When you add a new card to Curve, it will usually automatically recognize what its base currency is (like USD for all US cards). However, things may get messy if Curve and your other card issuer disagree, which may lead to some hassle.Īlways choose the appropriate card currency. In most cases, it should be easy to get your money back when you have proof that the charge was unjustified. If there is an unjustified charge, you can go through both Curve and your actual credit that was actually charged. You should be aware of the following details:Ĭhargebacks.
#Chase freedom foreign transaction fee free
In summary, the Curve Card is free and a useful tool for expats that can be used in combination with any other Visa or Mastercard. Even better: If you applied for a new card sent to a US address, while you are abroad, you can use the card immediately if somebody sends you a picture with the card details (so you can link it in the app). As long as you do not want to change your selection, you do not need to carry your smartphone with you. You can keep them save at home and choose in the Curve app, which one you want to use. Curve gives access to all Visa and Mastercards that you have. If you use a US card without Foreign Transaction Fee (such as Chase Sapphire Reserve) make sure that you change the card's currency in the Curve App to the currency you will be charged in, so that there is no currency conversion. You can avoid this by linking the respective card through Curve, as this is a European card, so merchants cannot charge an additional fee. This means that some merchants (such as Lufthansa) charge an additional fee if you use a foreign card.
While European laws highly restrict additional fees for the use of credit or debit cards, there are two exceptions: Companies are allowed to charge additional fees for business credit cards and for non-European cards. We tested it for credit cards from Chase and Citi (see above). In this case, the Curve Card may not help you to avoid the Foreign Transaction Fee. Let us note that there are card issuers that even charge a Foreign Transaction Fee if the card is charged in USD, but from a foreign merchant.
While this should be avoided, it is still cheaper than most Foreign Transaction Fees. Converting an amount equal to 500 EUR per month is free (for the free Curve Blue card), while there is a charge of 2% on converting larger amounts. If you link your card with Curve and select USD as the card's currency, Curve will convert any charge into USD and there will often not be any Foreign Transaction Fee (applies to Chase cards and some other issuers). Many non-travel credit cards charge a Foreign Transaction Fee of 1-4% for using your credit card in a different currency. Why should you own a Curve card and how should you use it? Most importantly, it can be linked to Chase and Citi cards and thus avoids Foreign Transaction Fees when high premium rewards cards, such as Chase Freedom card lineup* (200 USD bonus, no annual fee) or Citi Custom Cash (200 USD bonus, no annual fee) are used (both with 5% rebate and more). Note that Curve only works with Visa and Mastercard, but those will be the typical cards accepted outside of the US anyway.įor most expats the free version Curve Blue is completely sufficient, which provides above features and allows you to exchange up to 500 EUR in credit card purchases per month without additional fees / markups (note that there is always some markup when using currency conversion on the weekend due to markets being closed). Moreover, you can even "go back in time" and decide after a few days that another card should be charged (to optimize cashback etc.). You can always choose the respective card in the app and even decide if Curve should exchange currency for you or rather charge the original currency.
The concept of the European Curve Card* / Waitlist for US Curve Card* is simple: All credit cards that you own combined in a single card! Whenever you use your Curve card, the charge (and merchant code!) just gets passed through to one of your regular credit cards. Avoiding Foreign Transaction Fees : The Curve card
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