See my post (post 1188) above with references to carbon copy and thermal slip. A carbon copy receipt contains two or more sheets of paper. A dot matrix printer prints up the receipt on the top copy (merchant copy), and this is duplicated on the bottom copy (customer copy). Likewise, when you sign the merchant copy, a copy of your signature is automatically imprinted on the customer copy below.

A thermal slip is the one we're used to seeing in the US. It's called a thermal slip because the white paper will turn black when exposed to heat. Most new point of sale terminals use thermal paper. However, in Hong Kong carbon copy slips are far more prevalent. The good thing for us with carbon copy slips is that your currency choice is abundantly clear and provides rock solid evidence if your issuer pursues a Reason Code 76 chargeback.

It happens but with far, far less frequency. Most of us have USD denominated cards, so you're right... we won't see DCC. The only time I've seen it mentioned has been at DFS stores, which all seem to use similar style payment terminals. There was also a case of a gentleman from Saudi Arabia renting a car through Avis in Florida who got billed in Riyals rather than USD. In his case, it was frustrating because the exchange rate is fixed. It's just like here in HK where there is no reason on earth why you need to lock in the (poor) exchange rate.

I have a few theories on why DCC is rare in the US. The first is the market size. The US has hundreds of millions of cardholders with USD denominated cards. These far outweigh the non-USD denominated cards. While cards denominated in the local currency very likely comprise the vast majority of cards in a particular area, I would venture a guess that the number of non-HKD denominated cards both in absolute numbers as well as as a percentage of the all credit card holders currently in HK is higher than in even a place like NYC. So, I don't think that even with DCC in the US that it would ensnare many people.

Second, the US is an extremely litigious society. Do you think some of these non-compliant acquirers/merchants would survive a class action lawsuit from thousands of angry cardholders whose currency choices weren't respected? DCC is scammy and deceptive in how it's implemented in every case I've seen, even when I've been given a clear choice. Eventually, we would need big bold letters indicating exactly the percentage of the DCC markup just like we need calorie counts on menus or warning labels to let us know our coffee is hot.

Third, I've heard the argument that DCC is mostly something that sprout up in response to consumer demand, namely from American cardholders when traveling overseas. Some Americans demand to know how much an item costs in "real money" or wonder why they can't pay in dollars everywhere they go. DCC allows them to do this, and by all means I'm for merchants making a slight profit off of these types. The problem is that there is a lot of collateral damage. Most Americans I've met abroad do not fall into the ugly American stereotype. However, unless you're like the few of us on this thread, you probably won't know how to opt out of DCC or realize you've been struck.

I would be surprised if many merchants in the US support DCC, but what we really need to do is get reports from people who've tried their cards at the you-name-it big box retailers, restaurants, and department stores. I'm really curious to know if Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and the like have DCC.