Credit card search

The problem du jour is the search for a German credit card. In the U.S. it is just so simple. Try Googling "credit card" or "Visa" or "Mastercard" - your options are nearly limitless. You can have a credit card with low interest or lots of rewards. There are credit cards for students and people with bad credit. I tried looking up credit cards for expats, credit cards in Germany (I only got results in German) and I even called Citi Bank. They recommended that I call Diner's Club. Diner's Club? WTF? Who uses Diner's Club? Whatever.

I am on this hunt for a German (or any country that uses the euro) credit card because American credit cards charge a nominal fee when you use your credit card in a country whose currency is different than your own. It is a sort of exchange fee. I think it is in the neighborhood of 3%, which is not much. But, over time this adds up and I can think of other things I would like to do with that 3% of whatever I spend - like buy pastries and beer. I've heard the pastries and beer in Germany are excellent. Not necessarily together, mind you. But on their own, excellent.

I also called ING Direct. They have a subsidiary for expats in Belgium, which, by the way is not in the Netherlands as the customer service representative insisted. As you may have guessed, I got not so much help from ING Direct. The representative was also pretty sure that the U.K. was on the euro. They aren't. The U.K. still uses the British pound sterling as they have for hundreds of years. And ING wants me to trust them for my investments? Sheesh.

So, I am almost back to square one. I do have an email address for Diner's Club. I'm not sure if I'll use it, though. Maybe if I am exceptionally desperate. Maybe I'll just wait until I get there and then figure it out with the help of Germans.