coinsYou may in some cases see an extra charge on your card called 'international transaction fee', or similar. This is an extra fee that was assessed by your bank. Some banks and payment cards will add the extra fee on top of the charge from Ministry Ideaz, so the total you see is slightly higher than what your invoice will say.

Sometimes the charge will not be clearly labeled, so you would need to contact your bank to confirm why it is being added. The banks have been known to place "MINISTRYIDEAZ.COM" on the statement as the charge relates to the main charge. Please be assured that Ministry Ideaz is only charging exactly what we quoted you.

Why is this fee being charged?

Ministry Ideaz' bank is based in Canada, and even though we are normally charging in USD, to a US dollar bank account, some banks and card providers will add an additional charge because our bank is not US-based.

It typically appears to be 1% of the invoice cost that is added on to the total or charged separately to your card.

Who is getting that money?

The extra fee is going to the bank itself (who may pass it on to the card provider like VISA, for example), and not to Ministry Ideaz. We are only getting the exact amount we show in your invoice, and we are not able to tell if the additional fee is being taken (otherwise we could note that in the invoice).

How can I avoid paying it?

Only a relatively small number of banks seem to make this extra charge. It happens more often with bank debit cards and pre-paid credit cards. If you have cards with a different bank, or from a different provider, you may find that those cards don't apply an extra cost.

If you wish to avoid this charge, you will need to pay by check or money order, instead of a credit card. We would like to hear from you if you are affected, so we can understand fully how widespread the charge is.