Completing a transaction via DCC offers familiarity and convenience of paying in your home currency. As cardholder, you benefit from having transparency around the full value of the purchase at point of payment. DCC locks in the exchange rate at that moment, allowing you to determine value for money and have confidence in the total amount that will be coming out of your bank account. This clarity can be particularly beneficial during periods of currency fluctuation or when operating within a set budget.

The most important thing is that you as the cardholder have the required information to be able to make an informed decision. Our recommendation to consumers is to look at the payment options and make meaningful comparisons. We encourage people to check with the bank issuing their debit or credit card what mark up and eventual commissions are applied when a transaction in a foreign currency takes place before they depart. The majority of customers are probably unaware what the card issuer is doing when foreign currency transaction takes place, so having a better understanding of this will mean they are in a better position to make an informed choice. More information can also be found in our Guide to the Cross-Border EU Payments Regulation.

Britain’s departure from the European Union doesn’t have any impact on a cardholder’s choices when completing a transaction abroad in EU countries. However, there could be increased instances of currency volatility, making it important to have transparency and confidence in the value of purchases when making cross-border payments, which DCC can provide. More details on the impact of Brexit on the Cross-Border EU Payments Regulation can be found here, and our blog also offers up to date information.

If the DCC option is selected, the transaction receipt will indicate the name of the DCC provider and the relevant contact details should you wish to discuss any queries around a transaction.

Providing a choice in how a card payment is completed allows you as the cardholder to select the option that is right for your situation, delivering greater confidence. The card payments industry is such that, removing the choice – and therefore the competition between DCC service providers and traditional card schemes (MasterCard and Visa) – could see the level of margins applied to foreign transactions increase. This will ultimately impact the end cardholder and result in cross-border transactions being more expensive.

If you have any questions or want more details at the point of purchase, please ask the staff member or sales assistant handling your transaction. Having received a specific training, they will be able to offer an explanation around the payment options available to you and outline the information displayed on the payment terminal. You will also receive a physical receipt, which includes the transaction details.

Sales assistants or staff members handling a payment must always present a customer wishing to pay by card the options before they complete the transaction.

No. You can offer explanations around the payment choices available to a customer ahead of the transaction, but they must decide and select the option based on what suits their needs best.

Your specific DCC provider will be able to assist on all queries related to the DCC transaction in question. In the event of receiving a complaint or a query, offer this information to the customer so they can discuss this directly with the provider.

Our Guide to the EU Cross-Border Payments Regulation offers information on the new changes.

Staff or sales assistants engaging with customers at the point of payment should be given the training that enables them to give an overview of the choices available to cardholders, with a verbal explanation around both options. Teams should also be aware of the recent changes introduced as a result of the EU Cross-Border Payments Regulation, so they can provide accurate information related to this. All DCC Forum members are committed to delivering merchants the guidance and education to ensure those handling transactions have the confidence and knowledge to deliver this information.

Of course. Members of the DCC Forum members have extensive service experience and wide geographic coverage, which means they will be able to respond to your implementation needs and requirements. Click here to find out more about our members and how they can support you.

The roll out of the EU Cross-Border Payments Regulation means updates are needed to IT infrastructures and consumer-facing interfaces to ensure that all customers are operating in a compliant manner, as set out by the legislation. Alongside this, it’s important to provide additional training and collateral to ensure the business is confident in offering the DCC service.

We are always pleased to discuss membership opportunities. Members of the DCC Forum must adhere to a set of principles, which enables us to collectively strive for best practice across the industry and in the delivery of the DCC Service. Find out more about these principles here. To submit a membership request, please send an email to info@dccforum.com.

More details can be found in our Guide to the Regulation and our blog also offers regular updates on key developments across the industry.