Valentine's can be a financial minefield
Published On 9 February 2007
Consumers who are loved up and planning to whisk their beau away for a romantic weekend should heed the financial pitfalls of credit card spending abroad, according to new research. With many credit cards charging an extra 2.75 per cent interest for foreign currency transactions, Find.co.uk is warning hopelessly devoted couples to beware.
Figures from the group discovered that products such as the SkyCard MasterCard charges a whopping 2.99 per cent for foreign transactions while Defaqto research shows the average a consumer can expect to pay is 2.66 per cent.
Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) is also another area for holidaymakers to beware when making a purchase and overseas retailers manipulate the system to convert transaction into sterling using a poor currency rate of their choosing.
Kate Marsden, Find.co.uk spokeswoman, said: "Using your credit card abroad can be a minefield, so be aware of how much your card provider is charging for foreign currency transactions and ensure that you get charged at point of sale in the local currency, rather than sterling."
