CBA credit card ~ International Transaction Fees for Airbnb (and More) thru PayPal

LF1Maniac on 26/09/2016 - 00:27

Fellow ozbargainers, what's your take on this issue?

Recently made a booking on airbnb for renting a home in Australia, QLD. Few days later found that I was slugged an additional international fee despite the transaction being in aud and made on airbnb.com.au

Was on the phone a while back and apparently it was set out on the statement in march that this comes into effect in September. Didn't know that policy changes can be notified in statement, ofcourse this was stated in t&c when u signed up for the card. Apparently this is the same for debit, master and Amex cards starting 28th august. Rep was rude in saying that this is my fault for not reviewing and so she won't even put it up for refund. I said I wanted to complaint about this change and she said noted but I won't hear any feedback…

Needless to say I felt it was ridonculous, given we have our mortgage salary and business transaction account with them.

  1. Was the community here aware of the change?
  2. Would you move ur whole lot to another bank just of this experience.
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Comments

  • RockyRaccoon on 26/09/2016 - 02:36

    Would you move ur whole lot to another bank just of this experience.

    Well what what do you want to do?

    Keep paying the fee, or go somewhere where you don't?

    Is the choice that difficult?

  • Drifta on 26/09/2016 - 02:38

    Wasnt aware of this change as I no longer have a CBA card but the fact that they were not willing to credit it to you as a once off is disappointing. I have certainly moved my business from them due to the fact that they charge $2.50 to get my own money out of the credit card via net banking. Moved to NAB / Ubank (for better savings) and couldn't be happier. I also got better rates. I would be surprised if you couldn't make a huge saving by simply refinancing your mortgage to another bank.

    In terms of registering a complaint you can lodge an official complaint, sounds like the rep you spoke to was lazy. They have to lodge a complaint, give you a reference number and you would get a follow up call/email from their complaints department. When I was with them I did get my money refunded before leaving them as they advised me that the fee was there to stay.

    • Settero on 26/09/2016 - 06:40

      that complaint procedure is not for complaints in regards to how things work normally, only when things don't work as expected and there has been some sort of inconvenience from it.

      • F1Maniac on 26/09/2016 - 07:30

        yup I think so she said she can give me a ref number but i wont hear back from anyone. so i think i am moving my whole lot ASAP and if I can get a refund that would be great too, otherwise I am gonna anyway

        • tomsco on 26/09/2016 - 08:53
          +1

          Haha, if the complaints department have a look at your accounts and don't try to appease you, it will just show what muppets they are - don't know how much you were charged, but even if it was a decent amount, it would still be pennies compared to the income they've made off you/will make off you if they keep you happy.

  • Olokun on 26/09/2016 - 02:40

    You also have the choice of maintaining more then one type of credit card so you can use the right one depending on the transactions being made.

    • F1Maniac on 26/09/2016 - 07:32

      agreed, I've got the bankwest Zero checked out seems like the best option, any other recommendation?

  • Settero on 26/09/2016 - 06:43

    was the payment processed overseas ? then any credit card would charge you the fee no ? it makes no difference if the website is in aud and a .com.au all that matters is where they themselves ( air bnb ) process the payment ( not defending commbank just moved from them myself )

    • F1Maniac on 26/09/2016 - 07:28

      yea i agree mate, but as a consumer how do you know airbnb processes their payment or any other website for that matter?

      all it says is that you will be charged AUD xyz and bank finds a way to rip you off further?

      additionally i used paypal which I believe processes receives the payment and then on sends to the recipient? (happy to stand corrected here)

    • tomsco on 26/09/2016 - 07:29
      +3

      This. While the CSR sounded like a real douche, there should be a requirement (at least with .au sites) that if payment is processed overseas, they advise the customer. This seems to be occurring with more and more .au sites (heard a few complaints about Groupon).

      • Settero on 26/09/2016 - 07:57

        i agree, but how is CBA responsible for this ? its deceptive practices by air bnb that has lead to this not by cba. ( and most banks wont refund these charges as it comprises of both a % towards the CC company itself and a % to the bank , a bank i worked for it was like 60% cc company 40% bank )

        • tomsco on 26/09/2016 - 08:51

          I don't mean CBA is. I'm talking about .au websites disclosing that payments are going to be processed overseas, thus may incur a fee from your bank.

  • burningrage on 26/09/2016 - 09:33

    We are talking about this in this forum and applicable to all credit cards.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/250536
    and this https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/225896

    In summary, in your situation, for paypal payments there is an option to change your Conversion Options and ask to be billed in the Vendor's Currency.

    However, what is unknown is whether or not if the vendor does NOT provide any alternative currency to pay (eg: Vistaprint) and force you to pay in AUD, whether you can still have that option within Paypal.

    I will report once I've done that one day (via the forum link I provided above).

    • F1Maniac on 26/09/2016 - 10:17

      Understand what you are saying and I've got no issues with those where I chose let cc to do the conversipn. except in this case it was all in aud and there was no conversion whatsoever involved

      • burningrage on 26/09/2016 - 10:24

        Absolutely. That is exactly the issue.

        There is a recent case with Westpac having to waive all the DCC costs but then altered the T&C to say that "It is often not clear where the merchant will process the payment and that customers should check with the vendor as to where the payments will be processed".

        I said in that forum, that is not good enough as it is a straight Misleading and Deceptive conduct where people who trades in AUD can reasonably expect to have the payments to be processed in Australia AND/OR the payment should be as per what is shown in the final transaction page (not $$ + 4.4%) even if the 4.4% is charged by the bank, not the vendor.

  • fruit on 26/09/2016 - 09:50

    To long didn't read but yes I switched from CBA to NAB over fees.

    • tomsco on 26/09/2016 - 10:10
      +1

      Funnily enough I went the same. But mine was just the $5/month. I was still in uni, so could get it waived, but couldn't be bothered going in every semester when NAB did the same for me for free.

  • F1Maniac on 01/11/2016 - 14:52

    Just an update on this topic. I was told after this to use LOCK feature and all international transactions are now blocked. However using Paypal this doesnt block and their reason is that this is a third party. What a bunch of !@#!$% so if the second party is Paypal and the third party is the merchant why charge the FEES as the actual transaction is covered by Paypal….

    ACCC surely didnt see this one where they just decided we will rip all the customers off regardless of what coz WE CAN!

    • Drifta on 01/11/2016 - 20:06

      doesnt sound right at all. would complain and get your money back and move over to nab. use their cards and no fees from paypal - paypal already charge fees where conversion is required and process the txn as an aussie merchant. if it doesnt block it means they have let it through even after using their app that is meant to block. Tell em to pay up!

  • Meho2026 on 07/11/2016 - 17:33
    Merged from Virgin Money Credit Card Charging Foreign Curency Fee on PayPal Australian Dollar Payments

    I fund my PayPal Australia account with my Virgin Money Credit card (owned by BOQ, managed by Citibank).
    Last week I booked Airbnb accommodation, in Australia, priced in $AU, and paid via PayPal Australia in Australian dollars. Virgin Money charged me a $18 foreign transaction fee. PayPal dont want to know, they tell me they requested payment in $AU, received $AU and its a bank charge they cant control. Virgin Money wont back down either, they claim PayPal is an American company and it doesnt matter what currency they request payment in because they are based overseas , I pay the fee. They refuse to accept that PayPal Australia is any different. They ignore my repeated point that Ive been paying my monthly phone bill via PayPal for years and never incurred any currency fee.
    The only option I can see is to report one of them or both of them to the financial services ombudsman. Ive already threatened them both with this but neither will back down.
    Im more than happy to go to FSO but does anyone got any opinions on why this happens? (Australian dollar transactions, via PayPal Australia funded by Australian credit card)

    • Master Bates on 07/11/2016 - 17:45
      +1

      Airbnb is an American company, therefore your Bank may decide to charge you an international transaction fee based on that fact alone, regardless of the company having an Australian entity, charging you in AUD, paying through PayPal or otherwise.

      You need a Credit Card that doesn't charge an international transaction fee, such as 28 Degrees or Bankwest. I learnt this the hard way too, via an ASOS purchase and my (since closed) HSBC card, although I managed to get the fee refunded at the time by threatening to leave.

      • aedalat on 09/12/2016 - 18:57

        That cannot be true. AirBnb has been registered in Australia and they pay taxes here. That means even though their HQ is in US or anywhere else, they have a organisation here, listed with a business address, staff etc. Cannot be a good enough reason for them on not to pay.

        • Master Bates on 09/12/2016 - 21:27

          It's actually not an Airbnb issue, it's the greedy banks charging additional fees to hit record profits year after year.

    • shangoz on 07/11/2016 - 17:51
      -2

      Cash still is the king, but Banks and Financial sector hate it very much, keep push for cashless society.

      • Ughhh on 07/11/2016 - 18:57

        Yes, I'll pay for my $25k car in $50 notes. Hope I won't get robbed.

    • Meho2026 on 07/11/2016 - 17:52

      I understand how to avoid the fees, Ive already got a 28Degrees and BankWest cards. My point is my transaction on my credit card is PayPal Australia not AirBnB. I pay numerous Paypal transactions, including my phone bill monthly through PayPal using the same card to source funds and never get charged anything extra.

    • iscooljoey2 on 07/11/2016 - 18:28

      The explanation I got was that the merchant (in this case Air BNB) is located overseas and their payment will process overseas > international transaction fee. PayPal is not the merchant, simply a facilitator.

      • Meho2026 on 07/11/2016 - 18:51

        That makes sense to me, thanks for explaining in 2 sentences what neither the credit card or Paypal could

    • Meho2026 on 05/11/2017 - 08:57

      Just to follow up on my issue from last year.

      Virgin Credit card position was that because they transferred funds to PayPal Australia, whos parent company is based overseas, I was liable for an international transaction fee.

      I argued that point because no international transaction fee was charged when I paid my Telstra bill via PayPal Australia funded by the same card.

      I wrote a filthy complaint email to virginmoney, I was rude and agressive in my manner and brought up my consumer rights and threatened FSO. This was the response I received months later…

      'A review has recently been performed on how international transaction fees were charged to your account. The review identified that between March 2016 and December 2016, an International Transaction Fee was charged for transaction(s) undertaken via an Australian website, in Australian dollars, where the merchant used a foreign bank or entity to process your transaction.

      While we had previously notified you about how this fee is charged, the disclosure information regarding this fee could have been clearer and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

      To correct this, a refund has been processed to your account of $20.02. This includes an interest adjustment of $0.55 to compensate you.

      Amended terms and conditions were issued to all customers and were effective from 1 January 2017. International Transaction Fee(s) will be charged on these transactions from this date onward.

  • Caped Baldy on 27/09/2017 - 17:30

    Just had this happen to me. Paid using my ing card via paypal. Give ing a call and they reversed the charge as a good will gesture.

  • pearj on 04/11/2017 - 15:25

    I had this happen to me with AirBNB and PayPal too.

    I called St George, and they read this out:

    "We charge a 3% Foreign transaction fee as a percentage of the Australian dollar value of any Foreign transaction (includes transactions in a foreign currency, or in any currency with a merchant or processing entity located outside Australia)."

    The bit that applies in this instance is "or in any currency with a merchant or processing entity located outside Australia".

    One curious thing I did note was that in the PayPal receipt email, AirBNB appeared as a Merchant, rather than a seller, eg:

    Merchant
    AIRBNB PAYMENTS UK LIMITED
    https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resolutions
    +44 2033181111"

    vs a previous wotif payment:

    Seller
    WOTIF.COM AU
    [email protected]

    The key being "Merchant" vs "Seller", and then the fact that the Merchant is outside Australia.

    On my credit card statement it looked like:

    PAYPAL *AIRBNB xxxx xxxx GB

    With the key bit being "GB", ie "Great Britan".

    So, I created a new account with AirBNB, so that I could see what it is like to connect up to PayPal again, but nowhere during the recurring payments setup page does it give any indication about AirBNB being a Merchant rather than Seller, and it doesn't say anything about them being in the UK either :(. So at the moment, I don't think there is an easy way to figure out if you're going to be dealing with a foreign merchant when using PayPal (only after the fact in the receipt email). I thought one of the benefits of PayPal was to make all this hassle to go away, but I guess that's only true if you use bank accounts instead of credit cards.

    I've asked for clarification from PayPal and I'll complain to AirBNB, but I don't expect anything to come of it. Now, I've learned my lesson, when in doubt on PayPal I should use my 28 degrees card.

    • nix1016 on 19/12/2017 - 23:15

      Hey, what ended up happening in your case? I'm having the same problem with 2 AirBnB transactions made on my Bank of Melbourne credit card which is the same credit card from St George. I'm planning to call them tomorrow but wondering what happened in your case so I'll know what to expect.

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