The main challenge is going to be knowing when a merchant is going to process in AUD or forex, especially for online purchases. It's not like being at the teller and having the machine there asking you the question, so I think I'll be sticking with using the Visa/MC with only 3% fee rather than taking the gamble on which currency a merchant is going to charge.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

The elephant in the room being that American Express doesn't actually support DCC at the point of purchase, which is why you're never asked about which currency you'd like to use when spending overseas. What it realistically covers is Aussie merchants billing you in $AUD from a foreign merchant account - like Uber used to do until they set up a 'Sydney' merchant account...