Dear John: I am traveling to Europe and applied for and received a credit card from Capital One.
I chose Capital One because its card uses a PIN number (which is required in Europe) and a chip. It also has no foreign transaction fees.
Now I find out that when you use a PIN to make a purchase, it is treated as a cash advance with outrageous rates. When I tried to explain to Capital One that Europe requires a card with a chip and a PIN, I was told that was not true.
I contacted my relatives in Belgium, and they said you need to have a chip and PIN. Why don’t US banks know this? F.D.
Dear F.D.: I contacted Capital One for you and this is what I found.
The “outrageous rates” that you are being charged really aren’t what they seem. What you are apparently seeing are currency exchange rate changes that only look like charges.
Anyway, I’m told that Capital One explained this to you after I contacted the company and you now understand what is going on.
I hope that helped.