International Transactions

MinuteDock is a New Zealand based business.

Some international banks, particularly in the United States, may charge your card an additional fee for "international transactions" or "foreign transactions" - even if we've charged you in your local currency (eg. USD or GBP). This is not a charge from MinuteDock or our credit card processor, but rather a fee charged by your Bank or Credit Card Issuer when you use your card to make a purchase that is routed through an international credit card merchant (in this case, to MinuteDock). The fee typically ranges from 0% to 3% of the transaction cost.

Traditionally these fees only applied when the purchase was physically made in a foreign country, but in the last 5-10 years the banks have moved to adjust their definition of "foreign purchase" to also include internet purchases from merchants that aren't incorporated in your country or residence as well (even if you are currently in your country of residence).

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no way we can avoid this type of fee if your bank and credit card fee schedule includes charges for internet purchases from foreign businesses. 

Larger companies get around this by setting up multiple satellite offices and incorporating subsidiary companies around the world, so that that they can act as a "local merchant" in each country/region. This also lets them get the "local rates" for the our side of the credit card processing fees (usually cheaper than the international rates). Unfortunately we aren't a big enough company to justify the cost to set up international offices at the moment.

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