Find out exactly how much extra your bank charges on every international purchase — and compare across cards to find the cheapest option.
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Every time you swipe your Indian credit card for an international purchase — whether you're travelling abroad or buying from Amazon.com, Spotify, or Netflix's foreign servers — your bank adds a foreign currency markup on top of the Visa/Mastercard exchange rate. This fee is rarely shown at the point of purchase and only appears on your statement.
| Card / Bank | Forex Markup | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Most standard Indian cards | 3.5% | Domestic use only |
| HDFC Regalia / Infinia | 2.0% | Occasional travel |
| Axis Magnus / Reserve | 1.5% | Frequent travellers |
| SBI Elite | 1.99% | Occasional international |
| Niyo Global (IDFC) | 0% | International travel |
| IDFC WOW Card | 0% | International travel |
| Scapia Federal Card | 0% | Travel enthusiasts |
The GST factor: India charges 18% GST on the forex markup fee itself — not on the full transaction. So on a 3.5% markup, you effectively pay 3.5% + (18% of 3.5%) = approximately 4.13% total above the base exchange rate.
When paying by card abroad, merchants often offer to convert the transaction to INR "for your convenience." This is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) — and it is almost always more expensive than letting your bank do the conversion. DCC rates are set by the merchant and can add another 3–8% on top of your bank's already-high markup rate.
Always choose to pay in the local currency when given the option. Your bank's conversion will be cheaper, even with the markup.
Standard forex markups are legitimate bank charges disclosed in your card agreement — they cannot be disputed as unauthorised. However, you can dispute forex charges in these situations: