Is this the latest rip-off when using credit cards abroad?

osborne1-0

I have always been aware of the Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) rip-off when using my credit card abroad.  i.e. always select/ ask to pay in the local currency, therefor avoiding their terrible currency exchange rate and loading fees.

However, with the increasing use of “tap and pay” over “chip and pin”, simply asking to pay in euros and tapping, I found several transactions were DCC were used.

The only way I could be sure I was paying in local currency, was to ask to pay using “chip and pin” each time, to the annoyance to the retailer.  

Is there a safer way to use “tap and pay” abroad, without the rick the retailer automatically use DCC?

eDicky

I've never encountered what you describe, which country/ies was it..?

la531983

Just ask to see the screen before you tap it? It will still show you the amount being taken. 

No different to seeing the screen before putting the pin in, hardly a new "scam". Most of the time people will put it into pounds because they think they are doing you a favour, the merchant will likely not see any financial benefit. 

eskbanker

la531983 said:

Just ask to see the screen before you tap it? It will still show you the amount being taken.

The prompt to choose between local currency and sterling will typically be presented after tapping (or PIN-authorising), i.e. once the currency of the card has been established, but yes, the principle is the same for contactless as PIN-verified.

TadleyBaggie

I recently used both chip/pin and contactless recently in Spain and always presented with the option. However in one restaurant before I could press "Euro", the screen cleared and it did a DCC.

la531983

eskbanker said:

la531983 said:

Just ask to see the screen before you tap it? It will still show you the amount being taken.

The prompt to choose between local currency and sterling will typically be presented after tapping (or PIN-authorising), i.e. once the currency of the card has been established, but yes, the principle is the same for contactless as PIN-verified.

I've just come back from Italy and not once did this come up after I tapped, and I made sure to look each time.

In fact the only time I had an issue was in duty free on the way back. He had set it to GBP before my card got anywhere near the terminal. I obviously made him change it. 

eskbanker

la531983 said:

eskbanker said:

la531983 said:

Just ask to see the screen before you tap it? It will still show you the amount being taken.

The prompt to choose between local currency and sterling will typically be presented after tapping (or PIN-authorising), i.e. once the currency of the card has been established, but yes, the principle is the same for contactless as PIN-verified.

I've just come back from Italy and not once did this come up after I tapped, and I made sure to look each time.

In fact the only time I had an issue was in duty free on the way back. He had set it to GBP before my card got anywhere near the terminal. I obviously made him change it. 

I was basing my comment not just on experiences elsewhere in the eurozone last week but also the fact that logically it can only be after a card has been presented to a terminal that its base currency can be known to that terminal, i.e. how else could DCC work, in that you could easily be presenting a USD card, for example?  If an operator consciously sets the currency of a transaction prior to card presentation then to me that's a manual override rather than DCC as such....