Hi all,
This is Valoot responding to your queries.
Firstly, thank you for your interest in the solution.
Next, let's address your main concerns as mentioned in the posts above
1. Is Valoot DCC?
Answer: Absolutely NOT. From a purely practical point of view, DCC only works after you have handed your card to the merchant and the card is inserted into the card terminal. Valoot presents you with the CHOICE for ultra competitive rates before you hand over your card.
2. Can you opt out of Valoot?
Answer: Absolutely YES. Valoot is always going to be offered as an option. As the cardholder you will always have the choice to pay in the currency of the merchant. We will not allow merchants to automatically do the conversion for you!
3. Will Visa and MC allow it?
Answer: Yes. After all, they have been forced by competition authorities around to allow DCC. That's proof the card schemes have to allow alternative FX providers. Valoot is going to be the best and most transparent of these alternative FX providers.
4. Is the local currency option the best option?
Answer: When compared with DCC option, YES. When compared to Valoot, NO. That's because under the local currency option, you (as the card holder) remain exposed to FX fluctuation, card scheme FX margin and issuing bank charges for "foreign currency conversion".
5. Why is Valoot better?
Answer: Valoot sources the rates straight from the FX market. These are the rates you see on Google Finance but couldn't previously trade on. We charge you a small service fee (never more than 2%) for this service. BUT - you always have the option of not choosing Valoot. The choice is yours.
6. Is Valoot Multi Currency Pricing on a physical card terminal?
Answer: Yes, pretty much. percysmith is correct when he mentions this in his post and describes Valoot as Multi Currency Pricing. Take this as further proof that Valoot is not DCC.
7. Is Valoot going to solve all problems, including world hunger?
Answer: No. We can't fix everything at once. Give us time to deploy our value proposition. We want to achieve 3 things: A) provide transparency to the FX process, B) provide savings to the cardholder and C) provide revenue to the merchant. We are shrinking the FX "pie" and sharing it with the merchant and the cardholder.
Finally, keep in mind that Valoot was started by consumers and card holders just like yourself. We want to solve the DCC and FX problems that have affected us personally and that have very likely affected you as well.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us at info(at)valoot.com for further info and keep visiting
www.valoot.com. Very soon we will have a shorter, punchier video explaining the deployment of the solution.