Same motivation for me to chargeback DCC:

Well, my experience is actually the same as yours, that CCB is getting even worse than BoComm as it uses deceptive ways to disguise DCC and get you at last.

How exactly did this work
So you had a pending charge with the visa rate but the charge that posted was totally different? Or did the visa rate charge officially post, get refunded and re charged again under DCC? If the first scenario held true, then how did your bank believe you , because we all know that "pending.charges are subject to change" ???

I think it was the first scenario. They authorized the official Visa rate but later changed that to the crappy DCC rate, so the bank realized that he had been DCCed. He just had to prove that he didn't agree to it.

Correct.

Smart bank which one is it? And, how exactly did it get to their attention? Because again, most banks don't go off of pending charge data because they all say "a charge in pending status is subject to change??

And perhaps the most important question
It's such an elaborate scan that it's not to figure out.
How did you (the client) figure out what had happened? Did you have a receipt that showed the DCC amount? If it were me I would have probably thought that the rate just dramatically jumped? Did you have some warning? (I am just trying to find out more information so that I make sure I don't fall victim to something similar in my travels? Thanks for posting the scenario by the way! (useful information as always)

Wouldn't it be quite obvious to see that the hold was submitted in local currency but then the actual transaction had been submitted in the card's native currency?

First off, the reason I say "solid proof of income" would be an issue is because I'm a student. I make some money on the side, but nothing full-time. I got my card because the school I went to had an agreement with ICBC to issue single-currency UnionPay CCs with low limits (mine started out at 10RMB, yes, 10, and was slowly bumped up to 2000RMB before being reduced to 1400 when I stopped regularly using it after returning to the US) to international students. They stopped doing that right after I left.

ICBC customer service said I'd never lose my CC so long as I remained current on it, but a straight conversion to a multi-currency card wasn't doable-I'd have to apply for a new card. I want the multi-currency one because the ad says I would have the option of repaying my bill in the transaction currency or in RMB at the bank's rate, implying that they don't convert to US$ beforehand. But unlike with US issuers, they want proof I'd been paying into 社保, proof that I own property (probably as collateral), or proof of employment.

It is against Visa and MC regs to charge DCC without accepting it, so the bank just refunded him out of pocket (correct me if I'm wrong.) Pending charges are subject to change, but I'm assuming Moondog contacted them and told them what happened. It seems that the second receipt he got showed the DCC amount and the exchange rate. They used to do it on the first receipt, but it sounds like they are trying to be even sneakier than before. The merchants won't tell you, and if you ask they might be confused and say "we are charging in RMB, what else would we charge in". Most merchants don't really know about DCC. Just be vigilant and look at the receipt. If worse comes to worse, just write on the receipt "local currecny not offered" and take a picture and call your bank. Sorry for the long-winded explanation.

Well now I understand your situation. Yes I think getting a credit card in China is much harder than doing so in the US. In US you simply need a good credit score. I on the other hand, am the top tier ICBC customer (tier 7) but couldn't get that 10 currency card. They denied my application.

I am still not sure this ten currency card is actually a 10 currency card. A lot of CC in China eats the 1% fee and call their cards multi currency cards. If this ICBC card does have 10 currency, we would be using local currencies in these ten countries. Anyone with he experience?

Also, you went to 语言学院?

I bank with Schwab because they are generally awesome (though OT, they have attempted to send my new debit card TWICE to my Nanning office via USPS, in spite of my advice to the contrary; FedEx is now in the works).

I brought the issue at hand to THEIR attention shortly after I left the hotel because I knew that DCC was in the works.

Schwab asked me to wait 3 days until the charge posted. I did, it was 3.1% higher than what had been initially approved, and I contested it.

So you are a debit only user? Schwab bank doesn't issue credit cards to my knowledge.

When I signed up, they did, and their CC was really great (2% CASH back across the board).

Now, I only have a debit card from them, which I use mainly at ATMs, but on occasion I settle bills with it as well.

上海交通大学, not a language school (would ICBC even agree to do that with a language school? Supposedly it was that studying at a big name school guarantees a certain measure of future income so they agreed to it). I did fine for the first couple years but engineering classes in Chinese were too much for me do I ended up returning to the US.

Also, I know what you mean- 建行 tried to get me to sign up for a secured one of those (put down 12000RMB in term deposit, get card with 10000RMB limit). "multi-currency" but settles everything to USD then RMB at their rate with no option of paying the bill in the transaction currency directly. I told them where they could shove that offer (I already have a CSP- it earns better rewards too)

Which is nice in that I'm don't need to maintain minimum balances to get free overseas ATM withdrawals and stuff like that. My bank in Nashville even refunds ATM charges same-day instead of end-of-month like Schwab.

I suggest the smarter thing to do would be to create a downloadable fax template link onto the wiki so that anyone could use it to semi-automate the process.

The reason why majority of the people don't bother doing it is because what you stated: "it's only few cents and I have to bother with them on the phone for 30 minutes." I admire the principle of your not giving in, but let's face it, most people aren't going to spend 30 minutes on the phone with a clueless CSR who doesn't understand jack about DCC to resolve 10 cents.

Since you're a Millennial as myself, I'm hoping that you'd understand the natural vibe we all have in our generation: "there is always a better, more efficient way to do this using technology at hand today."

It is a futile attempt to convince people to dispute 10 cents or whatever on the phone for 30 minutes. Some people are extroverts, some are introverts.

The next best thing to do then, is to make it easier to file a DCC dispute so we don't have to deal with irritated customers behind us through the language barrier or wasting our time on the phone with CSRs. And that can be done by semi-automating it with a downloadable fax template (I suggest Google Docs as I did) and post a link to the wiki, so that all it takes is less than a minute of filling in that sheet and faxing it in to your bank (suggest internet fax like faxzero or whatever), more people will start doing it.

And the stack of faxes start piling up at the banks so they also start to visually see what a problem this is. Make it easier to file a DCC dispute for us, let the banks deal with the problem. We shouldn't be put into the position of dealing with the hassle of speaking to a clueless CSR in the first place.


Before creating a template, we need to what fields should be placed into that template:

1. Your name
2. Your address
3. Your account number
4. Date of transaction
5. Where transaction took place
6. Amount in dispute
7. scanned/smartphone camera copy of receipt
8. anything else?

A list of customer service fax numbers to big name banks which majority of the people tend to use (BofA, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, etc.) would also help.

I can create a something that makes DCC disputes more turnkey. I want to include words like Reason Code 76 for Visa so the issuer doesn't simply issue a credit. I could make a flowchart as not all banks have the same dispute process. I know Chase mails forms for instance. When dealing with frontline CSRs the best approach is to say you were overcharged when filing a dispute. Then if they don't issue an immediate statement credit you can figure out how to proceed.

About no-fee debit cards, Fidelity also reimburses ATM operator surcharges as transactions post, not at the end of the month. It's been a great money saver for the 5.5 years that I've had the card. ^