DCC is offered by card acquirers and the businesses they serve, at tills, cash machines and online checkouts. If the customer chooses their own currency, the acquirer’s exchange rate applies. If they pay in the business’s currency, their card issuer converts it. The Payment Systems Regulator lists it among the extra services acquirers sell.

The rules

• UK law. Whoever offers conversion before a payment must disclose all charges and the exchange rate. For card payments at the point of sale, the conversion charges must be shown as a percentage mark-up over the latest euro reference rates of the European Central Bank, alongside the amount in both currencies. The payer must also be told they can pay in the business’s currency instead.

• Visa’s rules. DCC must be optional, must not be pre-selected and needs the cardholder’s express agreement. An online business that uses card details to decide whether to offer conversion must follow all the DCC rules. If DCC is applied without express agreement, the card issuer can dispute the whole payment.

• Mastercard’s DCC guide. Automatic DCC and steering the customer towards it are not allowed. An online checkout must give a clear way to opt out and pay in the local currency.

Why it matters for travel businesses

Your card acquirer or its conversion provider may offer DCC at your online checkout, so it is worth checking how the choice is shown. Pricing in another currency is different. Visa calls this multi-currency pricing, where no DCC takes place. Your customers will also meet DCC abroad. Mastercard’s own examples of breaches include hotels and car hire firms applying it without consent.

Worth knowing

The cross-border payments regulation that sets the UK mark-up rule is due to be revoked under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, but that revocation has not yet taken effect. The Treasury’s 2026 consultation on payment reforms covers it.