MSE News: Have you ever paid in euros abroad but been charged in pounds?

Abbey1991

With Amex they can't do this can they?

Worth getting the Lloyds Amex which doesn't have any foreign fees.

catwoman73

I've also had this at the tobacconist outside Malaga airport, and the KFC and Duty Free shop at Malta airport. At the KFC I saw the assistant pressing loads of buttons before handing me the terminal so I picked up on what she was up to and paid cash instead. I didn't know they could still change it afterwards, that's outrageous and will look out for that.

Even though that transaction at KFC would have only cost a few pence extra, it's the principle - they are deliberately creaming off extra money from anyone not paying in local currency. The assistant in the Duty Free Shop did say 'I've put it in pounds because it's cheaper for you' to which I replied 'No it's not, I want to pay in euros' (I was paying with a Halifax Clarity card) so she had to cancel the transaction and start again.

Very very annoying but unfortunately a lot of places will get away with it because people don't realise or the language barrier if people don't speak the local language or the assistant will suddenly not understand English.

pompeyrich

Until recently I used either a NatWest or Santander card abroad and as the original article says, with a card like these it is not always as clear cut as to whether it is better to pay in local currency or £s.

From the Santander FAQs page, using a rate of €1 = £0.876855 or £1= €1.14, an example rate of 1/6/2017. Spending €100 would, at 0 fees cost £87.69, however they charge 2.75% as a Non-sterling transaction fee and another £1.25 as a Non-sterling purchase fee, which means the actual cost would be £91.35 or a rate of €1.095/£1. With the NSTF fixed at £1.25 a spend of €10 would end up giving less than €1/£1.

A cash withdrawal from an atm, apart from a Santander branded one in Spain is worse as the charge is 2.75% NSTF and 1.5%, min £1.99, Non-sterling 
cash fee.

If you accept DCC in these cases you avoid any foreign fees and a few clicks on a calculator would show the better option.

Doshwaster

zagfles wrote: »

Spain is up there too. Also Ireland (think they invented it).

DCC rates in Poland are the worst rip-off's I've seen, judging by cashpoint offers - over 6% as mentioned above. Spain's rates seem much more reasonable, IIRC about 2.5% at ATMs, these rates could make it better to take the DCC offer if you've not got a fee free card, as most charge about 3%.

Never once encountered DCC in France, though apparently the Calais hypermarkets offer it.

I can't remember having a problem in Poland but in Spain I use cash as much as possible to avoid the hassle.

On the other hand I have never known DCC in the USA. They probably wouldn't know how to charge in a different currency even if they wanted to.

JezR

Doshwaster wrote: »

On the other hand I have never known DCC in the USA. They probably wouldn't know how to charge in a different currency even if they wanted to.

I've seen DCC at ATMs.

SalarySlave

I spend a lot of time in Spain, and use my Halifax clarity card for everything. The difficulty is that almost all the time the currency question comes after the pin code entry. Also with contactless there is no pin entry obviously. Its so frustrating saying, "no you charged me in the wrong currency" they often offer a refund but that would cost even more money

jadex

zagfles wrote: »

Spain is up there too. Also Ireland (think they invented it).

Add mighty UK to the list.
I know it's mainly UK forum so you/we don't notice that unless you go along with your visiting friend...

jadex

zagfles wrote: »

Exactly - altering the amount you authorised after you authorised it seems to me to be basically fraud. You've authorised eg EUR 100, not GBP 90, so if the retailer or their terminal changes your authorisation from EUR 100 to GBP 90 without asking you they are surely committing fraud. It's no better than altering a cheque after it's been signed.

that's because terminal operator accepts currency AFTER you type your PIN - for instance this is how ANZ terminals work in Australia and how you can avoid being done:

1. Insert, swipe, or tap your payment card
2. Have the cashier select credit (CR)
3. The terminal will display CREDIT ACCOUNT
4. If applicable, enter your PIN
5. The terminal will display PROCESSING \ PLEASE WAIT
6. The terminal will display EXCH <exchange rate> \ <currency> <amount> \ ACCEPT RATE? \ ENTER=YES CLR=NO
7. Instruct the cashier to press the yellow CLEAR (CLR) button (If entering a PIN, you can retain the terminal to perform this step yourself. If entering a signature, you can ask for the terminal to control this process, not indicating that it's a chip-and-signature card.)
8. The transaction should now process without DCC

In many instances operator has like 5sec top to decide YES/NO and then terminal proceeds by default to DCC.


There is plenty of info about DCC on travelers forums - kind of strange that MSE (and Martin on his blog) is picking up the topic about 4 years down the line...

zagfles

jadex wrote: »

that's because terminal operator accepts currency AFTER you type your PIN - for instance this is how ANZ terminals work in Australia and how you can avoid being done:

1. Insert, swipe, or tap your payment card
2. Have the cashier select credit (CR)
3. The terminal will display CREDIT ACCOUNT
4. If applicable, enter your PIN
5. The terminal will display PROCESSING \ PLEASE WAIT
6. The terminal will display EXCH <exchange rate> \ <currency> <amount> \ ACCEPT RATE? \ ENTER=YES CLR=NO
7. Instruct the cashier to press the yellow CLEAR (CLR) button (If entering a PIN, you can retain the terminal to perform this step yourself. If entering a signature, you can ask for the terminal to control this process, not indicating that it's a chip-and-signature card.)
8. The transaction should now process without DCC

In many instances operator has like 5sec top to decide YES/NO and then terminal proceeds by default to DCC.

Then it's fraud, surely. The amount the cardholder authorised is being changed without the cardholder's authorisation. How can that not be fraud? Whether it's done by software design of the terminal or an act of the retailer.

Especially when you get given a receipt which tells a blatent lie like those in the article, stating you've been given the choice of currencies and have accepted DCC.

There is plenty of info about DCC on travelers forums - kind of strange that MSE (and Martin on his blog) is picking up the topic about 4 years down the line...

I've been on MSE for 7 years and it's been discussed regularly here for at least that long, probably a lot longer. This specific article is about what seems to be a more aggressive form of DCC where even after telling them to charge you in local currency or selecting the option yourself you get DCC imposed. We've also discussed this on the forums.

zagfles

SalarySlave wrote: »

I spend a lot of time in Spain, and use my Halifax clarity card for everything. The difficulty is that almost all the time the currency question comes after the pin code entry. Also with contactless there is no pin entry obviously. Its so frustrating saying, "no you charged me in the wrong currency" they often offer a refund but that would cost even more money

Doing it on contactless is just taking the p*ss. You can't possibly have accepted DCC because until you tap your card it doesn't know its country of origin, so the idea you've accepted DCC is laughable. Surely VISA/Mastercard/consumer protection bodies need to crack down on this fraud.