I don't think it's as common as in some countries, though. For starters, I've never heard of Square, Clover or Toast touting DCC as a feature for their respective products, and those comprise a seemingly huge part of the small/medium business POS market. Most of the DCC that's happening is likely mainly going to be with the larger players (or the really small ones still using standalone terminals from merchant providers that can in fact do DCC).

Of course, I could be wrong and there are in fact people using one of the above three with DCC turned on. /shrug

I imagine it isn't as common as some other countries, but the usual suspects of big retailers - there was a post here showing DCC at Best Buy a few years ago - likely have it enabled. What is different is the cashier being far less likely to have control over the DCC selection or being specifically trained to select DCC.

So far I have done six transactions, of which four are small players using small terminal or toast/clover and two at big ones - publix and Walgreens. Only Walgreens showed DCC. Obviously tiny sample size, and I will continue to use the card at small amounts in a regular everyday use to see. Will report back if I come across any more. It won't be super scientific, as I don't have thousands of dollars to spend there, but will see some examples and see how it goes.

My guess is that grocery stores are less likely to have DCC enabled. It wasn't the case at Safeway a few years ago when we tried. Forever 21 and Kate Spade had it enabled, at least in 2015, when my sister-in-law used her AUD denominated card.

I wonder if geography will matter. I can see LA, NY, SF, cities or states with big international tourism having more stores and hotels "aware" and trying to use DCC just given the customer base, or maybe towns near the Mexican or Canadian borders.

A significant part may very well also be that DCC only works out for the merchant if they can violate the card network rules on it with impunity. In a location where it's easier to ensure that all the requirements are met (i.e. Visa and MC's home country), I imagine very few customers would actually opt-in, thus making it not worthwhile for most merchants to even enable in the first place.

I can buy this potential explanation. I think it's a combination of factors. Enforcement of payment network rules is likely a contributing factor.

Beyond that, the predominance of USD denominated cards in the US makes it less lucrative for a small business to enable DCC on a standalone terminal. For instance, at a souvenir shop in NYC, what percentage of transactions will still be from USD cards versus a souvenir shop at a major cruise port city in Europe seeing cards denominated in local currency, especially for places not using the euro? You also mentioned not seeing DCC on Toast, Square, and equivalent terminals, which are ubiquitous in the US at small and independent merchants.

Finally, customer service attitudes, the indifference of many retail employees, customer facing terminals in retail settings, and self checkout options all favor the customer's ability to avoid DCC. When my sister-in-law saw DCC in a couple of retail environments with her AUD card, it appeared that the cashier didn't have any control over the currency selection. I say this because I asked her to wait for me to take a photo, and the cashier seemed to be waiting for input on the customer's part. One of the few cases where the customer wouldn't have access to the terminal would be in a restaurant, but customer service (and the prospect of a bad tip) would avoid DCC there. It's not like elsewhere in the world where from our own experiences staff seem to be trained to direct or force DCC upon customers. We've seen multiple posts here of people asking employees to opt out of DCC proactively, and the employees feigning surprise by replying, "Let's see what happens. Oh, it looks like it charged in your home currency. I can't do anything to fix it."

I would’ve thought some acquirers push DCC proactively, unrequested by merchants or their staff, using the power of involuntary opt-in to achieve unjust enrichment.

Absent card network enforcement, or merchants using their negotiating power to get banks to remove this feature (provided they care about the customer experience), customers are burdened to opt out or seek recompense from their issuer banks.

Post-pandemic, multi-currency products like Revolut seem to be a passive-aggressive defence against Dynamic Currency Conversion (much like noise cancelling headgear is a defence against people not using headphones and “brave” headphone jack abolition https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...ce-policy.html ).

Just got back from two weeks in Belgium and the UK, and to my pleasant surprise I only encountered a DCC prompt once at my hotel in Belfast despite running pretty much every transaction I made through my Canadian issued MasterCard. ​​​Big contrast to my last pre-COVID trip to London where I frequently encountered DCC prompts, including at many of the very same merchants I went to this time.

As a very frequent cross border traveler, my experiences with DCC in the US have almost exclusively been at large, national retail chains. The TJX chains immediately come to mind as my most recent experience but it happens at others as well. These are all situations where it's easy to decline as the option shows up on the customer facing digital signature pad.

​​​Not to say it doesn't exist, but I don't think I've yet come across DCC at a hotel or restaurant in the US. I do tend to avoid tourist hot spots like Orlando or Times Square, though
​​​​

This makes sense to me. In the USA in general we probably don't have the percentage of foreign currency cards showing up like parts of Europe where people are crisscrossing borders more easily and frequently. Also had not considered customer access to the terminal. In the USA we still do a lot of "hand my card to a stranger' vs "bring swipe device to the customer" so in a restaurant it would be weird -- the serve coming back to you to ask your currency choice but then selecting it on your behalf.

Also makes sense to me that large chains would bother with it to make a few nickels per transaction at large scale which would turn into real money, and corporate standards rolled out, etc.

Yep, been there, seen that. For a while I could battle that with a PIN-preferring credit card by replying "I won't enter my PIN until you find a way to fix it", but since proliferation of DCC post PIN entry I had to be doubly vigilant and just hold on to the terminal until the transaction was completed.

Years ago, back when TD Bank's regular credit card (and debit, for that matter) was FTF, I used it in Canada at a restaurant. The server at a restaurant must have chosen USD by default, as I had not been given a choice or informed at all. I noticed it when we left the restaurant and I did a chargeback. I got the difference between DCC and regular rate back after a few weeks, so not sure if they did an actual chargeback or just refunded me the difference.

FWIW, looks like Walmart does not do DCC, as I had used my Polish card there. So, so far only Walgreens. I will test out a few more big chains in the next few weeks.

My point was that even in the case of DCC appearing at a restaurant with a signature slip, there would be a customer service tendency in the US to resolve the issue to the customer's satisfaction. In other locations where DCC is more likely to be present, such as large retailers, the credit card terminals in 2023 are almost 100% customer facing.

For all of my frustrations at the general lack of availability of chip-and-PIN cards from US issuers - I was frantically trying to pay for gas at a Shell station in Norway last week where the pump kept rejecting my card! - being able to deface a signature slip and taking a photo of that is one option unavailable with a chip-and-PIN card. In the case of DCC post PIN entry, there may be limited recourse if DCC gets accepted.

If they really wanted to, I could see currency adjust becoming a thing. Similar to tip adjust, it'd basically be a USD or [currency] checkbox you'd check on the paper receipt (which gets entered by the server later). Unfortunately, this would mean that the exchange rate from the time you were at the restaurant to the time the choice actually got run could vary significantly.

On the other hand, if DCC post-PIN entry is that common, I could see issuers still accepting chargebacks for that since the PIN entry was for the pre-DCC amount, not the post-DCC one.

I'll continue to use AMEX as my first choice overseas until Visa/MC put an end to this nonsense

The most annoying PIN entry setup I've seen was in Jordan (but at least they're very upfront about the currency — they basically ask you before they run whether you want to pay X in dinars or Y in $$) — when you're prompted for the PIN the amount is nowhere in sight. They basically tell you "we will charge this" and give you the terminal. I think that was at the border when I was paying for the entry visa, can't recall if I saw that anywhere else there.

Amex isn't always an option or the best in terms of earning. The good thing is that there are Amex cards available for both Marriott and Hilton, so you have two large hotels chains where you can stay without worry of DCC.

The one time I went to Jordan 13 years ago I paid cash for that visa. I forget how I got the JOD, but I don't remember paying by card. We mostly used cash during the trip, and none of the Marriott hotels where we stayed showed signs of DCC.

When I went to Jordan, about six years ago, the officer taking my visa payment was adamant about charging me in dollars, hiding the terminal, and not letting me opt out of DCC. Chase refunded the entire charge.

Interesting, that's approximately the same time I went — I was there in May 2017. I was at the Eilat border crossing, were you at the same one?

No, I flew into Amman.

A FlyerTalk member was in Cape Town a couple of days ago. On this day, the Visa rate was 1 ZAR = 0.053999 USD, so it was a 13.15% markup in reality for a savings of $7.60 by declining DCC.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2cc15b79d9.jpg

I feel like an idiot for not asking for the terminal before handing over my credit card. I'm in Paris and I see no evidence that the incidental and room rate is being charged in USD. Obviously, I want to be charged in Euros to get the best possible rate. The receipt shows a pre-authorization of €266.63. I'm assuming no DCC? At check out, I'm guessing just the room rate will be dedicated from the pre-authorization and the rest will be refunded back to my card?

Don't worry about it now. Prior to checkout, ask for a preliminary folio. It will be in EU. But, when checking out, make it clear that you want to be charged in EU, and check the cc receipt you get. Make sure the folio is zeroed out.

But, do double-check your credit card statement: I did the above cautionary measures in Beijing, and Conrad still ended up charging me in dollars rather than RMB. I disputed the $62 difference with Chase, and the Conrad never responded, so Chase voided the $1200 charge!

I wouldn't worry about it either. If the preauth is in €, it's highly unlikely there would be a DCC option for the final charge. Every DCC instance I've seen at hotels has initially shown up on the preauth.

Make sure you have a receipt from the credit card terminal when settling the final bill. If the DCC verbiage isn't printed and you only see a € amount, there isn't DCC.

Isn't that what you'd prefer, to be billed in RMB instead of having the charge DCC'ed to US$?

Thanks. Old age error, and now edited.

That's crazy! I was just in Athens and saw 9.5%, which is the highest I had ever seen. And despite hitting to not accept the DCC markup, I still (somehow) got hit with it. There may have been another screen I didn't fully read. Frustrating to need to hit decline twice to not get hit with this awful fee!

On a recent trip to India (Delhi/Golden Triangle)
- hotel, restaurants all had DCC, but in all cases the person asked or handed the terminal to me or proactively selected INR
- 8% DCC option presented at two different ATMs

are you guys disputing these transactions? I had a forced DCC at my hotel in Switzerland. Here is what happened. I was asked to pay CHF 7.50 for a city tax (I had already prepaid for my hotel). The machine gives me the usual CHF or USD options. I choose CHF. However when the receipt prints out it said I accepted DCC and it has applied a 4% markup. I complain to the guy and he says from their side it's charged only CHF 7.50 but that isn't what the receipt says and my posted charge is USD 8.83 which in fact reflects a 4% markup from the official exchange rate. They refuse to correct the error telling me there isn't any error at all and the rate I got is from my bank and they insist that they charged the CHF and nothing more which is of course just pure lies.

So, the card is a Chase United Mileage Explorer... can I call Chase and just dispute the entire transaction telling them that I infact had declined the DCC and the machine has ignored it? It's only 43 cents difference but why should I pay what I don't owe?

I suggest you forget about 43 cents and all other shenanigans of Switzerland. People in neighboring countries find it easier to just curse Switzerland at every opportunity. :D

Dispute the entire transaction, just on principle.

chase handled my dispute quickly and easily. Per advice here I provided the exchange rate and what I should have been charged vs what I was, explained I didn't want DCC but merchant forced it. A credit appeared quickly. Just dispute the whole charge and add the info to the notes

I had a particularly egregious case of the DCC scam last week in Switzerland. Used a German card (billed in EUR) and was given the option of paying in CHF (local currency) or USD.

Now, I hate DCC with a passion, but most jurisdictions seem to have nothing against it. But how does the already flimsy rationale of "convenience of paying in your own currency" work in this case? Allow us to convert the local currency (CHF) to a third currency (USD) at a markup, and then your own bank can convert it to your billing currency (EUR)? How's this not illegal?

I don't know how this one would work in practice. Was the hotel offering to run your card in USD verbally, or was the terminal presenting a USD option?

Handheld terminal brought to the restaurant table. Tap card, then the terminal presents option 1=USD, option 2=CHF.

I haven't seen that before, but I wouldn't be inclined to press for USD to find out.

The closest I've seen - although I've never held the terminals - is in Cancun where the hotels where I've stayed run the transaction in USD, at least for USD denominated cards. However, I believe there is a button for MXN if one is using a MXN denominated card. I don't know about other currencies. The itemized hotel bills have have been in MXN with a quoted exchange rate to USD. Since the exchange rate has been almost the same as the real exchange rate, I haven't complained being billed in USD. Furthermore, I've always used an Amex card, so there was no possibility of DCC.

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but what do you mean by this? My understanding is that any card can be subject to DCC if the local vendor turns it on. And the Amex website has info on avoiding DCC costs.

Only Visa and Mastercard networks support DCC. Other networks do not.

Love learning new stuff -- so by using an Amex abroad when possible I could avoid this issue? That wasn't my understanding. Interestingly, Amex doesn't say this in their education link on DCC https://www.americanexpress.com/en-u...hen-traveling/