How dynamic currency conversion works
The terminal recognises a foreign card from its number and shows the amount in both currencies, with the rate. The cardholder chooses. If the cardholder picks the card's currency, the payment is authorised and cleared in that currency, and the provider of the service and the merchant share the margin.
Mastercard's Transaction Processing Rules of 9 June 2026 call the service POI currency conversion, and say that the foreign exchange rate is applied by the merchant or the acquirer.
What the rules require
In the EU, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 applies to a party offering conversion at a cash machine or at the point of sale. Scheme rules sit on top:
- EU: the total conversion charge is shown as a percentage mark-up over the latest European Central Bank reference rate, before the payment is initiated
- EU: both amounts are shown, in the merchant's currency and in the currency of the payer's account
- EU: the payer is told that paying in the local currency, with conversion by the payer's own provider, is possible
- Visa Core Rules, 18 April 2026: the cardholder is told that DCC is optional, the option is not pre-selected, and the cardholder expressly agrees
- Mastercard, 9 June 2026: the acquirer registers first, and the cardholder is not steered towards conversion
Why DCC matters to an acquirer or a gateway
The service earns a margin on foreign cards for the merchant and the acquirer. The cost is compliance: card-number tables to detect the currency, a rate feed, screens and receipts that meet the rules, and audits by the schemes.
DCC, issuer conversion or multi-currency pricing?
- Issuer conversion
- The cardholder pays in the local currency, and the scheme and the issuer convert at their rate plus any issuer fee.
- Multi-currency pricing
- The merchant sets its prices in several currencies in advance. No conversion is offered card by card at the moment of payment.
Where Dynamic currency conversion shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- FXCurrency conversion with live rates, your margins and the liquidity provider you choose.
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- CheckoutA hosted checkout for cards, wallets, bank payments and crypto, routed to the best provider.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 on cross-border payments in the Union, Article 4 (EUR-Lex)
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 18 April 2026: 5.8.9, Dynamic Currency Conversion (Visa)
- Mastercard Transaction Processing Rules, 9 June 2026: 3.8, POI Currency Conversion (Mastercard)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.