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icebergx

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 27, 2012
202
3
Copenhagen, Denmark
Hi all,
I was thinking about buying a MBP from Apple Japan, when I visit there early next year. If I use my Apple card to make the purchase, would I still get the 3% cash back as it's an Apple purchase, but in a foreign country?
Also, does anyone know if the Apple card charges any loading fees and if the exchange rate they offer is the inter-bank rate? No point in getting 3% cash back if I'm stung for 5% in fees..

Thanks.
 

iGeek2019

macrumors 6502a
Jul 26, 2019
884
2,865
No Selection
Hi all,
I was thinking about buying a MBP from Apple Japan, when I visit there early next year. If I use my Apple card to make the purchase, would I still get the 3% cash back as it's an Apple purchase, but in a foreign country?
Also, does anyone know if the Apple card charges any loading fees and if the exchange rate they offer is the inter-bank rate? No point in getting 3% cash back if I'm stung for 5% in fees..

Thanks.

I don't know about earning 3% on Apple Stores internationally but I found this on TechCrunch:

The exchange rate for foreign transactions is determined by Mastercard. There are no foreign transaction fees, but the rate of exchange is network determined, not a fixed rate or foreign currency.

MasterCard offer a website: https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html whereby you're able to work out the conversion using the MasterCard rate on the date of your transaction, should you make it.
 

Frankied22

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2010
1,788
594
Not sure about the 3% but I wouldn’t see why not. I traveled to the UK shortly after the card released and I used it exclusively with Apple Pay over there and I got the 2% cash back on all my purchases. There were no foreign transaction fees.
 

Böhme417

macrumors 65816
Mar 11, 2009
1,056
1,507
Hi all,
I was thinking about buying a MBP from Apple Japan, when I visit there early next year. If I use my Apple card to make the purchase, would I still get the 3% cash back as it's an Apple purchase, but in a foreign country?
Also, does anyone know if the Apple card charges any loading fees and if the exchange rate they offer is the inter-bank rate? No point in getting 3% cash back if I'm stung for 5% in fees..

Thanks.
I can't speak to the part about the 3% cash back at Apple stores abroad. I can say with some confidence that their conversions aren't very favorable. I was recently in the UK with a friend who used an Apple Card. Because these things interest me anyway, we compared rates on all the cards we used. His Apple Card had the least favorable rate. (None of our cards used charge a fee, according to them.)
I don't know about earning 3% on Apple Stores internationally but I found this on TechCrunch:

The exchange rate for foreign transactions is determined by Mastercard. There are no foreign transaction fees, but the rate of exchange is network determined, not a fixed rate or foreign currency.

MasterCard offer a website: https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html whereby you're able to work out the conversion using the MasterCard rate on the date of your transaction, should you make it.
Does this only pertain to the Apple Card? They definitely go by MC's rates?
 

iGeek2019

macrumors 6502a
Jul 26, 2019
884
2,865
No Selection
I can't speak to the part about the 3% cash back at Apple stores abroad. I can say with some confidence that their conversions aren't very favorable. I was recently in the UK with a friend who used an Apple Card. Because these things interest me anyway, we compared rates on all the cards we used. His Apple Card had the least favorable rate. (None of our cards used charge a fee, according to them.)

Does this only pertain to the Apple Card? They definitely go by MC's rates?

From what I’ve read about Apple Card they use MasterCard‘s rate on the day of that transaction eg 11/11. Here in the UK a handful of banks do the same, especially the app only ones.
 
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