Traveling Abroad? Charges to your Visa Debit Card outside the United States.

Your Visa Debit card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted for cash withdrawals and purchases. The charges are processed in the currency of the country you are visiting and converted to US Dollars and deducted from your checking account. Visa uses the conversion rate that is in place at the time of the transaction. The charges will appear as a debit from your checking account in US Dollars.

In 2005, Visa began assessing a fee of 1% of the transaction amount to all charges made in a foreign currency. You will find this fee just below your transaction on your statement.

Example:

A charge made in Euros is converted at Visa's conversion rate at the time of the purchase and posted to your account in US Dollars. A fee of 1.0% of that amount is assessed by Visa.

Effective, April 1, 2008:

Visa will also charge a 0.8% fee on any charges processed outside the United States in US Dollars.

Example:

A charge is made in Bahamas or Canada and the merchant processes this transaction in US Dollars. A fee of 0.8% of the total transaction amount will be assessed by Visa. There is no currency conversion, just the 0.8% fee.

Please note:

These fees will also apply to any transactions authorized on the internet or by phone to any companies operating outside the US. These fees do not apply to any charges made within the United States. University Credit Union is not charging these fees. They are charges by the credit card companies and applicable to any financial institution that processes both Visa or MasterCard Debit and Credit Cards.

Mastercard is assessing similar fees against charges made outside the United States.