AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Travel Using a credit card/foreign conversion fees

Amex is not as widely accepted on the island as Visa and M/Card, only through Belize Bank merchants and their fees are higher.

That's what I thought, and why I didn't include it in the initial selection. Good to know!

Like, as already suggested, I use a Capitol One Visa and the charges are very small. I find that card to be the best and it is my choice in Belize.

I'm not sure in Belize but when I was in Mexico recently I used my USA bank ATM card in an ATM machine at the bus station and the fees where, I think, about 1% or less. I was going to look it up but can't log into my account at the moment. I think it was $1.45 for 2,000 pesos or about $135 USD.

Does anyone have experience with using a bank ATM card in San Pedro. I would like to know.

I'm a little amazed at the the original poster. Should I use a card that charges a transaction fee, or a card that doesn't?!
I got a Cap 1 card years ago, specifically for Belize b/c it didn't hit me the 3%. Charges in Belize always in BZ$, they, the CC co, adjust based on that days market(it is not 2 to 1 on your cc)

It's a new benefit for 2012. I just looked on my statement -- no fees.

My main question was if charges could be made in US$. The rest was thinking out loud, personal reasons for which card to use. Come to find out all my cards charge a fee. But you're correct in that there are cards that do not charge fees and I will need to look into those. Some may not charge a conversion fee but their annual fee (see MARYMO's American Express Platinum) far outweighs the 3% conversion fee for our once-yearly international trips.

Sorry Dana, Looking back at my first answer, I simply said "No" and you might have overlooked that reply. If you think about it would you imagine that a Belizean visitng the US would get his tab charged in Bz$?

Now maybe there is some special international card merchant account operating in USD that has such a provision but the merchant is probably going to have to pay (dearly) for that customer convenience and they're already getting nicked a xaction fee of 3 to 4% right off the top for the "convenience" of accepting your card in payment. The chances are slim that any merchant in Bz, (lol, other than like, maybe, Francis Ford Coppola's places), are going to be doing that.

Based on our experiences and the explanantions given to me, the merchant's credit card account/bank requires that the charge be made in the currency of merchant account origin. The banks are (now) required to apply the prevailing daily rate of exchange to in any currency conversion (thanks for reminding me of that kreh) so they have to see original currency charge. Now you might see a bill presented for your convenience in USD (based on the merchants interpretation of 2:1) but the charge is made in the unadulterated Bz amount and forwarded from the merchants bank to the cardholders bank for "legal" conversion.

If there is one constancy it seems to be how banks can work together to make money off the card holders and merchants on both sides of the "fence" and either of those parties will pay extra for any additional "convenience". Maybe call your credit card company and ask the question for a definitive answer, but I already suspect what the answer will be.

I should have mentioned that my American Express is also a Costco card. But my Capital One Platinum is just an regular CC that doesn't charge exchange fees.
Good Luck and go slow!

Bear, I saw your reply and understood. No, US merchants do not charge in any other currency but US$, but they also don't accept anything but US$, cash or credit. Belize accepts both their own and US$, so it was worth asking. From previous experience, St. Kitts for example, most of the merchants accepted $US and would charge credit cards in US$ (their currency is the East Caribbean dollar). I believe Anguilla did the same but don't quote me on that.

Belize has US$ Offshore Banking in and while I'm not certain on the detail I beleive this is why it's not possible/illegal to have US merchant Accounts here.