A foreign transaction fee is a charge your credit card issuer imposes anytime you make a transaction with your card in a foreign currency or through a foreign financial institution. In processing these international transactions, your card issuer levies an extra transaction fee at a certain percentage of the amount of your total transaction. This percentage usually falls somewhere between 1% to 3%. Typically, travel credit cards do not charge a foreign transaction fee as part of the suite of benefits provided to cardholders. However, many cash-back cards, like the Citi Double Cash Card, do charge a foreign transaction fee.