Extra CC fee in Denmark
 

Presently in Copenhagen, I was surprised to find many restaurants and shops have an extra charge of 3.75% on sales, when using a "foreign" credit card. The decision on what is foreign or not, is the country code in the phone # on the back. Using major restaurants, hotels and buying railway tickets, no extra charge. For that special present to yourself or someone special, or just stepping into the restaurant in front of you, this extra charge might be an ugly surprise.
Never seen this anywhere else in the world. Correct me please, if wrong

Is it noted on the menu and/or prominently posted on a wall?

If not, I would tell them that, unless they waive the fee, I am not paying them ANYTHING and that they should call the police if they have any problem with that. ;)

I didn't see that, but I noticed that a lot of places in CPH doesn't take credit cards, only debit cards with pin code, sometimes only Danish ones.

Quite annoyed when visiting before xmas 2008:td::td:

What do they consider a foreign credit card?

I can use one issued in the USA, UK or IE.

Then I would wonder if one of my cards would refund that fee as well. I guess it depends on how it is printed on the ticket.

Do they just make the total include the fee or does it print out as a seperate item?

Ditto.

I think my US credit cards only worked once or twice when I've been in Denmark and that's in terms of paying for a hotel stay. I vaguely recall going to a restaurant and using my debit card, only to have them bring a mobile terminal over for me to punch in my PIN number.

Sounds like a good case for a chargeback when you get home. Save your receipt and any other documentation and let your bank know the charge is a billing error.

If enough foreigners do this it will send the message.

By the way, wouldn't EU law prevent this discrimination against non-Danes?

The Danes have their own local debit card: the "Dankort", which totally dominates the market and is highly loved by the locals because the government-regulated fees are low, but disliked by anyone else, since it makes the acceptance of VISA/MC so low and expensive. How this can be compatible with the SEPA (Single European Payment Area) rules is something I have never understood.

My workaround is to use cash withdrawn with a Swedish debit card that has no ATM fee.

Separate item, in danish "Gebyr" = Fee, unspecified.

This is a controversial issue. If you pay in Denmark e.g. with your AmEx I understand that it may be possible that AmEx takes up to 10% of the purchase price (up to 5% in transaction fees from the retailer, up to 4% in foreign exchange fees from you and the rest in annual fees). NICE BUSINESS, AMEX!

If you use a Dankort or similar, the fee to cover the costs is something like 0,35% (if the card would have no annual fee). No wonder AmEx is able to offer you some MR points with their card.

I admit the best thing would be to have some kind of EU/Worldwide debit cards with low transaction fees. But while waiting for one, I fully understand that retailers want to charge the difference in fees from the consumer.

But if they don't, then I will use my point-earning card for sure! :D
(The one without the currency exchange fees)

Which point earning card has no fee may I ask?

Yes of course you may. But my card will not help you because the card is issued by a local bank. (It is a Visa.)

See this link for such cards issued in the US.

I bank in the EU, UK & US. If you have a local bank that issues a point earning visa with no exchange fees, I am curious. The extra cc fee in Denmark, I don't think I can avoid with any of my cards. I also have not found any cards that are free of the forex fee and earn miles as well.

Unfortunately I have to eliminate one of my cards from the traveling card group. I am shocked in Wells Fargo for eliminating it. More reason to dump and take my money elsewhere.

No, You are 100% correct, but we're not talking about yearly card fees, this is a fee on all charges, 3.75% and exchange rates coming on top of that

:mad:

Besides the exchange/forex fee, have You seen anywhere in the world an extra 3.75% ( or any) charge just because Your Card is issued abroad?

I've gotten PINs for my a MC and a Visa card issued in the US but I've been able to use them to do things like purchase train tickets. I enter the PIN for them when I am charging (need to do this in AMS as well). Is the 3.75% charged for these cards in Denmark?

If the pin number somehow works there is no 3.75%. But that has never happened for me because I find the accepted pins are not for US cards, they are for the Danish credit cards. The Danish credit cards are different. Many of them have a chip in them. They are not swiped but placed into the reader. And yes, you pay 3.75% and the exchange rate. With VAT it becomes outrageous. Solution: apply for and get a Danish credit card if you go there a lot. Problems with solution: the banks will tell you foreigners can't get Danish credit cards (wrong), the cards are not easy to get if you are a US citizem (true--I had to get a letter of reference from my bank) and the websites are all in Danish when you log on to online bank. I love my Danish wife...but she and her country are expensive.

My PIN definitely worked when buying a train ticket at the airport. I don't remember if it worked at a restaurant or if I just paid with Amex.

Yes it is outrageous, but it is caused by the international credit card companies thinking that they are entitled to commissions of up to 10% of all retail purchases worldwide. With SEPA bringing an end to national debit cards, we may soon see fees spreading to other European countries as well. These fees may be based on the true costs of the payment method for the retailer.

It is a rip-off and will continue as long as people do not reject it. The only way to do this is to file charge backs on them every single time it happens. If we don't all file charge-backs then you can expect this problem will continue to escalate.

Yes the merchant makes money by doing this. The processor offers them a return for using the DCC. Some deals are as low as no fees on their accounts and some are even more lucrative.

The terminal does have the ability to select a minimum of two currency choices. The choices are Local and Card. Some terminals offer an additional option.

The problem is that merchants either don't train their employees. This can be because of any of the following:

1. Lack of frequency of the event so merchant does not remember or think it is necessary.
2. Lack of time to train employees or concern of this.
3. Don't want the employee to know how so that they make the extra money.
4. Don't want you to know they know how, so they get a spiff for doing it.

Small and medium retailers in Asia do it all the time because they have to pay 3-5% in fees. Only hotels, airlines, department-stores etc. will let you pay with cc without a surcharge

Being a Dane, I have both a Dankort and MC (issued by Danish banks). No doubt that the retailer pays a %-fee when payment is made by cc (not Dankort where the fee is only 0.5 DKK as I recall it) but I have never experienced that the customer pays a fee or surcharge to the retailer. Maybe it is because my MC is not considered to be foreign when issued by a Danish bank?

A lot of retailers in DK don't accept MC due the exorbitant fees and because Dankort is dominant and widely accepted in Denmark.

Yes.

Some years ago when I had this charged added to my US CC, I changed my PIN to 4 didget and can now purchase gas and even use it in grocery stores without this charge.

Also I have noticed than when you use your card with a PIN you often will be asked if you want to pay a little over the price for the merchandise and get cash back. Works fine.

There actually is - most new Visa & Mastercards issued are marked debit/credit and it's up to you to decide at the moment of payment how to use it.

My Amex (euro denominated) is practically unusable outside the euro area due to their xchange mechanism - first they convert the local currency at the buying rate to usd than convert that usd amount at the selling rate to euros. Yes, charges in usd are also OK.

It's not a Danish specialty, most European cards are chipcards these days - aside from Amex & Diners :)

The problem highlighted in this thread has nothing to do with card having chips or not, beeing debit or credit cards, and anything else but if the card is or isn't issued in Denmark

Presently in Sweden, I sneaked round the corner from Hilton Malmo to a 7-11 store; on the cash register said clearly (translated) All Card debit <100SEK will have a fee of 5 SEK. No difference whether your card was issued in Sweden or Kyrgyz Republic. Shop owner said their cost for card transactions merited this extra fee, but frowned, when I told him about danish procedures. The 3.75% fee for foreign CC transactions in Denmark does not have any limitation, thus can be a rather bitter experience.

It's a sort of discrimination against foreigners, I think :td::td::td:

To be precise, it's against foreign issued cards. Danes with foreign cards are also punished, while foreigners with Danish issued cards are not. But I agree, it sucks. (as a matter of fact I never came across this issue, but it's been a year or two since I used CC in DK. Maybe Finnish issue Nordea MCs are seen as "domestic"? At least I get DKK from the Nordea ATMs without any charges)

It is unfortunately legal for businesses in Denmark to add transaction fees when handling a foreign issued credit card. It is not legal for businesses to add any fees when customers pay with a credit card issued in Denmark or with the danish "Dankort". There are some rules, though: 1: The credit card fee added by the merchant must not exceed the fee that the merchant has to pay to the credit card company, hence the merchant can't earn anything on the fee, and 2: The merchant must clearly display that fees are added when paying with a foreign credit card.

That sort of rounds up the problem, doesn't it? I was using an AMEX. All European Amex cards are issued in UK, does, however have the contact telephone number on the back to the country office where card holder lives. With a Danish Amex, issued in UK, but danish telephone #, no fee.

The merchant CC transaction fee is not solely based on percentage of sale.

However nice city CPH is, I'll look for other destinations for long weekends.

I don't think it has anything to do with the telephone number on the back of the CC, I think that is goes with the country, it's issued in. Danish credit cards, Mastercard(Maestro, Visa/Visa Electron are issued by PBS or a Danish bank. Danish American Express are issued by "Danske Bank".

Looks as we're talking apples and pears. "Telephone number" might have read "Telephone number country code" to yet clearer point to what is the final decider.

Without knowledge of Danish MC or Visa issuing, I have however had a couple of talks with AMEX representatives, who confirm:
1. All European AMEX cards are issued in UK
2. Instructions to merchants from PBS, who have a monopoly of all card transactions in Denmark, is to check back of card for telephone country code, when in doubt if credit card Danish or foreign.

What I pointed out with my original post was that, in Denmark, au contraire to other countries, "foreigners" i.e. people paying with CC, despite of where the card is issued, but with other than Danish country code in contact telephone # on the back of card, have an extra fee of 3,75% on the card transaction.

Discrimination based on gender, race, religion etc is illegal in civilised countries. Seems necessary to add, at least in Denmark, country of domicile, regardless if this be judged by CC telephone country code, color of passport or other random way of deciding what is Un-Danish.

Agree. The extra cc fee should be based on type of ccard, or even better, on the fee/costs that is caused to the retailer by the acceptance of the payment by said card. It should not be based on the address of the credit card holder.

I agree that it is discriminatory, but not all types of discrimination are illegal, and it is not illegal to discriminate on country of issue of a credit card. Discrimination based on gender, race and religion, is also illegal in Denmark. Nevertheless, the fee is a really bad idea and not good for tourism!
By the way Danish Supermarkets Bilka, Føtex and Netto will from May 2009 start accepting credit cards; of course they add a fee for foreign cards. Coop (Brugsen and Kvickly) started accepting CC around a year ago. Non acceptance of credit cards in supermarkets in Denmark was/is a big problem for tourists here due to the national debit card Dankort, which around 95% of all Danes possess, and which is much cheaper for merchants to accept and free for the customers.

I would love for someone to show me how to acquire a Danish Dankort card or whatever it is called. I will be there in May and have time to set up an account or whatever is needed.

Just paid with my Finnish credit card at the CPH Hilton, no additional charges were made.

Of course it's possible that Scandinavian cards are not regarded strictly foreign issue.

No, as stated in OT, major restaurants and hotels do not enforce this fee.

But did you shop or eat in the city?

No, late evening incoming, early morning outgoing flight.