Credit card fees abroad obscured

[plucky]

If you plan to use a South African Mastercard overseas make sure you understand what the fees will be first! It seems that for drawing from an ATM the fee for Standard Bank customers will be R20 plus 3% in 2007. But if you call card division or enquite at a Bureau de Change there is a good chance you will be told the fee is R23 + 0.7% in 2006 and R20 + 1% in 2007. Try it on 011 241 1000! Make sure to get the name of whoever you speak to...
Here's a log of an attempt to clarify the above by contacting the bank:
http://theafricanpotato.110mb.com/ripoffs/mastercard.html
with copies of faxes, pamphlets etc. which alternately include and omit the extra 2%. It also shows how the extra percentages are 'hidden' in the exchange rate on the statements issued by the bank.

 

[TheCynick]

Is it your site plucky? I'm busy having a fat chuckle over it

 

[broken1]

That website is propaganda. Although I haven't done any investigation into the Standard Bank matter, they left out half the facts in the voyager card "expose y". Plain and simple, they are just quoting what makes them look clever and good, and the companies stupid.

For instance, in the Voyager Card thing - what they conviniently forgot to mention, is that with the Gold and Premium cards - you get a free companion international airticket after you've reached a certain threshold (R80 000 for gold, R60 000 for premium). Another thing, if you spend money on credit card anyways... you're not really loosing anything to gain your free ticket.

 

[Ap0c]

Has anybody got any information regarding the free companion ticket? Ie. does it have to be full economy or any special 'class' of ticket?

 

[plucky]

Thanks TheCynik. High praise indeed from a cynic.

And in response to broken1: yes it is propaganda I suppose. Don't you think some negative propaganda is appropriate to balance all the one sided positive propaganda put out by the marketing departments? They have a huge budget! And in all their advertising they carefully avoid working out any actual examples of real monetary value.

Do I perhaps detect a slight bitterness here from broken1? Have you perhaps not before worked out what the actual value of 'Voyager miles' are? Please feel free to submit any other calculations which could be added to the page to make it more balanced.