Master List of No Annual Fee, No Foreign Transaction Fee Cards

In the comments of my Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card review, reader jwl mentioned that one of the hidden benefits of the new card is that there is no longer a foreign transaction fee, which is rare among no-annual-fee cards from big issuers. This is an attempt to compile a comprehensive list of such cards, broken down by credit card network.

Where appropriate, I have split out specific banks to provide some necessary commentary. Elsewise, the cards are listed in alphabetical order within their card network. Noted in parentheses after the card is whether it is a student, business, or secured card, along with the type of card it is, such as World MasterCard or World Elite MasterCard. You can view Visa benefits by card type here and MasterCard benefits by card type here. Relevant rewards information is listed after that.

The intent of this post is to cover major issuers, so only the biggest federal credit unions are included. This excludes Andrews FCU & State Department FCU, for example, which both have no-AF, no-FTF cards. Other examples can be found in the comments: 1 (First Tech FCU), 2 (NASA FCU), 3 (Star One).

As always, remember that we do not use credit card affiliate links, so the inclusion or order of cards on this list is not biased by monetary incentives.

MasterCard

• Bank of America Travel Rewards (World MasterCard). 1.5x miles on all purchases & an additional 1.5x miles on Bank of America Travel Center purchases; more for Preferred Rewards clients.
• Barclaycard Arrival (World MasterCard). 2x miles travel and dining & 1x miles on all purchases.
• Barclaycard JetBlue. 3x TrueBlue points on JetBlue, 2x TrueBlue points on restaurants and groceries, 1x TrueBlue points on all other purchases.
• Barclaycard Ring. No rewards.
• Chase Military cards (Army MWR, Air Force Club, Marine Corps MCCS, Navy MWR). 2% cashback at the Commissary, the Exchange, and MWR locations & 1% cashback on all other purchases.
• First National Bank of Omaha Mlife Rewards. 3x Mlife points at Mlife, 2x Mlife points on gas and groceries, 1x Mlife points on all other purchases.
• Sam’s Club. 5% cashback on gas, 3% cashback on dining and travel, 1% cashback on all other purchases.
• Target REDcard. 5% cashback at Target & Target.com.
• U.S. Bank AAA Dollars Plus (World MasterCard). 3% cashback on AAA and travel; 2% cashback on gas, groceries, and drugstores; and 1% cashback on all other purchases. (Availability & issuing bank depends on location—thanks, reader jf!).
• U.S. bank Altitude GO.  4% cash back on dining around the world.
• BILT Mastercard.

CapitalOne

CapitalOne does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their secured card. There are two versions of the Quicksilver & Venture cards. The Quicksilver has no annual fee while the QuicksilverOne has a $39 annual fee. The VentureOne has no annual fee while the Venture has a $59 annual fee. No, it doesn’t make any sense to me either!

• Quicksilver (World Elite MasterCard). 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
• VentureOne (World Elite MasterCard). 1.25x miles on all purchases.
• Premier Dining Rewards (World Elite MasterCard). 3% cashback on dining, 2% cashback on groceries, 1% cashback on all other purchases.
• Platinum (Platinum MasterCard). No rewards.
• Secured (Secured, Platinum MasterCard). No rewards.
• BuyPower. 5% on first $5,000 of purchases and 2% thereafter.
• GM Extended Family. 1% on all purchases.

HSBC

The HSBC Advance card has no annual fee if you are an HSBC Advance or Premier client, and has a $45 annual fee otherwise. The HSBC Premier has no annual fee if you are an HSBC Premier client, and has a $95 annual fee otherwise. In both cases, no annual fee will be assessed within the first year of card membership. I understand it is cheating a little bit to include the two cards, but I think they’re important for procuring a full list.

• HSBC Advance. 2X Rewards Program Points on dining and select entertainment & 1x Rewards Program Point on all other purchases.
• HSBC Platinum. No rewards.
• HSBC Platinum with Rewards. 1x Rewards Program Points on all purchases.
• HSBC Premier (World MasterCard). 1x Rewards Program Points on all purchases.

Navy Federal

Navy Federal does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their secured card. Two of their cards can be obtained in a MasterCard version.

• Platinum. No rewards.
• nRewards Secured (Secured). 1x points on all purchases.

Visa

• Bank of America AAA Member Rewards (Visa Signature). 3x points on AAA and travel; 2x points on gas, grocery, and drugstore; and 1x points on all other purchases. (Availability depends on location).
• Bank of America Merrill+ (Visa Signature). 1x Merrill points on all purchases.
• Bank of America Travel Rewards (Visa Signature). 1.5x miles on all purchases & an additional 1.5x miles on Bank of America Travel Center purchases; more for Preferred Rewards clients.
• Barclaycard Priceline (Visa Signature). 5x points on Priceline.com & 1x points on all other purchases.
• Barclaycard Princess Cruises Rewards (Visa Signature). 2x point on Princess Cruises purchases & 1x points on all other purchases.
• Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards (Visa Signature). 3x points on Wyndham and participating hotel stays & 2x points on gas, utilities, and groceries
• Chase Amazon Prime Rewards (Visa Signature). 5% cashback at Amazon; 2% cashback at restaurants, gas stations, and drug stores; and 1% cashback on all other purchases.
• Citi Best Buy. 2.5x point at Best Buy, 1x points on dining and grocery, 0.5x points on all other purchases (points worth 2¢ at Best Buy).
• Comenity Orbitz Rewards (Visa Signature). extra 3-5% cashback in Orbucks for hotels through Orbitz (5% for mobile app bookings; you earn 5% automatically), 7% cashback in Orbucks at qualifying restaurants, 6% cashback in Orbucks on airfare, 2% cashback in Orbucks on all other purchases.
• ICBC Preferred. 1% cashback on all purchases.
• TD Cash (Visa Signature). 2% cashback on dining & 1% cashback on all other purchases.

CapitalOne

CapitalOne does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their student & business cards. There are two version of the Spark Cash & Spark Miles cards. The Spark Cash Select & Spark Miles Select have no annual fee while the Spark Cash & Spark Miles have a $59 annual fee. The CapitalOne cards available as a MasterCard may also be issued as a Visa.

• Journey (Student, Visa Platinum). 1% cashback on all purchases, boosted to 1.25% if you pay on time.
• Spark Cash Select (Business, Visa Signature). 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
• Spark Miles Select (Business, Visa Signature). 1.25x miles on all purchases.
• Spark Classic (Business, Visa Business). 1% cashback on all purchases.

Navy Federal

Navy Federal does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their secured card. All of their cards are available as Visa.

• cashRewards (Visa Signature). 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
• GO REWARDS (Visa Signature). 3x points on restaurants, 2x points on gas, 1x points on all other purchases.
• Platinum. No rewards.
• nRewards Secured (Secured). 1x points on all purchases.

PenFed

PenFed does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards. The Platinum Cash Rewards card has a $25 annual fee and earns 3% cashback on gas, but the annual fee is waived and the card earns 5% cashback on gas if you qualify for the Plus version by having a qualifying product with PenFed.

• Defender (Visa Signature). 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
• Gold (Visa Gold). No rewards.
• Platinum Rewards (Visa Signature). 5x points on gas, 3x points on groceries, 1x points on all other purchases.
• Platinum Cash Rewards Plus (Visa Platinum). 5% cashback on gas.
• Promise. No rewards.

USAA

USAA does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their secured card. A complete list of USAA cards was written up by Will at this link.

American Express

PenFed

• Defender. 1.5% cashback on all purchases.
• Premium Travel Rewards. 5x points on airfare & 1x points on all other purchases.

USAA

USAA does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their secured card. A complete list of USAA cards was written up by Will at this link.

Discover

Discover does not charge a foreign transaction fee on any of their cards, including their student & secured cards. In addition, Discover has an agreement with Diners Club International, UnionPay, and JCB in certain regions—so you can use your Discover card at any merchant that accepts those networks, broken down by region as follows:

Diners Club International: Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania.

UnionPay: Mainland China (caveat below).

JCB: Japan.

Discover maintains a list of card networks they operate on, by region, at this link.

UnionPay

Because this list covers cards issued in the US, these cards will not work with Alipay or WeChat. They also present difficulties when used in mainland China due to the lack of proper EMV support by many point-of-sale (POS) machines. Swiping would work, except that very few merchants have swipe-only POS machines. You can read more in this comment thread.

• ICBC Preferred (UnionPay Gold). 1% cashback on all purchases.

Debit Cards

These debit cards do not charge a foreign transaction fee for debit card purchases, with the exception of the Fidelity debit card.

• CapitalOne.
• Charles Schwab (Visa Platinum). In addition, all ATM fees are reimbursed. A truly remarkable debit card.
• Discover.
• Fidelity (Visa Gold). Does have a 1% foreign transaction fee for purchases, but not ATM withdrawals. All ATM fees are reimbursed if you have a Fidelity Cash Management Account, if you are a Fidelity Account Premium Client or Private Client, or if your annual household trading activity is at least 120 stock, bond, or option trades.
• Target REDcard (MasterCard). 5% cashback at Target & Target.com. Only usable at Target (thanks, reader 007!).
• TD Bank.

 

 

Questions? Missing a card? Comment below!