What dynamic currency conversion is
Dynamic currency conversion, or DCC, is a merchant or an ATM offering to charge your card in your home currency while you are paying in another country. The receipt can look like a normal home currency purchase, often at a poor rate. It is not the same thing as the foreign transaction fee your card issuer adds. You can refuse the conversion and pay in the local currency.
Last updated: October 17, 2026
Last checked: Oct 2026
What Visa requires on the offer
Visa's dynamic currency conversion page, opened 17 October 2026, says a retailer or an ATM may offer to convert the transaction into your home currency. If the merchant offers DCC, you may be given the choice to pay in your home currency, and that option includes the exchange rate and additional fees. An ATM can do the same thing: you withdraw local currency and the charge is billed in your home currency.
Visa requires the merchant or ATM to display, on the screen and the receipt, the purchase or withdrawal in both the local currency and your currency, both currency symbols, the exchange rate used, and any additional fees or markup. They must let you accept or decline, and they must not choose for you. They must not steer you with font size, color, or the way the buttons are set up. If those details are missing, or you feel pressured, Visa says to decline the conversion and report it to your card issuer. Accepting or declining does not change your ability to buy or to withdraw. The page opened for this guide does not print a single markup percent that applies to every offer. Do not assume a percentage that is not on your receipt.
How to refuse it
Choose the local currency. On a terminal, that button may say the country's currency rather than the word decline. On a printed slip, do not sign a slip that already shows your home currency if you wanted local currency. Ask the clerk to void it and run the card again in the local currency. At an ATM, cancel and start again if the screen already converted the withdrawal. Visa says the merchant must not pick for you. If the charge has already posted in the wrong currency, contact the bank. The receipt with both amounts is the useful evidence. Dispute a charge in the US and dispute a charge in Canada are the card paths if the bank needs a dispute rather than a phone explanation.
Paying in local currency does not remove every cost. The card network converts the local amount, and your issuer may still add its own foreign transaction fee. That issuer fee is a different line. What it is, and what it is not, is on foreign transaction fees. The percent each named US issuer prints is on foreign transaction fees by US card issuer. The percent each named Canadian bank prints is on foreign currency conversion fees by Canadian bank. DCC does not replace that issuer fee. Declining DCC avoids the merchant's conversion. It does not automatically waive the issuer's fee.
How the line looks
A converted charge shows a home currency amount at the merchant's rate. The local price you saw on the menu may not equal that amount. The statement may not say dynamic currency conversion in those words. It may only show the merchant name and your home currency. If you expected a charge in euros, pounds, or pesos and the statement is entirely in dollars, look at the receipt before you call it fraud. A second line for the issuer's foreign fee can sit next to it. Those are two charges: the converted purchase, and the issuer fee.
Some statements show the foreign amount and the converted amount. If both are there, you can see the rate the merchant used. If only the home amount is there, the receipt is the record. This is not a bank monthly fee and not interest. Interest on a carried balance is on credit card interest.
Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo lists fee lines it recognizes so you can see the date, the name, and the amount. A merchant's currency conversion is part of the purchase amount, so it may not be labeled as a bank fee. You can still read the line. Expenvo does not call the merchant, and it does not promise a refund. How to ask the bank about a fee is on how to ask your bank to refund a fee.
Questions
- What should I pick at the terminal?
- Visa says you can accept or decline. To avoid the merchant's rate, pay in the local currency. The issuer's own foreign transaction fee can still apply. That is a separate charge.
- Does Visa print one markup for every DCC offer?
- The Visa page opened 17 October 2026 requires the merchant to show the rate and any markup. It does not print one percent that fits every transaction. Read the rate on the screen.
- The charge already posted in my home currency. What now?
- Contact the card issuer with the receipt. If the required details were missing, Visa says to report that. A card dispute is a separate step from asking the merchant to rerun the sale.
Sources
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