What is a conversion fee on a debit or credit card?

A fee of 1.00% of the amount of the transaction, calculated in U.S. dollars, will be imposed on all foreign transactions. A foreign transaction is any transaction that a member completes, or a merchant completes, on a debit or credit card outside of the United States, with some rare exceptions. This fee is charged by Visa because of the exchange rate between the transaction currency and the billing currency used for processing international transactions. This will show up on your Statement of Accounts and in your online banking history with a description of “Foreign Transaction Fee Conversion” or “International Transaction Fee”.