During a recent trip to New Zealand, I was charged on my credit card for an expense by a merchant for an activity that did not happen.

We returned to the shop, which cancelled the transaction.

Although both the charge and the voiding of the transaction both happened on the same day and the amount is exactly the same, I was still charged a difference of almost $50 by ANZ Bank, which issued the credit card.

Despite calling the bank repeatedly, it insisted that it was a "cross-border fee" that could not be waived.

Needless to say, this is a misleading fee since the merchant voided the transaction on the same day and there was no expense incurred by the merchant or the banks.

Wilson Loo Kok Wee