Rogers Mastercard Exchange Rate Experience | Credit card reward programs | Discussion forum

Thanx for sharing.
I'm happy with my Home Trust Visa for FX, but I've often wondered how exchange rates compared to actual rates posted by BoC. Charges can vary a great deal between pending and posted status, depending on what the dollar does in the mean time.
Your posting spurred me into checking how they compare, so I checked an actual charge against closing FX rate for that day.
Charge was 19.99 USD. BoC posted rate for Dec 27 was 1.3641. HT charge was 27.31 CDN or 1.366%. Considering the FX rate fluctuating by the second...pretty bang on I'd say. Cash back and I'm ahead.
As for Tang'a rate.... it's all relative. There's a pretty standard spread in the buying/selling rates. Thanx to certain members who shall remain nameless, I've been converting my Tang M/C rewards and keeping them in a Tang USD savings account.... just in case the CDN $ DOES hit 60%.
Happy ForEx'ing!
EDIT:
Just for fun compared RBC M/C rates to BoC posted rates. Charged 18.45 USD on Oct 12. RBC rate was 1.336585 (wow...4 decimal points) and BoC closing rate was 1.2993. That's why I rarely use the card in the US.

Make sure one uses the exchange rate of the day the credit card charge was posted, not the date of the transaction. Merchants batch credit card transactions and submit the batch a few days later. Card issuers convert based on the Visa, MasterCard, or AMEX exchange rate on the posting date.

Also, one has to be careful of the rates used for comparison. Bank of Canada foreign exchange rates now are indicative rates and not actual rates:

Exchange Rates

All Bank of Canada exchange rates are indicative rates only, derived from averages of transaction prices and price quotes from financial institutions. As such, they are intended to be broadly indicative of market prices at the time of publication but do not necessarily reflect the rates at which actual market transactions have been or could be conducted. …

As such, their rates are more like mid-market rates, between the buy and sell rates, and not rates anyone actually bought or sold currency at.

The spot rates, from sources like NYMEX, are for future contract settlements. The Canadian Dollar contract is for C$100,000. One won't be getting the spot rate unless one is exchanging around $100,000.

lhsaid said
Question: I'm trying to avoid exchange fee when withdrawing cash from bank machines overseas. I have both Rogers MasterCard and Home Trust Visa. If I load extra money into one of these credit cards and then use it later to withdraw cash overseas, would that still be considered cash advance and get charged interest of >19% ?  

In my opinion, this shouldn't be considered a cash advance, as they are not loaning you their money; it is your money. There will still be currency exchange and any ATM fees to consider

However, to be on the safe side, you should ask them directly, preferably by chat or email where you can keep a record of the conversation.

Under the Home Trust Preferred VISA card agreement, the cash withdrawal would be a "Cash Advance". Whether the withdrawal results in a positive balance outstanding or not is irrelevant:

“Cash Advance” – An advance of cash (or equivalents to cash, including wire transfers, money orders, chips and other “quasi cash”) that is charged to the Account with or in connection with the Card;

No foreign exchange surcharge. But, there would be a 1% (minimum $2.50) or 1½% fee (minimum $4.50 or $5.50) for the cash withdrawal at ATM's:

ATM Charge: 1% of amount withdrawn (Minimum fee of $2.50 and Maximum fee of $10.00) for a Cash Advance from an ATM displaying the Visa or Plus logo located in Canada; 1.50% (Minimum fee of $4.50 and Maximum fee of $45.00) if the ATM is located in United States; 1.50% (Minimum fee of $5.50 and Maximum fee of $15.00) if the ATM is located outside Canada and the United States. This is in addition to any other charges that may be levied by the owner/operator of the ATM.

Loonie said
… But i don't see that they are necessarily going to charge interest. I don't see how they can.
Interest on cash advances is normally charged from the day it's incurred until the day it's paid, I think; but this money has been paid from the outset - as long as you don't carry any kind of balance.

That's my understanding as well.

Credit card interest is calculated on outstanding balance. For the Home Trust Preferred VISA, interest is calculated with the "Average Daily Balance" for the billing period. If the daily outstanding balances remain zero or negative, then the "Average Daily Balance" will be zero or negative. Consequently, no interest will be charged, regardless of the purchases and cash advances.

I've never taken a cash advance, but my recollection is that the fine print usually says they will pay off your cash advance last, after your regular credit card bills. They make more money that way.

Depends on the card. Payments to the Home Trust Preferred VISA card are applied to first to balances with the highest interest rate:

13. Application of Payments: Each payment of the Debt is first applied towards my Minimum Payment. If I pay more than the Minimum Payment, you [Home Trust Company] will apply the amount over the Minimum Payment (i.e., the excess payment) to the remainder of my New Balance. If the different amounts that make up my New Balance are subject to different interest rates, you will allocate the excess payment first to the amount with the highest interest rate and you will then allocate any remaining portion of the excess payment to the other amounts that make up the New Balance for the billing period in descending order, based on the applicable interest rates. You reserve the right, subject to applicable law, tochange the order in which you apply payments, without notice to me. …

Thank you all for all these wonderful thoughts and hints. I'm not planning to go overseas in the near future but definitely I'll give it a try next time.
Thanks Peseta for the STACK link. That's exactly what I need. I just created an account. Though I find the layout of their web site very confusing !! I
I also found some reviews online that talk about this topic, here is a good one about STACK and the cash advance issue:

This card will be great when you if you're travelling and need local currency. Most purchases that you make internationally should be with a credit card such as the Home Trust Preferred Visa, or the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite to earn rewards and have better protections with insurance benefits and chargebacks. However, there will always be places that don’t accept credit cards, which will vary dramatically based on where you’re going.
The worst place to get currency are at airports exchange kiosks. In some cities, local exchanges may have better rate, but those will also vary significantly. The most consistent option is through a local ATM. You don’t have to bring money with you, and you have recourse if issues arise later. Normally, withdrawing with a bank card, will incur a foreign transaction fee, bank account withdrawal fee by your bank, and sometimes an ATM fee charged by the operator. The Stack MasterCard avoids the first two fees.
This is better than the current cheapest option, which involves prepaying your credit cards with no foreign transaction fees prior to using the ATM. With this method, there is a cash advance fee, but are not charged interest because you have a credit balance. I find this complex, and the Stack MasterCard presents a substantially better solution. As Stack MasterCard does not control the fees charged by the ATM operators, that may be a fee you incur.

Top It Up said
Just be sure to read and understand STACK's Terms and Conditions about Privacy and their use of your private data.  

I went through their privacy policy (briefly) I can't see anything unusual !