Just came back from abroad, because credit cards are used more abroad, so when I came back, I left a large bill in my credit card to settle. So how to return the foreign currency credit card is more cost-effective?

1. Credit card is free of "currency conversion fee"

At present, there are two kinds of credit cards issued in China: single currency and dual currency. Generally, the single currency is mainly settled in RMB, and a few have a single currency of Hong Kong dollars. The most common dual-currency credit cards are USD-RMB dual-currency credit cards, and some banks have issued Euro-RMB cards and HK-RMB cards. When you are in consumption abroad, you need to go through different settlement channels. For example, cards issued by UnionPay can be settled through UnionPay channel, while some large international card issuers, such as Visa and MasterCard, mainly provide foreign currency settlement channels.

The number at the beginning of the bank card number indicates different card issuers. For example, the standard UnionPay card starts with "62", Visa card starts with "4" and MasterCard starts with "5". Generally speaking, whoever goes through the channel must abide by whose credit card settlement rules. For example, although a dual-currency card is marked with UnionPay and Visa at the same time, if the card number starts with "4", it means that the card is actually issued by Visa. If there is no special explanation in the transaction process, merchants will generally take the Visa channel by default and settle and charge according to its rules. For cardholders, taking different channels means different exchange rate conversion and transaction costs.

In consumption abroad, if you use UnionPay card to swipe your card directly and take the UnionPay channel, the system will automatically convert foreign currency into RMB according to the real-time exchange rate at the time of entry, and record it in the current bill. After the cardholder returns to China, he can repay directly in RMB without purchasing foreign exchange. If you use Visa or MasterCard's RMB+USD dual-currency card, when spending in USD countries, it will be recorded in USD, and the cardholder will purchase foreign exchange for repayment after returning home; For example, in non-US dollar countries, when banks exchange different currencies, they will first convert local currencies into US dollars and record them in US dollars. When the repayment is due, consumers will exchange US dollars into RMB for repayment at the current exchange rate through the counter or telephone. The latter has one more exchange link than taking the UnionPay channel directly, and this link will generate an extra fee-"currency conversion fee", that is, the handling fee charged when converting non-US currencies into US dollars.

2. How much is the currency conversion fee?

At present, most of the "currency conversion fees" charged by domestic banks are 1.5% of the consumption amount, but some banks are different. For example, the Visa cards of ICBC and ABC are 1%, the Bank of Communications is 1.75% of the consumption amount, and the highest one is 2% of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. This means that if you swipe the equivalent of 100 USD, you have to pay the conversion fee of 1-2 USD, which is equivalent to RMB 6.3- 12.6 yuan according to the foreign exchange rate quoted by the bank. The larger the credit card amount, the more the handling fee.

3. It is suggested that overseas credit cards take the UnionPay channel as far as possible.

If you can take the UnionPay channel, try to take the UnionPay channel. If the amount of shopping is huge, the money conversion fee alone can save a lot of money. However, it should be noted that in 20 10, there was a dispute between Visa and UnionPay due to the issue of credit card channel. It is reported that up to now, many overseas merchants are still unable to provide UnionPay credit cards in Visa dual-currency cards. You'd better ask if you can bring UnionPay when you settle your shopping.

Through the above methods, you can avoid the loss caused by currency conversion, and even make a small sum of money sometimes, so you must pay attention when spending abroad, and it is also important to choose the right credit card.