Bilt Says Cardholders Will Be Refunded After Reports Of A Hidden 0.2% Foreign Transaction Fee

Over the past few days discussions blew up on social media suggesting that Bilt Rewards credit cards were adding a 0.2% foreign transaction fee, despite the cards being advertised as not having one. Here’s one example.

• There’s often confusion with no foreign transaction fee cards, where there’s a ‘hidden cost’ in that the consumer is getting a markup versus the interbank rate.

• And a bunch of customers were comparing what they were charged to the Mastercard site where the payment network has a calculator for the exchange. However that’s not a slam dunk because of timing issues, and because Mastercard itself says its converter is only indicative and that banks may not use that same rate. A mismatch there is actually normal!

• However what was not normal were some reports that the same foreign transaction showing one amount in US dollars in the Bilt app appeared 0.2% higher amount on the card statement. That looked like an add-on post-conversion.

I’m headed out of the country myself and planned to test this. And I didn’t cover this yesterday because it seemed like I was close to having information to share. And now I do.

1. This was not intended (‘a feature, not a bug’) as some had surmised
2. Anyone charged extra will see that money back.

According to a Bilt spokesperson, any overcharges – fees or add-ons that hadn’t applied to foreign transactions on their earlier Wells Fargo cobrand – will be refunded.

We are aware of the questions surrounding final transaction amounts for foreign transactions and are actively reviewing this matter with our card partners that manage the program. There should be no change to foreign transaction fees vs. the 1.0 card, and if any fees have been added, we will ensure our partners refund them. We will communicate when we have more information.

0.2% probably wouldn’t move the needle on my choice of cards. It’s $6 on $3,000 in charges. But it’s not what was promised so I’m glad to see a commitment not just to rectify going forward but to refund as well.