Best credit card for Costa Rica….

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  • #186682
    mbrydenthal
    Member

    We are coming from the US and will be in CR for 4 months…

    Our experience is most US credit card companies charge a transaction charge for each transaction made in Costa Rica…

    We have a bank account with Banco Nacional….we also have a corporation in CR…

    Does anyone know of a credit card that will NOT charge these transaction fees??
    Do we have to get a local credit card thru our bank in CR??

    THANKS!!!

    #186683
    DavidCMurray
    Participant

    You have a Banco Nacional ATM/debit card or can get one, right? It might be easiest (and maybe cheapest) to simply wire money from your U.S. bank to Banco Nacional before you leave the U.S. Then you could withdraw cash from any ATM in Costa Rica, using your Banco Nacional card, with no charges whatsoever.

    And if you set things up in advance with your U.S. bank, if you need to wire more money to your Banco Nacional account, you can call them from Costa Rica and do so. Your U.S. bank might even permit you to initiate a wire transfer to Banco Nacional via their Internet-based on-line banking system.

    #186684
    donbuc
    Participant

    I was just in CR last week. I used my discover card whenever possible. No transaction fees and an excellent exchange rate 517 colones per dollar. It was accepted at pricesmart hipermas and epa. Some of the cashiers at Epa didnt know it was accepted.
    It falls under Creditomatic.

    #186685
    dehaaij
    Member

    I’ll second that donbuc. I started using my Discovercard a few months ago. Sometimes they don’t know which card reader to run it through, and I think you’re right about it being Credomatic. It’s whichever one American Express uses so if they still have trouble, tell them to treat it like American Express. Also, the exchange rate I get is actually better than 517. Last month I was getting 518.67. Try walking into a bank and getting that rate. My statement shows both the dollar charge and the colon charge so I can always do the math. Sure beats my Wells Fargo Visa that charges a 3% foreign transaction fee. Plus you even get a bit of cash back with the Discovercard.

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