Wells fargo cash back visa signature card foreign transaction fee

Use our table to compare other cards with no foreign transaction fee. With only one Wells Fargo travel card to choose from, you might want to check out other providers for more no-foreign-transaction-fee card options.

Wells Fargo has fewer products than competing providers and as a result offers just one product without foreign transaction fees.

  • Hotels.com® Rewards Visa® Credit Card

Aside from its no foreign transaction fee card, Wells Fargo offers just two other credit cards.

CardAnnual feeCard type
Wells Fargo Active Cash℠ Credit Card $0 Cash back
Wells Fargo Platinum Card $0 Intro APR
  • The Wells Fargo Active Cash℠ Credit Card is an excellent 2% cashback card. Unlike other 2% cards on the market, it pays the full 2% cashback at the time of purchase.
  • The Wells Fargo Platinum Card is a straightforward intro APR card with a long 18 months intro period on purchases and balance transfers. This is a strong offering given the rarity of balance transfer offers on the market.

Purchases you make abroad with a Wells Fargo foreign transaction fee card are charged an additional 3% of the total amount of the purchase. This is the industry average for a foreign transaction fee.

Wells Fargo’s only no foreign transaction fee credit card is the Hotels.com cobranded card. This is a niche card — even by travel card standards — and likely isn’t a good fit for a majority of consumers.

Here are a few of our favorite no foreign transaction fee cards across other providers and card types.

  • Cash back. We’re big fans of flat cashback cards, which offer solid rewards on every purchase. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a great choice which doesn’t have foreign transaction fees.
  • Student card. Consider cards such as the Deserve® Edu Card and Journey Student Rewards from Capital One.
  • Secured card. For a no-foreign-transaction-fee secured card, Capital One is your best bet.
  • Low APR. Non-travel, low-APR cards with no foreign transaction fees are a bit hard to find. But here’s one: the PenFed Gold Visa® Card.

In the case of Wells Fargo, you’re going to compare the Hotels.com card against other provider cards. Here are the main features to examine to help you make the right choice.

  • Annual fee. No-foreign-transaction-fee cards can have annual fees ranging in cost from $0 to thousands of dollars. It’s unnecessary to pay an annual fee just to save on international costs.
  • Signup bonus. The higher the annual fee you’re willing to pay, the higher bonus you’ll likely see.
  • Rewards. Try to pick a rewards structure that matches your typical spending. For example, if you’re a foodie, consider a card that offers dining bonus rewards.
  • Intro APR. Many no-foreign-transaction-fee cards also have intro APRs on purchases, balance transfers or both. These promotional interest rates usually last between 12 and 15 months.

Wells Fargo has only one card with no foreign transaction fee, and its a niche card at that. Unless you’re a Hotels.com fan, you’ll want to look at cards from other providers that waive this fee. Check out our foreign transaction fee guide to compare options.

Megan Horner is the banking and credit cards Group Publisher at Finder. She's passionate about helping you find the best credit cards and bank accounts to meet your financial needs — whether that's earning great rewards or improving your credit score. Megan's expertise has been spotlighted on Lifehacker, CreditCards.com, American Banker and featured on news broadcasts across the country. Before working at Finder, Megan worked at Credit Karma and QuinStreet.

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  • Wells Fargo Secured Credit Card review

    With a standard APR, low annual fee, and the trust of a reputable bank, the Wells Fargo secured credit card is a solid option for rebuilding credit.

    If you'd love to earn valuable rewards on your travel credit card but hate annual fees, consider putting your autograph on an application for the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card.

    The card, which has an annual fee of $0, is primarily positioned in the market as a travel credit card because of its triple points on travel spending. But its other bonus-reward categories are highly useful for everyday spending, too. They include 3 points per dollar spent at restaurants and gas stations, as well as on transit, streaming services and phone plans.

    That makes this card a candidate to be a primary — even front-of-wallet — credit card to carry with you, as well as one you can “set and forget” for recurring streaming and phone payments. And rewards are unlimited, unlike some competing cards that cap bonus rewards. That’s a big deal for big spenders.

    You won’t get the transfer partners or upscale perks of high-annual-fee travel credit cards, or brand-specific perks like free checked bags that airline credit cards often offer. But a healthy sign-up bonus and nice-to-have cell phone insurance on the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card add to its allure as a top pick among not only no-fee travel credit cards but cash-back cards as well.

    The same bank also offers an ideal companion — an excellent flat-rate rewards card called the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card.

    Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card: Basics

    Annual fee:$0.

    Sign-up bonus:Earn 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,500 in purchases in the first 3 months.

    Rewards: Unlimited 3 points per dollar spent on:

    • Restaurants.

    • Travel and transit.

    • Gas stations (and electric vehicle charging stations).

    • Popular streaming services.

    • Select phone plans.

    Plus, 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

    Redemptions: Points are worth 1 cent each. Cardholders can redeem points for travel, gift cards or statement credits — or when checking out online with PayPal.

    APR offer:0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months, and then the ongoing APR of 17.99%, 22.99%, or 27.99% Variable APR.

    Foreign transaction fees: None.

    Other benefits:

    • Cell phone protection of up to $600, minus a $25 deductible, for damage to or theft of your phone (when you use the card to pay your monthly cell phone bill).

    • My Wells Fargo Deals retail offers.

    Highlights of the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card

    Annual fee of $0

    Some of the best rewards cards — especially those that have generous welcome offers and high ongoing rewards — come with an annual fee. You usually have to earn enough value in rewards to break even with the annual fee. That's not an issue with the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card. It's rare to find a travel rewards card that offers this much ongoing value at no yearly cost (assuming you don't rack up interest charges).

    Useful reward categories

    Reward categories for the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card are lucrative and broadly appealing. The 3 points per dollar spent apply to many spending categories you might use in a single day, even when you’re not traveling. They include restaurants, transit and gas stations. And nowadays, most people are paying for popular streaming services and phone plans, so you may as well get rewarded for it.

    Travel and transit definitions are broad and include: airline, hotel/motel, timeshare, vehicle/auto rental, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel websites, campgrounds, passenger railway, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, parking lots and garages. The gas stations category includes electric vehicle charging stations. And the restaurant category specifically includes caterers.

    Adding to its everyday shopping appeal are retail offers. Cardholders have access to My Wells Fargo Deals — a merchant-funded platform that offers cash back in the form of a statement credit when shopping, dining or enjoying an experience. You must activate the deal first.

    Travel-friendly

    The lack of foreign transaction fees is welcome on the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card — and, really, should be table stakes for all travel credit cards. Plus, it's a Visa, which has worldwide acceptance.

    Unlimited rewards

    Sometimes underappreciated is whether a card’s bonus rewards are unlimited. The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card has no caps on its 3x rewards. That makes it even more lucrative for bigger spenders who would hit the bonus rewards cap with other cards and then be relegated to earning a mere 1 point per dollar spent.

    For example, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ with an annual fee of $0 is a cash-back card, but it can be used as a travel card, too. (It offers 5% back on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.) While excellent in many ways, the card’s 5% rotating bonus categories are capped at $1,500 per quarter before dropping to 1% cash back.

    Notable too: the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card points don’t expire so long as the card account is open.

    The Wells Fargo one-two punch

    A bonus rewards credit card like this one in conjunction with a good flat-rate credit card can dovetail nicely to amp up overall rewards. Wells Fargo has two of the better cards for such a pairing: this Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card for its bonus categories and travel perks, plus the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card for its high 2% cash back on all spending and a healthy sign-up bonus.

    As an example, you would use the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card at restaurants and gas stations, earning 3 points per dollar spent, while pulling out the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card to pay the dentist, florist and other vendors who don’t fit into the bonus categories, earning 2 points per dollar spent.

    Drawbacks of the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card

    Few premium perks

    If you're seeking a card with exclusive travel perks and other benefits, you're probably going to have to pay for it. The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card doesn't come with an annual fee, but it also doesn't come with goodies like Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application reimbursement, airport lounge access or the ability to transfer rewards to hotel or airline partners.

    Debatably, that knocks it down a step from many travel credit cards that offer those perks but also charge an annual fee.

    For example, you would get free checked bags and early boarding on Delta flights with the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, which has an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $99.

    Or, a hotel card like the World of Hyatt Credit Card, with an annual fee of $95, gives you an automatic free night annually.

    Bonus categories to remember

    If you want rewards from a travel card without annual fees but find the idea of remembering bonus categories unpalatable, the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit cardis a solid choice. Cardholders earn an unlimited 1.5 points per dollar spent on all purchases. You also earn 3 points per dollar spent — twice the card's usual rate — at the Bank of America® Travel Center. Rewards can be redeemed for credit against any travel purchase. Those who qualify for the bank's Preferred Rewards program can earn bonuses on their earnings of 25% or more.

    And, again, if simple cash back is more your taste, you’ll have trouble beating the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card with 2% cash back on everything and a generous sign-up bonus.

    No airline or hotel transfer partners

    If your goal is to strategize with your travel points, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a strong contender. The card earns bonus rewards in various categories, including dining and travel (And through March 2025, it earns 5x the points on Lyft.) It has an annual fee of $95, but it also offers a rich sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. The secret sauce with this card is that points take on 25% more value when used to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal. So if you've accrued, say, 10,000 points, you can redeem for $100 cash back or $125 worth of travel. And because the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card allows you to transfer points to multiple airline and hotel partners, you might be able to squeeze even more value out of your rewards.

    If you're looking for more credit card alternatives, check out NerdWallet's best credit cards page.

    Should you get the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card?

    The Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card is not only a good travel credit card, but it's also a good card for everyday spending, too.

    It won’t give you higher-end travel perks, like lounge access or free checked bags at the airport. But those premium perks come with a premium price.

    If you don’t like annual fees, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better travel credit card than the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card, whether you’re on a far-flung journey or staying near home.

    Does Wells Fargo Cash Back Card have foreign transaction fees?

    Global acceptance WITH NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES Your Wells Fargo business credit card is either a MasterCard or a Visa card and is accepted worldwide wherever you see those logos. It's a good idea to have some foreign currency with you before you leave the U.S. to cover immediate expenses.

    How much is foreign transaction fee Wells Fargo?

    How much are Wells Fargo Cash Wise foreign transaction fees? The Wells Fargo Cash Wise foreign transaction fee is 3%. The fee is added to the total amount of any transaction made outside of the United States or through an internationally-based merchant online.

    Does Wells Fargo allow foreign transactions?

    Wells Fargo offers a number of ways to make and receive payments in foreign currency, including wire transfers, drafts, checks and foreign currency cash services.

    Does Wells Fargo charge to use debit card internationally?

    When you use your debit card internationally to make a purchase in a foreign currency, you incur a fee equal to 3 percent of the transaction amount. In the event you want to withdraw money from a non-Wells Fargo bank, note that some ATMs won't let you choose a specific account or allow that type of transaction.