28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/14]

[vetrade]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

The comments on Oz Bargain regarding rejection of payments if they are in excess of the balance due don't equate with my experience. While I don't use the insurance, it's not uncommon for me to pay a little over the actual balance due amount (it's a habit I developed to make sure I wouldn't get stung for interest if there was some small charge I overlooked). I made a payment a couple of weeks ago and haven't used the card since. Having just checked my balance, my account is showing $26 in credit, just as I expected it to. So definitely no over-payment rejections for me.

 

[Chicken]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Which card(s)?

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....proposed-new-anz-adventures-credit-76533.html

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....proposed-new-anz-adventures-credit-76533.html

Ah, I thought you meant fee free cards.

 

[travelislife]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....proposed-new-anz-adventures-credit-76533.html

Thanks for that link. I had missed that one.

Ah, I thought you meant fee free cards.

It essentially is fee free when you take in to account the return free flight. Actually it even makes money if you use it to PER, DRW or CNS!

 

[Isochronous]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Latitude Financial should be severely fined and punished for having the audacity to call this card a "Platinum" card. It is a piece of dung!

 

[marki]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Latitude Financial should be severely fined and punished for having the audacity to call this card a "Platinum" card. It is a piece of dung!

This is a very accurate statement and again I had been hoodwinked today by agreeing to pay with Australian dollars when overseas. This attracts a commission and also a poor conversion exchange rate. I was unable to stop the transaction and got confused with the wording and pressed what I thought was the currency of the overseas transaction....... hate it!!

 

[Pushka]

28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

This is a very accurate statement and again I had been hoodwinked today by agreeing to pay with Australian dollars when overseas. This attracts a commission and also a poor conversion exchange rate. I was unable to stop the transaction and got confused with the wording and pressed what I thought was the currency of the overseas transaction....... hate it!!

I did something similar but worse. In Singapore and the currencies of the machine were shown as flags! Thought I'd pressed the Singapore flag (wasn't wearing glasses) and then saw IDR flash up. So a Singaporean transaction got converted to Indonesian rupiah then back to AUD. Just as well the son enjoyed the whisky

This was on an ANZ card. I threw my 28 degrees card away some time ago. Charging me to pay the account was the final straw.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

This is a very accurate statement and again I had been hoodwinked today by agreeing to pay with Australian dollars when overseas. This attracts a commission and also a poor conversion exchange rate. I was unable to stop the transaction and got confused with the wording and pressed what I thought was the currency of the overseas transaction....... hate it!!

Althought dynamic currency conversion (DCC) isn't unique to 28 degrees. it's a 'feature' offered by the merchant and the merchant's bank at the point of sale, regardless of the type of card.

I did something similar but worse. In Singapore and the currencies of the machine were shown as flags! Thought I'd pressed the Singapore flag (wasn't wearing glasses) and then saw IDR flash up. So a Singaporean transaction got converted to Indonesian rupiah then back to AUD. Just as well the son enjoyed the whisky

This was on an ANZ card. I threw my 28 degrees card away some time ago. Charging me to pay the account was the final straw.

Pushka this has me puzzled. Were you in a place where they accepted both IDR and SGD?

 

[marki]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Thanks Pushka and Mel traveller .... yes that's true that Dynamic currency conversion is not totally a 28 degrees thing. However I swear it does not happen as often with Amex transactions

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Thanks Pushka and Mel traveller .... yes that's true that Dynamic currency conversion is not totally a 28 degrees thing. However I swear it does not happen as often with Amex transactions

I did wonder about Amex and Diners... I haven't used those cards for about 20 years. DCC is very common for visa/MasterCard.

 

[marki]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

After my trip to Europe I will contest that particular transaction and get them to reverse the charges back to original Zloty which By the way is standing (audzln pair) 3.11 that's good good good.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Thanks Pushka and Mel traveller .... yes that's true that Dynamic currency conversion is not totally a 28 degrees thing. However I swear it does not happen as often with Amex transactions

DCC is a scourge for all Visa and Mastercards these days since the fee is split between the bank and the merchant so the merchant has an incentive to automatically push you towards accepting charges in Australian Dollars. Although legally you have the right to pay in the currency of the country. 28 degrees do not charge the DCC when you are charged in the currency of the country. Read the T&Cs. AFAIK Amex do not charge DCC when you pay in Australian dollars. (A change they made recently.)

 

[JohnK]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

This is a very accurate statement and again I had been hoodwinked today by agreeing to pay with Australian dollars when overseas. This attracts a commission and also a poor conversion exchange rate. I was unable to stop the transaction and got confused with the wording and pressed what I thought was the currency of the overseas transaction....... hate it!!

Unless you were hoodwinked by a machine where you cannot reverse the transaction once it has gone through I have asked them to cancel thd purchase and put through again in local currency if they have charged AUD.

 

[Pushka]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

Althought dynamic currency conversion (DCC) isn't unique to 28 degrees. it's a 'feature' offered by the merchant and the merchant's bank at the point of sale, regardless of the type of card.



Pushka this has me puzzled. Were you in a place where they accepted both IDR and SGD?

Singapore. She gave me the small black box and asked me to select which currency I wanted the transaction in. There were lots to choose from. I then went to sign and just touched the screen with the stylus and then realized what I'd done. She said because the signing process had started - with the touch - she couldn't stop it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

Singapore. She gave me the small black box and asked me to select which currency I wanted the transaction in. There were lots to choose from. I then went to sign and just touched the screen with the stylus and then realized what I'd done. She said because the signing process had started - with the touch - she couldn't stop it.

Sounds like a new 'feature'. I've seen the flags before in Singapore, but usually only the Singapore and Aussie ones (for choice of currency). I guess *maybe* multi currency options would suit some people with cash cards with multiple currencies loaded but run out of local currency? Would probably save them a bit with transaction fees.

 

[lowan74]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

I use the 28 degrees MasterCard extensively in Mainland China, and frequently encounter enforced/involuntary DCC into AUD at unscrupulous merchants or those who have no idea how their POS terminals work. Generally at larger hotels I can avoid it and be charged correctly in RMB, but still at some other businesses you may be offered no choice, or offered a choice that is not honoured when the transaction is actually processed.

I have had many arguments about this at merchants (which, with the language barrier is often a problem), with them blatantly lying to me telling me "its the same" or "all overseas cards are like this". Where it can't be avoided at the point of sale, I will always issue a chargeback to 28 degrees based on non-compliance with the MasterCard rules. I fax the details of the "enforced DCC" to Latitude finance, complete with a background note, copy of the receipt and have found that they are always resolved within 3 weeks, crediting back either the disputed amount (the difference between if it had been processed correctly in RMB and the "DCC amount in AUD"), or the whole transaction, accompanied by a corresponding correct transaction in RMB. Over a 12 month period my losses due to DCC would have run into thousands of dollars if I didn't pay attention at the point of sale, and dispute the transactions that are not correctly processed, so it is significant to me, even though the individual transaction value might be low.

Latitude Finance have been excellent at dealing with the issue.

In other countries (France, Indonesia, USA) I have found that DCC, where offered, has generally been offered in a compliant manner allowing people to opt out and be charged in the local currency. I have had issues in the past in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, in addition to Mainland China.

 

[Flashback]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from ...

I had a rare moment whereby I was DCC charged via Hilton for a hotel in the middle east - certainly wasn't offered via the website and certainly wasn't communicated on the booking, either. Fortunately when I checked out the hotel were happy to deal with it and credited back to my card the difference (in my local currency) I had been overcharged. First time I've seen DCC happen even when the booking confirmation says the hotel's local currency so one to also watch out for.

Very strange also as Hilton always charges me in the local hotel currency for every booking I've ever made.

 

[moa999]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Have seen the China 'scam' before. There was a website around at one point that had instructions on how to avoid for many of the common Chinese machines (it wasn't simple not clear).

Worst I have seen was in a hotel in Macau where I estimated the DCC charge was 10℅

 

[kyanar]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

Thanks Pushka and Mel traveller .... yes that's true that Dynamic currency conversion is not totally a 28 degrees thing. However I swear it does not happen as often with Amex transactions

Amex and Diners don't support DCC is why

 

[PLANT]

Re: 28° Mastercard Cash Advances while overseas [No more free cash advances from 1/1/

How do you pay the bill with no fee?
No BSB on statement to make direct payment?
Some 3 days thing which draws from bank account?