When you purchase from an international online merchant, you may notice an additional fee called an "ISA fee" on your transaction statement. ISA stands for "International Service Assessment," which is a fee charged by Visa to cover the costs associated with processing transactions across borders. This fee is typically a small percentage of the total transaction amount, and it varies depending on the country where the merchant is located. When purchased with iSunOne Global Visa Card, an ISA fee would be charged around 1% of the current single transaction amount. To deal with this fee, you can try to find out if the merchant has a local presence or if they accept payment through a local payment service.
Sometimes the ISA fee is charged first and then refunded. One possibility of the refund is that the merchant's payment processor or the bank that issued the prepaid Visa card applies the ISA fee as a temporary hold on the account. This hold is placed to ensure that the card has enough funds to cover the total cost of the purchase, including the ISA fee. Once the transaction is completed and the final amount is determined, the temporary hold on the funds is released, and any excess funds are refunded back to the account, including the ISA fee.
Another reason could be due to a delay in the processing of the transaction. For example, the merchant may not process the payment immediately, which could result in the temporary hold on the ISA fee remaining on the account for a period of time. Once the transaction is finally processed, any excess funds, including the ISA fee, are refunded back to the account.
Please be noted that when an international transaction was canceled or not completed for any reason, the ISA fee can be refunded to the user’s account while the merchant is refunding the full amount of the transaction. However, it's important to note that not all merchants or issuers offer ISA fee refunds, and you are welcome to check with your card issuer or the merchant's policies beforehand to understand the specific rules and regulations regarding ISA fees and refunds.