Traditionally, using plastic abroad has always meant big charges. Things are a lot better these days, but they have taken a downward slide again in some European countries, as they get the option to add an extra charge to your bill.
In France, Italy and Spain, many of the bigger restaurateurs and retailers have a system called DCC dynamic currency conversion. It means they can convert your payment straight into sterling for you, at the till. This may sound tempting, but that conversion will add another 4% of the transaction onto your bill. What is often happening is that customers are authorising the payment in Euros, only for the retailer to put the payment through as sterling. UK customers don’t even realise that this is going on, until they get back and look at the card statements.
According to the Visa’s DCC guidelines, UK cardholders should be given the option to pay in Euros or sterling. Most people don’t get the option, they are not aware that there is an option, and leave none the wiser. The retailer gets the 4% by the way. Perhaps we could have put it down to the language barrier, but seeing as the retailer actually pockets the extra,...
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