A study by CreditCards.com found that most major credit card companies are eliminating fees for people who use their credit cards abroad. The study results determined that 37 percent of credit card companies do not impose foreign transaction fees.
Of note is that Capital One, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, HSBC and Discover do not charge credit card holders the aforementioned foreign transaction fees.
Eight of the major credit card companies have some cards that are fee-based and some cards that do not charge fees. The companies make about 38 cards that have no fees for international use. In 2012 the companies had only 21 cards that did not have foreign transaction fees.
According to CreditCards.com, when credit card companies charge they fee, they typically charge about a 3 percent fee. CreditCards.com reported that American Express charges a 2.7 percent fee. The foreign transaction fees are charged to people who make purchases or use a bank while outside of their home country.