Visa/MC/Diners CC/Debit card refund for foreign transaction fees - $25 and up

I'm sure most people out here might be in the loop with regards to the U.S. Court settlement about the exorbitant forex fees charged by cc/debit card companies. A class action law suit was recently settled for the tune of $336M and this news made the rounds early last week and even ended up on SD. Having spent close to 30 grand abroad in the past 2-3 years, I wanted to confirm this bit of news before posting it myself. Anyhow, I received a letter from the District court office administrator in Philly about this along with an enclosed form. I'm sure many of you received it late last week. If not, check the trash can.

Basically, if you made foreign transactions with one of the aforementioned cards while overseas and incurred a forex conversion fee between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, you may be entitled to a refund of the associated foreign currency transaction fees.

The issue is the foreign exchange conversion fee, which in some cases totaled 1-3 % (at least) of the value of the item you purchased. Refunds for fees associated with cash advances in foreign currencies aren't confirmed at the moment.

The deadline to file for a refund is May 30, 2008. If you haven't received a letter from the District Court with your details, here is the web link to file your case online:

Claim

Feel free to call the settlement helpline #: 1-800-945-9890

The FAQs are posted here: Link.

There are three refund options based on your estimated spending over the past decade. Please read the FAQs for more information.

Before you think I'm posting a scam, do your own research. Sorry if I've created the longest OP ever. Mods, feel free to move this to the finance forum. I felt this was a hot deal only because of the potential to get a lot of forex fees back as a check. (thanks to Ganda)

The accountants entrusted with this case are here.

gforce84 said: I felt this was a hot deal only because of the potential to get a lot of forex fees back as a statement credit.

Statement credit? To which card? The settlement covers all of them. I'm expecting a check. I got my notification yesterday.

I filled out something maybe a year ago with my spending over the past few years ... should I expect to hear something ?
Did you do something similar ?

Is it automatic ?

ganda said: gforce84 said: I felt this was a hot deal only because of the potential to get a lot of forex fees back as a statement credit.

Statement credit? To which card? The settlement covers all of them. I'm expecting a check. I got my notification yesterday.

The true Fatwalleter never ignores junk mail -- might be a 0% APR offer or so i'm told.

ganda said:

The envelope in the mail looks like junk mail. I'm sure that was accidental

Hmm, I received a notice about this settlement in March and filed a claim on April 2, 2007. Not sure how notification sent to me back then is different from what you are receiving now.

Surely wish I had gone paperless a long time ago, would've made the process 50% easier..

Thanks OP. I just opened my packet based on this thread and is in the process of requesting my old statements from Citibank. I know I spent more than $10k on just one trip so 1% would be at leaast $100.

The real winners of this...

How will the attorneys be paid?
The lawyers for the class members will request 27.5% of the estimated $313,000,000 expected to remain in the settlement fund after deducting costs for administering the settlement and notice, plus interest, for attorneys' fees for investigating the facts, litigating and resolving the case. They will also request reimbursement of their expenses, not to exceed $5,000,000, to be paid from the settlement fund.

Cite not working. Tried a couple of times to enter my info and just get an error message.

I got this today & my friend got it over the weekend. Both of us have used credit cards in foreign countries. Did anyone get this that hasn't?

shoppings said: I don't have any tranction in another country, but I did have internet tranctions in foreign currency. Am I also eligible for the refund? Or, since I received the notice, am I automatically eligible? Thanks.

Give them a call. I wouldn't rely on any answers from these forums as fact.

I received my notice in the mail today. I think I have made 3 transactions on the internet (maybe $10 each time) in the past 4 years. I requested the Easy $25 Refund.

How about foreign students who have only lived in the US for a few years --- claim several years of time outside US ?

Does not seem the right thing to do.

Got the form in the mail. I'm not sure how they targeted us -- as I have not recently made foreign transactions while living at my new address. Perhaps from my credit report?

I have spent ~ 6 months out of the USA, but have easily spent less than $2500 on foreign transactions. Do you all think Option 1 or Option 2 would yield more?

bw4747 said: Is it possible to get a hold of the algorithm they use to calculate your refund for Option #2? Whether you should choose #2 or #3 would depend on whether your actual spending is above or below the assumptions built into the algorithm.

So what happens when you choose #2 having been out of the country several times for several weeks at a stretch, but have not used forex transactions as much in comparison to the number of trips and days outside of the USA ?

Leave aside knowing about the formula, are they going to verify / the #of days away or the amounts of transactions ?

I don't understand why anyone chooses option 1, unless they spent almost no time abroad. Option 2 is guaranteed to be equal or greater than option 1. Spend the extra time to estimate your dates abroad! From the FAQ:

Please note that a refund for a Refund Option 2 claim form will not be less than the amount distributed to claimants who file the Refund Option 1 claim form.

.

sincewednesday said: I don't understand why anyone chooses option 1, unless they spent almost no time abroad. Option 2 is guaranteed to be equal or greater than option 1. Spend the extra time to estimate your dates abroad! From the FAQ:

Please note that a refund for a Refund Option 2 claim form will not be less than the amount distributed to claimants who file the Refund Option 1 claim form.

I guess if you didn't really have much proof of your stays abroad, you know option #1 won't get you audited where option #2 might. Having a good bunch of proofs (passport, some receipts, etc.) and having spent about 20 weeks abroad on business and vacation during that time, I don't know what the formula is or whether I'll get more than $25 but I figured option #2 was the best for me.

I am glad I used my Citicard but they are only allowing 6 request at a time for old statements in pdf format. I am going to be doing this for the next couple of weeks so I can have all my statements and use the third claim option.

vickh said:
so what's the cutoff as far as time abroad for option 2 over 1? I can get that easily from my passport. I don't have any receipts or statements though?
They say about 1 week on the form and the website

vickh said:
Also I got two letters today with different authorization codes. So would I be getting two $25??
No, there's a checkbox to agree that you are only submitting one claim.

I got one too... looks legitimate to me.

This is what's on their site now (and since Feb. 24, 2009?)ccfsettlement.com said: Current Status - In re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1409)

The current status of this class action settlement is that a decision to grant final approval of the settlement is pending before the Court. The issuance of refund checks for valid timely claims will not commence until after the Court enters an order granting final approval of the settlement, any potential appeals are resolved, and the Settlement Administrator has validated the claims. At this time, the Court has not yet issued a final approval order. A notice will be posted to this website once the Court issues an order.

With the expiration of the claims submission period, on May 30, 2008, the Settlement Administrator has commenced the process of auditing and validating claims. Please be advised that any claims postmarked or faxed after May 30, 2008 will be considered late. Also, any changes to your address or contact information should be sent in writing to the Settlement Administrator.

Please continue to check this website for additional information about the settlement and claims administration as it becomes available.

If you have a question you would like to send to the Settlement Administrator, please use the Contact Us page of this website, or write to the Settlement Administrator at P. O. Box 290, Philadelphia, PA 19105-0290. The telephone service, 1-800-945-9890, is for information purposes only and a live operator is not available. Click Here to Proceed Current status last updated February 24, 2009.