ANZ Frequent Flyer Visa
I've been doing quite a bit of research into my own bank's fee structure in relation to overseas withdrawals from ATMs and it seems that there is a lot of cream being scraped off the top of every transaction. The fee structure is as follows:
* $4 or $5 flat cash advance fee per withdrawal - waived for gold card users
* 1.5% currency conversion fee
* currency rate differential - unable to disclose exact details but my previous calculations put this at about 1.5%
So in Bali, if you're withdrawing cash in 1,250,000rp lots, you'll be slugged $10 per go for a $200 withdrawal. That's a total of 5% of your cash being eaten up in fees. You take $3000. You give $150 in fees. Of course, this is all based on the wholesale rates given on sites such as www.xe.com, but the street changers in Bali are fairly close to this price anyway. Only about 1% off.
For those with Gold Cards, the picture is entirely different and the percentage comes down to a flat 3%, regardless of the amounts you withdraw from the ATM as the flat fee isn't charged. That's $90 out of $3000.
So whichever way you look at it, ANZ Frequent Flyer Visa cards are an absolute sham. Visa already make money on the merchant fees they charge business owners and ANZ already earn money on the interest charges and yearly card fees. These other charges are just another money grab.
Has anyone else done any decent analysis of their Bank's card fee structure? I keep hearing of these fee free credit union credit cards... I'd love to check those out!