Foreign currency conversion checks in the mail: They're legit

[Newsjock]

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/133937288.html

If you used a major credit card outside the United States between Feb. 1996 and Nov. 2006, you could be on the list for a refund from major banks and credit card companies. Checks just started going out to settle a class-action lawsuit over the currency conversion fees that were charged when you made credit card purchases in a foreign country.

It's been three years since I first alerted you to the settlement and it's taken this long for the courts to give the green light.

The finalized check distribution covers 10 million Americans who shopped abroad, and relied on their credit card companies to calculate the currency exchange rates. Master Card, Visa and Diners Club set aside $336 million to settle charges of hiding the currency exchange fees and inflating the base rates.

... While the checks are real, attorneys say they're about $7 less than first predicted because so many people filed claims to get a share of the Foreign Currency Fee Litigation Settlement Fund Under the settlement, 15 percent of the fund - roughly $51 million - will go to attorneys who took the class action case to court, and fought the banks and credit card companies on all the challenges and appeals.

[drm604]

1. Would the use of a Visa debit card at cash machines count?

I spent 5 weeks in Canada in '96 (for work) and used my bank debit card to withdraw Canadian currency on a regular basis.