Astraweb 2CO Foreign Transaction Fee

Earlier this month some Astraweb customers noticed an additional credit card charge.  As we understand the situation, Astraweb’s billing provider made a change that is causing some credit card subscribers an additional “foreign transaction fee”.  Astraweb uses 2CO, 2CheckOut.com for billing.  While the billing address was previously listed in Ohio the 2CO change marks Astraweb transactions as originating from Cypress.

Not all Astraweb members are affected by the 2CO billing change.  It appears the issuing bank behind each credit card chooses whether or not to charge the foreign transaction fee.  Also those who choose PayPal payments are not affected.

If you are considering an Astraweb account we still recommend the service.  Especially while the current $11/mo. And $96/yr. unlimited Usenet specials are active.  Astraweb provides quality Usenet service at a great price.  For new sign ups we recommend paying via PayPal to avoid the possibility of extra monthly fees.

For those who are affected by the foreign transaction fees you might consider switching over to PayPal billing.  PayPal also makes it easy to manage subscriptions.  An advantage over credit card purchases for online services like newsgroups.  Regardless of which Usenet provider you use.

If PayPal isn’t an option and you are being charged an extra transaction fee you might consider trying a different credit card from another issuing bank.  Perhaps 2CO could be of assistance.  If that doesn’t  work out you can visit Newsgroup Reviews to compare alternatives.  Hopefully it doesn’t come to that though as Astraweb is a solid choice for Usenet access.