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I get my income in euros. I need to pay for stuff in USD because I use shops like Dealextreme where the base currency is USD. I have a Visa Debit card (so not a real Visa) since I am a student but have stable income streams monthly. I get the following spread-costs with my card:

  • Dealextreme, 9.59%, when paying in euros - the payment is in euros and the base currency is USD [1]
  • Dealextreme, 2.06%, when paying in USD - the payment and the base currency are both USD [2]

I get the current course of one euro in USD from Google.

The spread-cost, 2.06%, is huge. I would like to get it even smaller. Which credit-card minimizes the given spread-cost even more?

2. Is there any other ways to minimize the given spread-cost even more?

I did not use Paypal in buying my merchandise. I am not sure about Paypal's spread-cost, but it's probably worse than paying directly with the given credit card.

Appendix 

[1]
>>> 24.10/18.74                  
1.2860192102454644
>>> de = 24.10/18.74                # one euro in USD when paying with euros
>>> right = 1.4155
>>> diff = right - de
>>> ave = (right + de)/2
>>> diff / ave
0.09585775978455527

[2] 
>>> 24.10/17.38
1.3866513233601843
>>> de = 24.10/17.38                     # one euro in USD when paying with dollars
>>> right = 1.4155
>>> diff = right - de
>>> ave = (right + de)/2
>>> diff / ave
0.020590377399905716
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  • 4
    Have you looked into doing the currency transfer outside of the credit card transaction? Perhaps if you opened up a bank account intended for international use you would be able to move money into USD and spend it in USD.
    – duffbeer703
    Commented Oct 30, 2011 at 19:13
  • @duffbeer703 Thank you for your point! I knew that there is a more efficient way to do the thing. Need to find out now the most efficient bank account for the given purpose.
    – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
    Commented Oct 30, 2011 at 19:46
  • @duffbeer703 I opened a new thread about an international bank account which has only USD for a student: money.stackexchange.com/questions/11824/…, to minimize spread-costs in online shopping.
    – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
    Commented Oct 30, 2011 at 20:13
  • Is there a way for you to get income in USD?
    – Sun
    Commented Jan 2, 2013 at 19:12
  • 1
    I live in Canada. My discount brokerage charges me a spread of only about 1.5% each way for CADUSD and USDCAD. The large international discount broker Interactive Brokers charges even less for foreign-exchange transactions (though they do charge a monthly fee to inactive traders). Do you have some investments, such as mutual funds? Is your net worth high enough that it's worth opening a brokerage account to hold your investments? (Note that many brokerages charge all sorts of fees to customers with small accounts.)
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Sep 4, 2013 at 19:57

1 Answer 1

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Simply, pay in the same currency as registered in the market - normally the native currency is the cheapest and options are with 2.5% spread cost. If you cannot do it, simply pay the standard 2.5% spread cost directly to your bank or to the shop if possible.

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  • +0. The answer was impossible for me to understand. Dear readers: please edit the answer so that it is more grammatically correct and so more understandable. Dear Masi: Please edit your answer to include both a full answer in English and a full answer in your native language. This will help us fix the English version.
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 22:11
  • Edited. Simpler better. Not any magic science there. I do not cover those little details here because every person is individual and needs special care and planning depending on many factors like country of residence, age and so on.
    – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영
    Commented Aug 31, 2013 at 8:29

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