The question of corporate card foreign exchange fees comes up the moment a team starts paying outside the euro zone. Booking a hotel in Singapore, attending a trade show in Las Vegas, paying for a SaaS subscription billed in dollars. On a traditional bank corporate card, every non-euro transaction quietly bleeds 2 to 3% of the amount. Multiplied across a year of spending by a sales team that travels, that bill easily runs into several thousand euros, for a service that, on paper, adds nothing. No wonder interest is growing in zero-FX corporate cards, which pass through the network rate (Visa or Mastercard) with no bank markup. Here is what to know before making the switch.
- A traditional bank corporate card charges an average commission of 2.30 to 3% on every non-euro payment, plus a fixed fee per transaction.
- Modern multi-currency cards (Greenway included) apply the raw Visa/Mastercard rate, which sits very close to the interbank rate, with no additional markup.
- The issue goes beyond business travel: SaaS subscriptions and international supplier payments now make up the bulk of an SMB's non-euro flows.
FX fees: what a traditional corporate card actually costs
On a corporate card issued by a traditional French bank, a non-euro payment breaks down into three layers. First, the exchange rate set by the network (Visa or Mastercard), already very close to the interbank reference rate, and entirely reasonable. On top of that, the bank adds a proportional FX commission, typically between 2 and 3% of the transaction amount. And often a fixed fee per transaction, ranging from a few cents to a few euros[1].
La Banque Postale, for example, charges 2.30% on non-euro transactions, capped at €6[2]. Caisse d'Épargne charges 2%. According to the financial literacy association La Finance pour Tous, a non-euro payment costs an average of 2.5% variable commission plus €0.30 fixed on a standard card[1]. On a typical business trip (hotel, meals, transport, parking), that adds up to roughly €40 in fees per €1,000 spent. Over a year, for an SMB with fifteen travelling sales reps, it becomes a meaningful budget line in its own right.
The irony is that the base rate (the Visa or Mastercard rate) is not unreasonable at all. Both networks publish their exchange rates publicly (Visa exchange rate calculator, Mastercard currency converter), and those rates stay within 0.5% of each other, both hugging the interbank rate[3]. The markup you pay does not compensate anyone for currency risk. It simply rewards the issuing bank for applying a rate it gets from the network and then adding its own margin. That is precisely the layer a modern corporate card removes.
Zero-FX corporate cards: how they work
The concept is straightforward to describe, slightly more nuanced to execute. A "zero FX fee" corporate card passes through the network rate (Visa or Mastercard) as-is, with no proportional bank commission on top. In practice, when your employee pays for something in dollars, pounds, or yen, the conversion uses the network rate for that day, the same rate you would find by checking the official calculator yourself.
Most of these cards are built on a multi-currency architecture: the linked account holds multiple currencies and, depending on the product, can debit directly in the transaction currency without converting at all. This is the model popularised by fintechs (Wise, Revolut Business, Airwallex) and now adopted by B2B issuers such as the Greenway corporate card. The benefit is not limited to travel: a software subscription billed in USD, an Asian supplier paid online, an ad platform charged in pounds, all recurring flows that, without the right card, generate commissions month after month.
An FX commission is not the price of currency risk. It rewards the issuing bank for applying a rate that Visa and Mastercard publish for free. A zero-FX corporate card simply removes that layer.
Traditional card vs. zero-FX corporate card: the numbers
The table below summarises the fee structures observed across the main card types. Ranges come from public pricing schedules and independent comparison tools[1][2][4] :
| Card type | Rate applied | FX commission | Fixed fee per transaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional bank (corporate card) | Network rate + markup | ~2 to 3% | ~€0.30 to €3 |
| Zero-FX corporate card | Raw network rate | 0% | Varies by product |
| Online business bank | Network rate | 0 to ~1% | Usually none |
| DCC (decline it) | Set by the merchant | Terminal markup | — |
The last row deserves a mention: dynamic currency conversion (DCC), offered at checkout by some merchants abroad. The terminal asks whether you want to pay in euros rather than the local currency. As a rule, decline: the rate applied includes an unfavourable margin and the transaction can cost more than the bank commission itself[5]. A zero-FX corporate card only delivers its advantage when your employee pays in the local currency.
How much an SMB that travels can save
To make the impact concrete: take an SMB with fifteen sales reps travelling outside the euro zone, each spending roughly €800 a month in foreign currency (transport, accommodation, meals, urban tolls). That is €144,000 in non-euro payments per year. With a traditional card at 2.5% commission, the FX bill reaches €3,600 per year, before fixed fees. With a zero-FX corporate card applying the network rate, that €3,600 stays in the company's cash flow.
The savings do not stop at business travel. Many French SMBs overlook the fact that their SaaS subscriptions (CRM, hosting, marketing tools) are often billed in US dollars. On a €1,500/month software invoice paid in USD, a traditional card skims off €45 every month, over €500 a year for a single direct debit. Multiply that across a typical software stack and it becomes a steady, invisible drain that nobody catches because it is buried in the bank statement.
Beyond the rate: what sets a genuine corporate card apart
A zero-FX rate is necessary but not sufficient. A corporate card designed for international payments is also judged on four other criteria. 1) Spend controls: per-card limits, time-based limits, category restrictions, geo-blocking, remote card suspension, all essential once you are issuing multiple cards. 2) Accounting integration: the card should export transactions in the correct currency, ideally matched automatically to expense reports. 3) Use-case coverage: a card that only handles business travel will force you to juggle multiple payment instruments.
4) Alignment with a broader goal. This is where the corporate card fully earns its place in a CSR strategy: at Greenway, every transaction (including international ones) contributes 1% to the 1%ForAll® programme, with measurable impact reporting. Business travel and international payments become a funding lever for meaningful projects, not just a cost centre. Choosing a corporate card is therefore never purely about the FX rate: it is about spend management, compliance, and increasingly, corporate purpose.
Be wary of "no-fee" offers that hide the margin elsewhere. Some cards remove the visible commission but quietly apply an exchange rate slightly worse than the official network rate. Always check the rate you were actually charged against the Visa or Mastercard calculator for the transaction date. It is the only reliable way to measure the true cost.
Frequently asked questions
What is a zero-FX corporate card?
It is a business payment card that applies the network exchange rate (Visa or Mastercard) without adding a proportional bank commission. Unlike a traditional card, which typically charges 2 to 3% on every non-euro payment, it does not add a markup to the conversion[1].
How much does a foreign payment cost on a traditional corporate card?
Within the euro zone, payments are fee-free. Outside the euro zone, a traditional card generally charges a proportional commission of 2 to 3% of the amount, often combined with a fixed fee of around €0.30 to €3 per transaction[1][2]. La Banque Postale, for example, charges 2.30% with a cap of €6.
Are the Visa and Mastercard rates different?
Barely. Both networks publish rates very close to the interbank reference rate, with a spread typically below 0.5%[3]. The choice between Visa and Mastercard matters far less than the commission your bank adds on top of either rate.
Is a zero-FX corporate card useful even without business travel?
Yes. The majority of an SMB's non-euro flows now come from SaaS subscriptions and international supplier payments, often billed in dollars or pounds. A zero-FX card eliminates recurring monthly commissions on those direct debits, entirely independent of any travel activity.
Should you accept the euro conversion offered by a merchant abroad?
Generally, no. This option, known as dynamic currency conversion (DCC), applies a rate set by the merchant or their terminal, which is typically less favourable than the network rate. Pay in the local currency to benefit from your corporate card's Visa or Mastercard rate[5].
How do you verify that a "zero-fee" card is actually using the network rate?
Compare the converted amount you were charged against the rate published by the official Visa or Mastercard calculator for the transaction date. A consistent gap above 1% signals a hidden margin. This is the only reliable check: "no commission" offers can quietly degrade the exchange rate itself.
Pillar guide: this article is part of our white paper on corporate cards and business payments, which connects FX fees, expense management and compliance.
References
- La Finance pour Tous, Bank card: how much does a payment or cash withdrawal abroad cost? (variable commission ~2.5% + €0.30 fixed outside euro zone). lafinancepourtous.com. ↩
- La Banque Postale, Banking fees abroad: 2.30% of non-euro payment amounts, capped at €6. labanquepostale.fr. ↩
- Wise, Visa and Mastercard exchange rates: close to the interbank rate, spread below 0.5%. wise.com. ↩
- Caisse d'Épargne (via Wise), Proportional commission of approximately 2% on foreign currency payments abroad. wise.com. ↩
- Visa Europe, Dynamic currency conversion (DCC): potential additional costs to avoid when paying abroad. visaeurope.ch. ↩
