Scotiabank ATM in Oaxaca, MX, offers conversion from Mexican Pesos to US Dollars for a convenience fee of a mere 14%. No, thanks.

Chase will just automatically resolve with a credit adjustment:

"We resolved your dispute.Checkmark We resolved your dispute.
We credited your account for $1.00, which you'll see on your next statement."

It depends on the amount of the dispute. While I understand it's not worth it for the card issuer to go the full chargeback route, it won't change the merchant's bad behavior by issuing a courtesy credit.

At any rate, I'm happy that you aren't out any money personally. :tu:

Related question, not quite DCC but this seems like the crowd that would know. Hypothetical: Hotel in Mexico quotes $50 USD for an upgrade. The bill is in pesos, so the hotel picks a terrible conversion rate on the bill, 20% wrong, say. Would a credit card dispute yield any help (quoted $50, but charged $60 is the logic)?

I would insist on the hotel quoting prices in pesos. Then, try to pay via Amex. If they don’t accept it, then make sure you choose pesos if a choice of a currency is given.

I have only stayed in a few hotels in Mexico, but two Hilton properties, one in Cancun and one in Puerto Vallarta, billed in USD natively without DCC. Some things were priced in MXN, but the hotel ran my card in USD at the point of sale. There was a conversion to MXN that seemed in line with the exchange rate. I don't know if non-local cards are billed in USD as well and only local cards would use MXN. A third hotel billed in MXN.

In the situation you described, you'd have little recourse if the transaction occurred in MXN, but my guess is that the above property might be like those two Hiltons and use USD as the currency denomination.

Inserting the card could alternatively result in signing using your PIN code before you see the receipt. The only safe method is to film the whole transaction and use the film as evidence.

If you tap your card and don't sign anything, how would the merchant prove that you have consented to using DCC if disputed?

Given that fact that the OP user profile posts a location in LA, my reasonable assumption is that the card the OP would use is likely to be a chip-and-signature card. You are correct that there's little recourse for terminals that (improperly) force DCC after a PIN entry.

In the tapped payment scenario, it's just as easy to ask how would you prove that you opted out of DCC?

What should - but probably won't - happen is to require merchants offering DCC to provide a quote slip, which was/is common in some Southeast Asian locations, or a currency selection on the final receipt, which is common in Hong Kong. That would show customer intent for any currency selection and be a valid piece of evidence you could provide to your card issuer if the merchant subsequently forced DCC.

I've long been curious about what percentage of customers really accept DCC, and finally found a scholarly article today indicating that in some cases it's around 50%. In some ways it's surprising to me that it's taken so long for social scientists to run an experiment on who is most likely to accept DCC (spoiler: it correlates with financial literacy) - it seems like it could be a fun dissertation topic for someone studying economic sociology or psychology...

Financial literacy no doubt plays a role about knowledge of DCC, but even knowing it exists doesn’t mean that users always see the prompt.

With the advent of mobile POS and contactless in Europe, and the fact that the tap point is at the top of the machine, many users are not aware the option even showed up, especially because it doesn’t show up always at every merchant. I sometimes feel like a jerk asking to hold onto a machine from a store clerk, only for the DCC prompt to not even appear in that situation, but they’re often too fast to hit Accept if you don’t.

Placing that burden on users is bad, but unfortunately I don’t think there’s any incentive for anyone to enforce better flows. The networks and banks make a ton of money on foreign transactions, and most transactions, especially in Europe don’t see the prompt given the shared Euro currency so it’s not a priority.

I'm here in CNS for Oz Fest, and the welcome dinner was at Dundees. The setup was pay at the front when leaving, and the Tyro branded Worldline Yomora terminal presented a DCC prompt when I tapped my card. The DCC option was the top right button, and the local option was the top left button. Unprompted, the cashier said, "I would choose Australian dollars." :tu:

I wasn't expecting DCC, so I didn't get a photo of the prompt. Based on a mental note of the USD amount, the DCC markup was 4.5%

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This really is not a question about DCC, but related: I've had several occasions in which a reputable EU company charges my purchase (either online or in person) in USD and only offers the USD option. I am in fact charged the exact same USD amount, with no transaction fees involved. I find this curious and wonder if other have experienced this.

One place I noticed this was with Eurostar. Using a UK or EU location resulted in prices denominated in GBP or EUR. Depending on exchange rate fluctuations, one price could be slightly better but not materially so.

I have seen this in a few high end stores. One most recent was in Peru, very high quality, expensive wool clothing. Price tags in USD and purchases charged in USD. Not sure if it is legal there but it was true on the ground.

The RSL in Cairns also had DCC with Tyro branded terminals (although a different type but with the same operation), and the on screen DCC markup was 5%. Another non-AUD cardholder was in front of me and paused when the prompt came up. After a few seconds, the cashier reached over and opted the customer out of DCC. The customer asked what that was, and the cashier said that it was a currency selection but that you always wanted local currency because it was a better exchange rate. :tu:

This is very common in Latin America at establishments catering to international travelers, such as hotels and hotel gift shops. (I've also seen it in Israel, at TLV duty-free). I don't have any problem with that at all, since the price you see is what you get.

When I was in Guatemala last year, I had a few places (one hotel, and a fancy gift shop in the lobby of the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City) where the price was listed in dollars, but when it came time to making the card transaction, the place converted the USD price to quetzales at a rate that was roughly but not exactly the market rate. At first I was a bit annoyed by that, but it really didn't make a material difference in my final charge one way or the other. I think at the gift shop, the amount charged to the card ended up being a couple of dollars below the "official" USD price shown on the price tag of the lovely jade owl that I totally didn't need but bought anyway. Plus I got UR points from Chase on top of that. :D

I noticed DCC at the Machi Machi Darling Square location tonight. There was a Tyro Payments Yoximo terminal. While I hadn't been to this location before, other locations of Machi Machi did not have DCC during my last trip two years ago. The on screen offer claimed to be a 5% markup, but it was more like 7.6% compared to Visa's rate. One interesting thing that I noticed was that there was a sign saying that the terminal wouldn't work with non-Australian cards. I had no problem tapping my payment card, but perhaps it's been an issue with people inserting cards and having the transaction fail due to lack of PIN as a CVM. I noticed that the terminal at the counter was customer facing, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that the sign wasn't due to there being DCC present.

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Travelex ATM at Schiphol -- I believe 19% is a new personal record! :p :D :rolleyes:

w/o conversion, pending transaction at $222.18 in my Chase account.


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WOW :(

Nice job on the pic keeping the verticals and horizontals straight :tu: (or was that a good job of editing?)

It may be the jet lag but I'm not sure what you mean :o I downsized it to 25% of original but other than that didn't need to rotate it or anything if that's what you were referring to?

It's just straight on and well-centered, not like when somebody takes a picture in a bit of an angle and it's not quite straight.

Ah, yeah, that was sheer luck :D

I got DCCed by the Hertz back office in Belfast last month.

The initial estimate when I picked up the car was all in GBP. When I returned the car, there was no paperwork even though I turned in the keys at the counter. The day after returning, they emailed me a scanned (!) receipt with the correct GBP amount, but then a line further down showing "Transaction Currency: USD" with a bad exchange rate and a 2.75% fee. I emailed them back and asked them to charge me in GBP. They replied and were like "oh yeah, that's just for your information, we only charge GBP."

After returning home I checked my transaction history, and guess what they charged me the inflated USD amount. 🙄 I emailed them again asking them to refund and redo it in GBP, but they haven't replied, and I don't think they will.

I guess it's time for my first Chase Visa DCC dispute!

Yes. I'm currently in Portugal and have been DCCed three times. In one case (a hotel) it was fairly easy to get the transaction voided and put through again correctly. However that wasn't a realistic option in restaurants during a busy holiday weekend (São João) so I'll be disputing the overcharges with my card issuer.

We haven't had any problems at numerous other cafés, restaurants and stores.

I'll be visiting Portugal in two months. I'm a bit concerned since I plan to stay at the Hyatt Regency in Lisbon, and there's no Amex option for Hyatt. I could always do the preauth with an Amex and switch the card at checkout. Another option might be checking in via the Hyatt app.

Did the forced DCC happen only in sit down restaurants? Did the staff have control of the terminal and force DCC, or were there no prompts on the terminal?

I'll be by myself, so I anticipate mostly doing things like cafes or casual establishments rather than sit down restaurants.

I don't understand what you mean, Hyatt hotels do accept American Express.

I think OP means there is no Amex branded Hyatt cards.

That's right. Hilton and Marriott both have Amex cobranded cards available. For Hyatt, it's only Visa. Historically, I had Visa branded cards for all three (Hilton via Citi and Marriott via Chase), so I always had to be vigilant when using the cards in a non-USD location.

Fortunately, I haven't seen any DCC with my Chase Hyatt card, but I only have a handful of data points using it internationally.

The primary issue is that most places don’t give you the reader, the staff keep hold of it while you tap your card from the back. It’s a bit sad that the ease of contactless makes DCC easier. If anything, solutions like Apple Pay should give users more control via the UI of their phones, not less.

As such, with contactless you often can’t see the prompts on the screen or even if you can see it they quickly take it away once they hear the beep. I’ve had to literally take the reader from staff just to ensure there is no DCC. And sometimes feel like a jerk when the prompt doesn’t appear.

Most places in Portugal use the handheld readers so it doesn’t matter whether it’s a sit down or casual cafe.

One particularly shocking experience was in Graça where the staff said they had a rule requiring USD and then spat out a receipt that claimed we had been given a choice. I wasn’t the one paying and didn’t catch it until afterwards.

In LPM restaurant in Abu Dhabi they’re pushing payment via a QR code delivered to the table using “qlub” (never heard of it).

I tried to pay, as it clearly listed the bill in AED, via the QR code using Apple Pay. Luckily for whatever reason the payment was rejected, but it forced DCC, saying “your payment in GB£ has been rejected, please try again.”

I then paid using a normal hand held terminal which offered a choice of AED or GB£. AED selected of course.

I wouldn't worry about the hotel. You may well be 'offered' DCC, but as long as you make it clear you want to pay in EUR the staff are unlikely to try and trick you. If for some reason the transaction goes awry, someone -- the receptionist you're dealing with or their manager -- will know how to void the transaction.

Restaurants can be trickier because -- as islandguy84 wrote -- many servers hold on to the POS terminal. (With contactless, as long as there's no DCC involved, that's actually the most efficient way to do things -- as long as you can see the amount before holding your card up.) And sometimes, when you are put in charge, the second question catches you out.

Disputing a charge and getting it voided is typically harder in a busy restaurant/bar environment (and doesn't become easier if you've had a glass or two of wine). For a dollar or two, with friends waiting, I'm not going to make a massive fuss -- just make my position clear, take my printed receipts and dispute the mark-up later.

To put the above in context: I've used a USD Visa card almost 30 times since arriving in Portugal and only had three DCC issues. One was a hurried server, one was me misreading the second DCC question, one was a hotel receptionist pushing buttons while dreaming. Of the three, one was voided immediately. Chase instantly refunded my DCC loss on the second and I'll dispute the third once it moves from "pending".

Card issuers and the phone giants should indeed be blocking this.

If contactless transactions are not immune to DCC - in some places contactless is successful in preventing DCC - is it possible to insert the card for a chip-and-signature transaction? If so, you have the ability to deface the receipt or refuse to sign unless the merchant voids and does the transaction again without DCC.

I understand that there is more likely to be recourse at a hotel in the case of default, inadvertent, or attempted forced DCC. It's a more controlled environment than a busy restaurant or cafe. However, the situation I often find myself in Europe is checking out in the early morning for a transatlantic flight home. I'm often in a rush to leave and perhaps haven't had the opportunity to get a full night's rest.

Thanks for the data points and the number of transactions. Knowing that there might be two DCC prompts can help out, and, unlike islandguy84, I am not embarrassed at all to hold onto the terminal until the transaction completes. There have been too many cases of forced DCC to give any place the benefit of the doubt. I particularly like the waiters who were joking around with me and having a great conversation suddenly feigning ignorance or, in some cases, seemingly forgetting the English language entirely upon questioning a transaction with DCC. They know what they're doing. I respond with a 0% gratuity (when they're all expecting a hefty tip based upon my North American accent).

Many times staff in other countries do not realize that a signature slip has been printed. In any event the USA transaction networks no longer require signatures, and I do not think that absence will prevent a transaction from posting to your account.

While it is true that staff in chip-and-PIN locations sometimes don't realize that a signature slip has been printed (and some others try to be handwriting experts), I'll take my chances contesting DCC on a signature verified transaction over a contactless transaction with no verification required.

I used a Euronet ATM at LIS on Wednesday evening (with the Thursday Visa rates). While I didn't want to give business to Euronet, I wanted to check the new trick they have about Cash & Balance. Honest Guide has a video on this in further detail, and I was able to opt out of the balance inquiry option after having watched this video:


The displayed DCC offer was displayed as 13.95% at 0.8004 EUR = 1 USD for $254.78. The pending transaction with my bank is $225.32, which matches Visa's rate for 8/15 and is effectively 13.07%. I saved $29.46 by declining DCC.

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I encountered the "double decline" implementation of DCC in Portugal that others here have described with two point of sale terminals. In both cases the terminals were facing me. The receipt said Global Payments. I didn't see the markup on the first transaction, but the second one was showing as $4.05 for a €3.50 purchase, so 4.75%.

There was a food truck where I paid cash on a de minimis purchase since the merchant didn't appear to have a card terminal. The merchant did, but it was cashier controlled behind the counter. Sure enough, DCC was present. I know this because, in fairness, the cashier asked the customer after me whether he wanted £ or €. The guy correctly said €.

Every instance I've seen for DCC so far in Portugal has been the double decline version. I went to Time Out Market, and I was looking for a merchant that had a customer facing terminal. (The food hall is cashless, so you either have to use a bank card or load a stored value card with cash.)

I was casually observing two customers in front of me, both with GBP denominated cards. The first customer got the DCC prompt (on the customer facing terminal) and correctly declined by pressing 2. At the second screen, he pressed 1 for accepting the conversion, and I could see that the receipt printed in GBP. I'm a bit surprised that the terminals aren't configured to switch the button order, such as, "Confirm decline conversion?" 1) Yes 2) No after having pressed 2 on the previous screen for local currency. However, at least in this one data point, it was enough to confuse the customer. The DCC offer in my case was $25.70 on a €22.25 purchase, so it was 4.70%, which is in line with what I've been seeing here.

The next customer was paying with a Visa branded debit card, and this card did not present a DCC prompt. Perhaps the transaction got processed via a debit network instead of through Visa?

Could be a dual-currency EUR/GBP card, too. I don't think foreign cards end up routing any differently than whatever the card brand is.

I wrapped up my trip to Portugal and successfully dodged DCC for the duration. When checking out of the Hyatt Regency, I was given the choice of €1410.00 or $1619.54 on Tuesday, which was a 3.6% DCC markup. The terminal was a Yomani XR pinpad that was customer facing with the local currency option on the left and home currency option on the right. Surprisingly, the posted transaction was using an exchange rate from August 15th, which was lower than the exchange rate on the transaction day for a total of $1,557.77, saving $61.77 by opting out of DCC.

Thanks again to those who informed me of the double decline process in Portugal such that I wasn't quick to hand back the terminal to the merchant in case of DCC.

I'm in Taiwan now with Mrs. Majuki. She was offered a 15% DCC at Zara (on a Global Payments branded terminal). That's the highest I remember seeing outside of Euronet/Travelex style ATMs.

The hotel where we are took an 8% DCC on the preauth, but I will make sure to opt out when we check out.