New American Express Cards
Blue from American Express®, Blue Cash® from American Express and Blue Sky from American Express® are three newly relaunched credit cards courtesy of AMEX. Check out the details below.
American Express Announces Drop In Defaults
Yesterday, American Express Co. had the second-biggest gain on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after announcing that loan defaults fell in October for the sixth consecutive month.
The United States’ biggest credit card issuer (by purchases) also said that write-offs for uncollectible loans were down 7.8% year-over-year, versus 8.4% in September. Total loans that are at least 30 days past due stood flat at 4.1%. American Express forecasts that spending trends will improve in the fourth quarter of 2009 over the third quarter, when total card spending was down 11% y-o-y.
Banks Charging For Overseas Credit Card Purchases
Be careful how you use your credit card when you travel abroad. Many banks are now charging customers a fee when they use their credit card for overseas purchases (which includes online transactions with non-U.S. merchants who don’t use a U.S. credit card processor).
Starting this month, Discover Financial Services began charging a new 2% fee for foreign transactions, while more credit-card customers at Bank of America will get hit with foreign-transaction fees next month (June 2009). Late last year, American Express raised its transaction fees to 2.7% from 2%.
For many years, banks have charged customers a fee for using their cards overseas IF the purchases were made in a foreign currency. Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. charge a 1% fee for converting foreign currencies into U.S. dollars – a fee that most banks pass along, along with their own markups which typically range from 1% to 2%.
What banks do not currently (as of May 12, 2009) charge foreign transaction fees? Call your own bank / credit card company and ask customer service directly, but two large banks that don’t currently charge this fee are Capital One and Charles Schwab. But for how long though? Keep a close eye on your credit card statements and communications.