Banks Add Overseas Credit Card Charges Planning a meeting outside the U.S. means you need to give attendees a lot more guidance. One piece of advice has been to use a credit card for overseas purchases in order to get the best exchange rate. That advice may have to be revisited. According to consumer advocate Ed Perkins, some banks that issue MasterCards and Visa cards are adding a fee to billings that originate in a foreign currency. Perkins says the MasterCard and Visa networks have always charged a one-percent fee to cover these transactions and calls the banks' additional fees "an outrage." Ask attendees to contact the banks that issue their cards and bring those that don't charge the extra fees.