credit card exchange rate in Spain

brodev

I have, today, received an offer of compensation frrom saga. I have declined on the basis that it is too small. to be continued............

Channelman

I have read through this thread and since I am about to holiday in
Tenerife on Friday, I don't have the opportunity of applying for a
different credit card.
I have a NatWest Visa card. Am I correct in thinking that when
I sign the receipt in, say a restaurant that if DCC is applied that
I will be charged 3% DCC instead of 2.5% by Visa?
If this is not correct (after all 0.5% is bearable) then I am proposing
to take Pounds Sterling and exchanging them locally.
Any comments?
Cheers, Channelman

grumbler

Channelman wrote:

...if DCC is applied that
I will be charged 3% DCC instead of 2.5% by Visa?
If this is not correct (after all 0.5% is bearable) then I am proposing
to take Pounds Sterling and exchanging them locally.
Any comments?
Cheers, Channelman

In fact Visa (Natwest) charge you 2.75%: Summary Box
Local charge is usually about 3%, but you cannot be sure. I remember somebody reported about 5% charge.
Yes, if you are offered to sign receipt with price in ££s this price was calculated with using local excange rate, not Visa's one; your card will be charged in ££s.

brodev

I have now been promised full compensation from Saga. It has taken a long time but it shows that perseverance wins in the long term. Saga says that if a complaint is not made then nothing can be done about it. They say that Visa T&Cs to the providers state that they MUST offer a choice of currencies. I f they do not and complaints are made then the merchants will receive a heavy fine from Visa. This fine will continue to increase with more complaints. Thye message appears to be COMPLAIN COMPLAIN

Detail_Merchant

The full article is here:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/mediacentre/PressRelease_this.asp?ID=751

Here is a snippet

“We would advise people to check any slip or bill before signing, or entering their PIN. If a retailer overseas has converted the bill into pounds sterling with their own additional conversion fee attached, people should ask to be billed in the local currency. Customers of most organisations would benefit from doing this and for Nationwide’s customers this will protect free card use abroad.”

Hopefully this will help to encourage VISA to pressurize the banks involved to genuinely offer the customers the choice of being billed in local currency rather than pounds.

Cheers,

Detail Merchant

ffym

Just got back from Dublin and had a nightmare of a time with this when trying to pay using Nationwide CC. Unless I insisted on paying in Euros most places converted the amount to £ and added 3% for the "service". The cheek was that the signature slip has a clause printed on it to say I had opted for the conversion and that decision was irreversable! Making a fuss usually sorts thing out but it's really annoying that this scam is being widly applied. I'm not sure if the shops / restaraunts have been told to do this by Visa (as a usefull "service") or if they get a cut, but be warned - get in first and insist on paying in Euros, even if it does get you odd looks by those who aren't in on this scam.

Cumbrian_Male

Has anyone who has suffered from DCC complained to their MEP?

The reason I ask is could you not use the Treaty of Rome in your defence.

From memory I believe the Treaty states that one EU country must offer its goods to ALL EU countries at the same price. As this only affects UK citizens as we don't us Euro's then surely it falls foul of the Treaty of Rome.

brodev

I can only repeat that i got reimbursed after months of complaining. the sum involved was over £200. The answer is to complain to your card provider. I was told that Visa would fine the offending merchants if there were enough complaints

KTF

Can anyone comfirm if the retailers get a cut of the 3% charge? I cant see why they would do it otherwise?

grumbler

KTF wrote:

Can anyone comfirm if the retailers get a cut of the 3% charge? I cant see why they would do it otherwise?

See for example links in the post #37 here.

Many merchants in the restaurant, hotel, car hire and retail sectors now realise that with FEXCO DCC, not only are they able to offer a convenient customer service to their international customer but also generate a new revenue stream.

However, I don't think that merchants are always a part of 'conspiracy'. Mainly it is the bank that supplies them with service is interested in depriving Visa and card issuing bank of currency exchange fee and pocketing this fee in even higher scale.