Card Currency Conversion Markup Calculator

About this calculator

When you pay in a foreign currency, your card network (Visa, Mastercard) first converts the purchase at its own wholesale/interbank exchange rate, then your issuing bank typically adds a currency conversion markup — commonly 1–3% — on top of that rate before charging your statement, sometimes bundled with a separate foreign transaction fee. This calculator applies that markup percentage to the purchase amount to show the extra cost hidden inside the converted total.

Because the markup is baked into the exchange rate rather than shown as a line-item fee, many cardholders never realize they're paying it — which is exactly why some travel-focused cards market “no foreign transaction fees” as a selling point, and why comparing a card's disclosed markup percentage before an overseas trip can meaningfully reduce the total cost of spending abroad.