Charged a foreign transaction fee with new A$ store

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Panz Dec 30, 2018 @ 11:27pm

Recently the Steam store created an A$ price point for Australian sales. Prior to this we paid in USD and were then charged a foreign transaction fee by our bank. After the change I bought A$100 for my steam balance with my A$ credit card and was still charged the foreign fee on top of the transaction. I thought one of the reasons to implement local currency was to avoid these fees.

Is this happening for anyone else, or is there something I need to do to actually be charged in A$ ?

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Originally posted by Satoru:

In Australia banks charge the foreign transaction fee based on the SELLERS LOCATION

NOT on the currency used

Being charged in AUD does NOT mitigate the foreign transaction fee

Because Valve is based in the USA, Australian banks charge you the foreign transaction fee regardless

Pricing in AUD provides price stability that doesn’t fluctuate based on currency conversion. Thus buying a game today will cost the same in AUD today as it will in Dec 2019. This wouldn’t be the case when they were using USD where buying a game back in January was 20% cheaper than now due to the drop in the AUD

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Showing 1-14 of 14 comments

The HopelessGamer™ Dec 30, 2018 @ 11:49pm

Originally posted by Panz:
Recently the Steam store created an A$ price point for Australian sales. Prior to this we paid in USD and were then charged a foreign transaction fee by our bank. After the change I bought A$100 for my steam balance with my A$ credit card and was still charged the foreign fee on top of the transaction. I thought one of the reasons to implement local currency was to avoid these fees.

Is this happening for anyone else, or is there something I need to do to actually be charged in A$ ?

That shouldnt happen... it should be A$100 for A$100... no more no less.
Contact steam support because you have been charged wrongly. If you used Australian money then it should not have charged you any transaction fee...

All games that can be purchased in Australia on steam now have a Australian price on them. If a game has not got a Australian price then you will not be able to buy it in Australia...

Last edited by The HopelessGamer™; Dec 30, 2018 @ 11:55pm

Panz Dec 31, 2018 @ 12:57am

Yeah that's what I thought would happen, I also bought games using card after this and the price shown in the store has an international transaction fee added to it also.

It's bad enough that the Australian pricing has increased cost of games by a decent amount, that's an argument for a different thread, but still having foreign transaction fees on top is ridiculous.

Gus the Crocodile Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:26am

Valve is still a foreign entity; the transaction is being processed overseas, regardless of which currency is being used.

MancSoulja Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:31am

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:
Valve is still a foreign entity; the transaction is being processed overseas, regardless of which currency is being used.

They are to me too, but if I add £100 to my account, I get £100.

Gus the Crocodile Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:39am

Originally posted by MancSoulja:
They are to me too, but if I add £100 to my account, I get £100.

Right, but how much store credit you get isn't the issue being raised. If I buy A$100 Steam credit, I pay A$100 to Valve, and the bank charges me a couple of % on that amount as a foreign transaction fee for my credit card. If you're saying your bank doesn't have such a fee, well, I'm glad :)

The HopelessGamer™ Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:43am

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:
Valve is still a foreign entity; the transaction is being processed overseas, regardless of which currency is being used.

Does not matter. You should not be charged a foreign transaction fee for adding money to your account now that the new currency is live.

Technically you still pay the exchange rate. You dont get charged extra ontop of the exchange.

Last edited by The HopelessGamer™; Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:45am

Gus the Crocodile Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:46am

Originally posted by The HopelessGamer™:
Does not matter. You should not be charged a foreign transaction fee for adding money to your account now that the new currency is live.

Technically you still pay the exchange rate. You dont get charged extra ontop of the exchange.

It's a foreign transaction fee, not a currency exchange fee. The currency has nothing to do with it.

The HopelessGamer™ Dec 31, 2018 @ 1:58am

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:
Originally posted by The HopelessGamer™:
Does not matter. You should not be charged a foreign transaction fee for adding money to your account now that the new currency is live.

Technically you still pay the exchange rate. You dont get charged extra ontop of the exchange.
It's a foreign transaction fee, not a currency exchange fee. The currency has nothing to do with it.

Not what i said. I said you pay the exchange. a $19 USD game is now $28 AUD due to the exchange so thre is no difference between now and then other then the fact there is now no conversion fees or anything. So getting a foreign transaction fee should not happen.

Gus the Crocodile Dec 31, 2018 @ 2:02am

I know what you said. But we're discussing, specifically, a foreign transaction fee. There's a foreign transaction fee because it's a foreign transaction. Because the payment is being processed outside Australia.

This is from my bank's website:

In some cases, overseas merchants may allow you to pay in Australian dollars, e.g. when you’re shopping online or over the phone. This is still considered an international transaction because your transaction is processed overseas.

Panz Dec 31, 2018 @ 2:19am

That posting from the bank might explain this, but leads to the question why have a local currency implemented if you are going to be paying foreign fees anyway - especially when the new store prices are higher than a direct currency conversion, and as a result the foreign fee % is higher too.

#10

Jerry Dec 31, 2018 @ 2:50am

Weird story. Maybe someone from another country outside of the EU and the USA [Edit: Not even sure in the latter case... Does paying to Valve count as domestic or international within the USA?] with an own store currency could share experiences about that. Didn't Israel change to Shekel recently?

Until the issue is solved, maybe paying through bank transmission or credit card is something to avoid completely. With something like Steam cards or whatever Australia may have that works like paysafecard at least the fees fall onto someone else.

Last edited by Jerry; Dec 31, 2018 @ 2:55am

#11

Spawn of Totoro Dec 31, 2018 @ 5:59am

This sounds like something being done by the bank, not by Steam/Valve. Is it showing up in your Steam purchase history? If not, then it is your bank charging you the fee.

Last edited by Spawn of Totoro; Dec 31, 2018 @ 6:00am

#12