"Dynamic Currency Conversion" Is It Better or Worse Than "Currency Conversion" charges levied by CC issuers?
 

I think the title says it all (at least I hope so).

On the concurrent thread about the "spread of dynamic currency conversion in the UK" the practice is described as a "rip-off."

Are you better off allowing the merchant to perform the currency conversion for you or is it more economical to pay the CC issuer's so-called "currency conversion" fees?

DCC can mark up conversions anywhere from three to NINE percent.

Card issuers charge between zero and three percent.

My CC uses only 1% exchange conversion, much less than what merchants who use DCC charge. No other charges, fees. So DCC is much worse than my credit card.

Intrepid1,
VISA will still charge an ADDITIONAL 1% of the final charge, even if it is already converted to US$, for any charge made outside of the US. So you'll have the inflated exchange rate (3-5% above official) from the merchant, then have to pay another 1% on top of that! Very bad deal if you ask me.

In addition to nibblette's explanation above. If you are a victim of DCC, you pay 1) the inflated exchange rate 2) Visa's 1% fee 3) your bank's 2 to 3 % fee. It's not a question of whether you pay the merchant to do the conversion versus the CC conversion fees. With DCC you pay BOTH! Don't allow anyone to charge you in any currency except the currency of the country you're in. Period.

Yes, nibblett and betsy have explained it better than anyone else on all the threads we've had about DCC.

With all the fees and the bad exchange, DCC will bring you nearly up to the rates using travelers checks. Not quite that bad but getting there . . . . .

Having seen the bottom line both ways, I'd say too that the DCC thing is never a positive if you're more concerned with the amount than the convenience of seeing the amount in USD on the receipt.

I hate to say, but I fell for it a number of years ago in Ireland and it's like the others have said. Bad bad exchange rate, might as well be doing the currency exchange on the street that every guide warns you not to do. Sadly, this "innovation" of the fringe corporate world has made it all the way to interior Romania, and I had to have that same adamant 15 minute "no, in Lei please" conversation at a front desk. It's even worse in non-Euro countries that don't get a lot of US traffic, as they then try to plug it in as Euros, which leaves you with two bad exchanges. (One small one got by me in Budapest .. lol)

Bottom line: if you get a decent credit or debit card, you can avoid all fees (and if it's a premium account, the issuer will even absorb the VisaNet fee).

The "DCC" mark up would have to reach 15% or more to make traveler's cheques worthwhile again.

Aw shucks, Janis--thanks :">

I'm on a mini-campaign here, having been caught by DCC in May in Orvieto at the HOTEL DUOMO, otherwise a nice place to stay. Realized what had happened just after I signed the CC slip, darn it. Hotel would NOT rescind the charge and redo it in Euro. This was close to the end of a three-week trip where I had been charged in Euro every other time I used my Visa card.