Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)

DCC stands for Dynamic Currency Conversion.

DCC is a service that gives international Mastercard, VISA and Diners customers the choice to pay in their home currency. The card schemes have a number of specific rules around what information needs to be presented to the customer before they make their choice of whether to accept or decline DCC and what information needs to be present on the customer receipt.

New EU legislation states that for any DCC transaction where the card is issued in the EEA* and the merchant is EEA-based, there will be a mark-up percentage displayed over the European Central Bank (ECB) rate. This will show cardholders how much more, as a percentage, they will pay for the conversion in comparison to the ECB base rate.

So, whenever a Merchant’s and Cardholder’s currencies are both from the EEA, all cardholders who attempt to pay with a card issued with a different currency to the Merchant settlement currency will need to have the rate be presented to them on the Point of Sale (POS) screen, showing the percentage over the ECB rate.

Additionally, the transaction receipt will also display this information for the Cardholders’ future reference.

These changes are being made to comply with Regulation (EU) 2019/518 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The regulation introduces certain charges to cross-border payments in the EU and currency conversion charges (“CBPR2”).

One of the provisions of CBPR2 requires that Merchants providing DCC services at the point of sale should provide additional information on charges for these services to the Cardholder before the initiation of any payment transaction.

Two important scheme rules on DCC are:

1. A customer must be shown how to accept or reject DCC, so it must be clear what buttons on the terminal or PIN pad to press.
2. A customer may accept or reject DCC by selecting a “Yes/No” or “Green/Red” button as the only options.

A compliant DCC customer screen should include:

1. Local amount and currency
2. DCC amount and currency
3. Exchange rate
4. Mark-up percentage must be displayed directly underneath the exchange rate line
5. A clear question e.g. “Select Currency”
6. A clear way for the customer to either accept or decline DCC

The total DCC charges for the transactions should be expressed as a percentage mark-up over the latest available ECB rate (the mark-up).

Your Elavon POS technical solution will automatically identify situations where the card currency and local currency both belong to the EEA and will adjust the POS screen display and receipt display accordingly.

If you have a device provided by a Third Party, please contact them directly to know when these new updates will be available. Please note that Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices.

If your terminal supports colour and your terminal has a touch screen, then we recommend that the selection can be made on screen by touching one of the flags.    

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

If your terminal has buttons under the currency selection on screen, then these buttons should be used to allow the customer to make their selection.

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

If your terminal has no buttons under the currency selection on screen, then we recommend that the number buttons 1 and 2 are used (1 to decline DCC, 2 to accept DCC).

Currently, the screen displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, if the Merchant and Cardholder currencies both belong to the EEA, the ‘mark-up over the ECB rate’ will be displayed as follows:

Currently, the transaction receipt displays the applicable ‘Elavon mark-up’ rate as follows:

From 19 April 2020, for any DCC transaction where the card is issued in the EEA and the DCC Currency is EEA, the mark-up over ECB rate will be displayed as follows:

If you have an Elavon POS terminal you do not need to take any action. We will automatically update your terminal to comply with the regulations.

However, if your POS is integrated with your till system, and printing is handled from the till’s printer, your ePOS provider may need to carry out some development work to handle this mandated change. You should instruct your ePOS to complete this development work on your behalf if necessary. Additionally if your device is a Spire model or Verifone Evo we will contact you closer to the time with next steps.

Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices, so if you have a device provided by a Third Party, please contact them directly to know when new updates will be available.

The ‘DCC mark-up % over ECB’ rate needs to be displayed to Cardholders by 19 April 2020.

No. The ‘DCC mark-up % over ECB’ rate will be displayed for comparison purposes only. There will be no change to how your customers (Cardholders) are charged.

If your POS technical solution is provided directly by Elavon, your DCC Rebate with Elavon will stay at the same level as before.

Should you have a solution provided by a Third Party and your provider does not become compliant by 19 April 2020, your DCC Rebate may be lowered by 55%. This is a result of the EEA currencies being removed, as Elavon will automatically stop processing DCC on EEA currencies if your terminal is not compliant. Please contact your Third Party provider directly to ensure new updates will be available before 19 April 2020. Elavon has provided all partners with the necessary tools to update their devices.

This change is a result of new EU Regulation starting from 19^th of April and is required by law, so it cannot be opted out from. Elavon must be fully compliant with the EU regulations as outlined above.

Please rest assured that your DCC Rebate rate and all DCC-related charges applicable to your customers (Cardholders) do not change.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a service that enables international Visa® and MasterCard® and Diners Club® cardholders in over 80 currencies the choice to pay the bill in their own currency rather than the currency of the country that they are visiting.

When you present your card at the till, the point-of-sale recognises automatically if your debit or credit card from Visa®, MasterCard® or and Diners Club® qualifies for DCC. You will then be asked whether you want to pay in your home currency. The terminal converts the local currency to your home currency. The transaction is processed as usual and your receipt displays both currencies as well as the exchange rate. No additional foreign exchange commission charges apply.

The receipt will show the amount in your currency, the customer's home currency and the conversion rate.  

Customers will know exactly what they're paying for at the time of sale including all charges so that they'll see the same amount on their card statement when they get home. 

We will manage the entire conversion process for you: from direct treasury exchange rates and transaction processing, to back-end reconciliation, settlement, funding, and support.  

You provide your international customers with an extra service as they can pay in their own home currency. In addition, you gain additional sales potential and even increase profitability as Elavon will rebate a share of the conversion rate to you. DCC doesn’t carry any additional activation fees or monthly minimums. Elavon’s DCC service is transparent and effortless as Elavon handles the entire DCC process from start to finish which means that you have a single point of contact for all your service needs. Furthermore you may reduce chargebacks and disputes as there are no more exchange rate surprises for your customers when they receive the credit card statement.

If you pay in a foreign currency, you will always have to pay exchange rates. DCC provides full disclosure of the exchange rate which allows you to assess the competitiveness of the rate at the point-of-sale; which is more information than credit card issuers provide.

• They know the final price in their own currency
• They get today’s exchange rate locked in
• There are no exchange rate surprises when their statement arrives