Overseas Spending
Overseas Spending
- Visa/Master Brand fee of 1% will be charged when using Visa/Master Card overseas and 0.25% will be charged separately as overseas operation fee. (To be effective as of Jan.1, 2013)
- Visa/Master brand fee refers to network operation fee paid to the International Card Association (Visa/Master) as overseas transactions take place through their network.
- The FX rate applied is not based on the day of card use but the day of sales slip acquisition, and TT selling rate is applied.
- Base FX rate: First posted TT Selling Rate
- The FX rate applied in the statement that bills overseas card spending is based on the FX rate that is first posted on the day of which the transactions are transmitted from International Card Association (Visa, Master Card) and acquired by Citibank Korea, so due to overseas merchant reasons or the process described above, there could be some gap with the actual rate at the point of card usage.
- However, if you use cash withdrawal service overseas with your credit card, Citibank US conversion rate at the point of withdrawal will be applied.
Information on Overseas Spending Types of Transaction Fee Transaction in US$ Amount X Citibank base FX rate X Citibank fee Transaction in non- US$ currency Amount in local currency X International association US$ conversion rate X Citibank base rate X Citibank fee - Fee applied from April 2008
Credit Card IC(chip) Overseas Spending
- From November 28, 2009, customers do not need to register IC card password or offline PIN for new, reissued and renewed Citi Cards (Except for Citi BC Cards).
- In some offshore merchants, IC chip transactions do not require 4-digits IC PIN for credit cards issued after November 28, 2009. The PIN can be substituted by signature. However, IC card issued before that time requires PIN entry for transactions.
- As a measure to prevent card fraud, merchants in some countries require 4 digits Offline PIN when using IC card. Ensure that you register your IC card PIN at branches before you leave the country so your credit card transactions are not declined.
- (The PIN is embedded inside the IC card, so it cannot be set through Internet or phone)
- You need to have your ID and the credit card for self-verification when registering you IC card PIN at branches.
- (Corporate card is included, and additional documents are required other than ID)
- If the credit card of which you have already set the IC card PIN has been renewed or re-issued, you do not need to set the PIN at branch again. If an EMV terminal overseas require IC card PIN, enter your 4 digit PIN and press confirm button (or Enter button). If wrong PIN is entered more than 3 times, the IC card becomes ‘PIN locked’ and cannot be used more, so careful management of the PIN of the cards is required.
- In order to release the ‘PIN locked’ of the IC card, you must bring the credit card and your ID to the branch, and after self-verification the PIN locked status will be released. (Corporate card is included, and additional documents other than ID is required)
Credit Card IC (EMV chip card)

An IC card has the gold or grey chip on the front left of the credit card
When paying with Korean Won overseas
- There are cases in which an overseas merchant asks to make payment in Korean Won instead of local currency. In such cases, we ask you to make the payment in local currency and not Korean Won.
- If you make payment in Korean Won overseas, the local currency is first translated into Korean Won in the merchant, and once the settlement of the converted Korean Won is made into US$ through International Brand Companies, CKI converts the US$ into Korean Won again applying the FX rate of the day it is registered to the bank. Because of the double conversion, billing amount eventually goes up. (Settlement of overseas transactions of the cards issued in Korea can take place only in US$ through the International Card Brand Companies)
Emergency Assistance Service
In case your credit card is lost/stolen in overseas country
- The safest thing to do about your lost/stolen cards in overseas country is to call and report to the Citibank Korea Card Center (Tel : (02) 2004-1004). (Service available 24 hours 365 days)
- When reporting your lost/stolen card, you must inform the card number(or you Resident or Alien ID number), card type, name and lost area, and you must keep the name of the card company staff you are reporting to and your registration number.
- Keep in mind that if you wish to report the lost card to Visa Card Global Service Center, you must know your card number (you cannot report with your Resident or Alien ID number), and because certain period of time is required to actually block the card, fraud may take place meanwhile.
- It is recommended that you contact the Global Center to apply for emergency replacement card and to report lost/stolen cards directly to Citibank Korea Card Center.
Emergency Replacement Card
- This service helps you to get a new credit card temporarily when you are in trouble during overseas stays such as card loss, robbery or damage.
- You can apply this card by calling the Visa Emergency Service Center of the country.
- Card delivery : Request can be made to deliver the card to the location of your stay (no delivery fee), but if the delivery to your place is not possible, you will need to come to the place designated by the Global Service Center and pick up your card
Emergency Cash Disbursement
- If your Visa/Mater Card is lost, stolen or cannot provide cash advance service, call Emergency Assistance Service Center, and you can receive the cash disbursement service from a nearby bank without presenting the actual card.
Notes on overseas spending
Preventing credit card fraud
- Methodology : Citibank Korea is using FDS(Fraud Detection System Service) for 24 hours monitoring, aiming to prevent frauds and to protect customer information.
- What is FDS Service : Upon your request, to prevent credit card fraud such as ID theft, lost/stolen card or counterfeited/altered card, this service identifies transaction with fraud risk at early stage based on your profile, usage behavior and characteristics of the existing cards and merchant information, and protects your card from such fraud.
- Precautionary : Card transaction with high risk related to FDS(Fraud Detection System Service) may be temporarily blocked. Apart from this, please understand that transactions in some industries of specially designated countries may be declined.
- (A) If authorization for your transaction is temporarily blocked, you can call Citibank call center. After checking details of your spending, block will be released and you can use your card again. ((02) 2004-1004 (Citibank Korea CitiPhone))
- (B) In case risk transaction overseas is declined, please understand that fraud took place in the merchant previously and therefore your Citicard usage may be blocked.
- It is recommended that you take at least 2 credit cards with your when traveling overseas.
- Restrictions on the Use of Card Overseas
- The use of card will be restricted at casinos and other gambling establishment overseas according to the local law.
- As an overseas subsidiary of Citibank N.A., Citibank Korea Inc. restricts the use of card in the following countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions as specified by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC): North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria (the country information may be changed as per U.S. policy objective.)
Primary card
- The credit card may be used only by the cardholder. Please, keep in mind that any accidents that occur at lending your card to others (including family), you will be held liable. If your family wishes to use the card, please, apply for supplementary card.
Disclosure of card number and expiry
- Be aware that although most of on-line transactions take place by providing card number/expiry/PIN, some transactions may happen in illegal sites (adult only/gambling sites) by just providing card number and expiry, and that card usage may be restricted at some specific illegal merchants.
Subscribing for charged membership sites
- Note that if you enter your card number for free membership subscription or free usage application in charged membership sites (adult only, gambling, etc), it will not end as a one-time transaction.
Once subscribed as a member, the membership fee is charged as recurring transaction until the member requests to attrite
- Therefore, try not to leave your card number in such sites if possible, and in case you do subscribe, please remember the sites you have subscribed for. Remember that card transactions may occur even with credit card number and expiry only.
- Also, when cancelling your membership from charged sites, you must make attrition request to the manager of the site and keep your attrition evidence (e-mail, membership cancellation request screen, etc) just in case you need it for any problems that may rise in the future. (*In case of recurring transaction, cancellation or attrition request should be made 15 days prior to the billing day.)
When purchasing goods
- Same attention paid to cash must be given to credit cards.
- Be careful about credit card fraud and counterfeited cards.
- The details in the sales slip generated by the merchant must be checked before signing. Especially when traveling in South East Asian countries, be sure to confirm the purchase amount in the souvenir shops your tour guide takes you to.
- There are incidents in which merchants bring sales slips with manually written amount that is different from the actual transaction amount. However, the amount written manually is invalid, so the sales slip with the actual amount must be kept to prevent any possible damage made to you in case a problem rises in the future.
- By subscribing for SMS service that notifies authorized overseas transactions to your mobile phone, you can prevent fraud usage in advance.
- Confirm purchase amount and currency applied in the sales slip before signing
- Any issues rising during the use of card must be raised and resolved at the point of sales. There is no way that the card issuer can help once the sales slip is signed.
- Please, keep the evidence proofing your cancellation of transaction.
- If something goes wrong with the transaction or if you want to cancel the purchase, you must receive a cancellation slip or related document from the merchant staff and keep it to prevent any possible disputes in the future.
- The sales slip should be kept at least for 6 months.
- This is very important evidence to protect against counterfeited sales slip, over charge, different amount, etc
Watch out for multiple slips
- There are some merchants(especially in bars and clubs) that generate multiple sales slips with your card to create illegal transaction. When using the card, don’t leave the card with the store owner or the staff and be sure that you keep your eyes on your card.
Confirm the letter of warrantee for the purchased goods.
- Customers occasionally make claim to card company after they discover that the jewelry or medicine purchased from South East Asian regions or so is not real once returning to Korea. However, there is no action that a credit card company can take at that point, so it is strongly recommended for you to confirm before the purchase and especially to request for letter of warranty or product certification.
Return procedure
- When making on-line transaction or purchasing goods through Internet, check the return/refund procedure first. Even if you want to return the product, it would be difficult for you to get your payment back if there was no consensus made on return or refund with the merchant. Therefore, you should be well aware about return/refund procedures from the beginning.
- Tax Refund You can enjoy tax free benefit through VAT return process for the goods purchased from “De-tax” or “Tax-Free” stores in European countries (especially France, Sweden, Italy, etc), Australia, Japan and Canada. There are duty free shops that charge you goods with tax included and some that charge you without tax included. You must confirm whether the tax is included or not before making your purchase.
If you have purchased taxed goods
- Ask the store clerk for a Tax Refund application form and fill it out by writing your name, date of departure and arrival, card number, passport copy, address and other information. You must also receive the envelope you need to use when sending it back to the store. At the airport or similar, you must submit the Tax Refund application form and show the purchased goods to the Customs before departure, and the Customs (desk officer) will put a seal. The tax will be refunded 2 ~ 4 months after the report, and the refunded tax will be returned to the credit card number written in the document. If the tax return has not been credited to Citibank even after designated period, the tax refund request can be made through the credit card, so you must keep the document to yourself.
If you purchased goods at tax-free price
- If you purchased goods at tax-free price and fill out the tax reporting document to report, no additional tax will be charged to you. If the tax report document was not submitted or was not reported within 21 days from the generation of the sales, the tax that was deducted (VAT) will be billed again. Be aware that VAT amount and commission will be charged.
Hotel/Rental cars
- Hotel
- If you make hotel reservation with one credit card, and make actual payment with cash or another card, payment may be billed to the credit card used for reservation. For this reason, ensure with the hotel front desk that no such mistake happens.
- Occasionally, there are cases customers are billed for hotels even if they paid their stays through other means. In such cases, keeping the receipt of other payment means can be a useful help in solving the issue, so please keep the receipt with you.
- If you end up not staying at the hotel without canceling the reservation or make your cancellation after the time set by the hotel, No-show charge (usually one night fee) may be charged to the card used for reservation. Especially, if you are making hotel reservation through an agency, you should be familiar with the cancellation policy of the site. Some sites states in their policy that hotel stay for the whole booked period will be charge even in the event of early checkout.
- If you need to cancel the hotel reservation due to your travel schedule, it is best to cancel 48 hours (72 hours for some regions) before the reserved date and to receive your cancellation number in an official paper (through fax, etc). In such case, cancellation must be agreed with the merchant, and the reservation may not be cancelled just by a unilateral notification from the customer, so confirm that the reservation is cancelled with the person in charged. If you have not received an official paper for the cancellation, you must at least record the name of the person you talked to, the date and time of the phone call and your cancellation number to protect yourself from any possible unfair no-show charge. If you are to make reservation or cancellation on-line, the printing out the pertinent pages can be useful evidence in any possible disputes.
- Using rental cars
- You must check the details and conditions related to all the charged fees in the contract, and you must receive and keep the certificate stating whom you have returned the car to as a way to prevent any possible disputes in the future.
- Hotel and rental car use additional charge After hotel check-out or rental car return, the hotel or the rental car agency may bill you additional charges without your consent for any items found afterward. For example, hotels can later charge you for mini bar use or international calls made, and rental car agencies can charge you for delayed return, not returning the car to the designated area, traffic violation and illegal parking. Also, any discount benefits agreed verbally with the car agency staff may not be applied when actually billing, so it is recommended that such agreements are recorded in documents as evidence.
- Installment transaction conversion for overseas spending Installment transaction cannot be made overseas. However, if you call Citibank call center or the branch, your overseas retail spending can be converted to installment transaction.
- Raising objection The credit card company can represent you to raise objection to the overseas card company (merchant) on your behalf. However, there is a set time frame, so it is recommended for you to call Citibank immediately after you discover something wrong with the sales transaction (within 3 months from the sales transaction) and the bank will take care of it right away