hi, can anyone pls tell me about the foreign exchange? I have an issue with HSBC exchange rate, I currently hold HSBC Visa Gold. I called the HSBC CS but the CS doesn't help much. I recently made an online transaction on 1st Nov in USD360.91 and being charged RM 1131.82 and later I asked for the full refund, USD360.91 is being credited into my CC but then the amount in MYR is RM1080.95. CS told me there is a 1% admin fee for the transaction made but there is NO admin fee being charged for the refund.
And I checked Visa Exchange rate (
Visa Exchange ratehttp://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp) the exchange rate on 1st Nov is as follow:
Currencies fluctuate every day. The rate shown is effective for transactions submitted to Visa on November 1, 2012, with a bank foreign transaction fee of 1%.
1 United States Dollar = 3.077470 Malaysian Ringgit
Then the exchange rate on 6th Nov is as follow:
Currencies fluctuate every day. The rate shown is effective for transactions submitted to Visa on November 6, 2012, with a bank foreign transaction fee of 0%.
1 United States Dollar = 3.067000 Malaysian Ringgit
CS kept telling me that they don't have the facilities to check on the exchange rate and the conversion is depending on Visa International. But the conversion amount doesn't tally with the amount being charged to my CC at all. On the 1st Nov, if follows the VISA exchange rate plus 1% admin fee, I shall be charged 3.07747XUSD360.91= RM1110.70 but I was being charged RM1131.82.
And then, for the refunded USD360.91, I supposed to get USD360.91X3.067=RM1106.91. Why is there such a big difference? HSBC CS couldn't do anything about me but ask me to check with the merchant if they credited me back the correct amount, but the problem is the converted amount,
the refund in USD is definitely correct. CS only advise me to filed a dispute form for them to investigate which will take 60-90days but if they are right, they are going to charge me RM20. Someone please enlighten me and tell me what I can do!
Well, from my previous experience, I can tell you that HSBC credit card effective overseas conversion fee is definitely more than 1% (more than 2%).
The rate shown at Visa International is just a guide and I guess not many here can really tell us here the actual rate a particular bank charge us for admin fee.
Pay another RM20 for the dispute to be process and may not get an extra sen back.... just take it as a lesson learned and use Maybank Visa or MasterCard for your overseas transactions.