Merchants in popular tourist destinations and international business meeting locales likely accept payments on foreign credit cards more often than other types of businesses. From restaurants to sightseeing attractions, Canadian merchants likely get requests from customers to process transactions in their home-country currency (US dollars, for example) rather than the local currency (Canadian dollars). When this happens, merchants have the ability to offer a service called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) to match customer preferences and grow business from foreign visitors. Here is what you need to know to get started.

What is DCC?

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a service offered by acquirers like Elavon for travellers in foreign countries. When paying at a business – like a souvenir shop or food vendor – travellers can choose to pay in their home currency, rather than the local currency. This can make travellers feel more confident about their purchases, as they can see the value in their home currency and lock in the exchange rate at the time of purchase. This service is optional and pricing to the cardholder includes a currency exchange fee. Customers always have the option to decline to use DCC and can pay in the local currency instead – but may still have to pay a currency exchange fee later, depending on the features of their card.

What types of businesses benefit from DCC?

Businesses that process any volume of foreign credit cards can benefit from offering DCC – travellers may not feel comfortable making purchases from merchants who only offer the local currency and appreciate the transparency of being able to see prices in their home currency at the point of sale. When merchants enable DCC from their payments provider, the checkout screen will include details and disclosures related to the transaction – ensuring full transparency for the customer. This will also reduce risk of chargebacks by alleviating confusion about transaction values and fees during travel. Further, merchants who offer DCC can earn a rebate from their payments provider on qualified DCC transactions.

How does DCC benefit consumers?

When travelling internationally, consumers have a lot to keep track of – tickets, reservations, itineraries, foreign cash exchange, and more. Understanding the value of local money can be hard to understand, especially in countries that are less familiar to travellers. DCC allows consumers to see the cost of a meal or retail transaction, for example, in their home currency at the point of sale – rather than having to guess the exchange rate or be surprised by the actual cost later. However, if travellers do not want to use DCC, they can simply decline this option and choose to pay in the local currency instead. Foreign transaction fees may also apply with or without the use of DCC, depending on the specific features of the credit cards that consumers use.

How to get started

Elavon offers DCC for 66 global currencies – including US dollars, Euros, Japanese yen, and more. Canadian merchants can cater to the needs of foreign travellers, increase transaction transparency, and create new revenue opportunities. Contact us to learn more about getting started.

* By selecting this link, you will leave Elavon content and enter a third-party website. Elavon is not responsible for the content of, or products and services provided by this third party, nor does it guarantee the system availability or accuracy of information contained in the site. This website is not controlled by Elavon. Please note that the third-party website may have privacy and information security policies that differ from those of Elavon.

Success

Request a call back

We want to hear from you. If you are interested in setting up a new merchant account with us, please contact us through the form below and we'll call between the hours of 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM EST, Monday-Friday. If you require assistance with an existing account, please call our customer service line 24/7/365.

This contact form is for US customers only. If you are looking for one of our other locations, please visit elavon.com/country-selector.html to find your country or region.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By providing us with an email address you are expressly consenting to receiving email communications – including but not limited to marketing material/advertising, promotions, sales campaigns, and questioner/research surveys. By providing us with a telephone number for a cellular phone or other wireless device, including a number that you later convert to a cellular number, you are expressly consenting to receiving communications – including but not limited to prerecorded or artificial voice message calls, text messages, and calls made by an automatic telephone dialing system – from us and our affiliates and agents at that number. This express consent applies to each such telephone number that you provide to us now or in the future and permits such calls for non-marketing purposes. Calls and messages may incur access fees from your cellular provider. We accept relay calls. Your privacy is important to us. By clicking “submit” you agree to our terms and conditions.

/content/dam/elavon/global/icons/storytelling/icon-phone.svg

Sales

Available Mon. – Fri.
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM EST
1-866-671-1583

/content/dam/elavon/global/icons/storytelling/icon-headset.svg

Customer Support

Available 24/7
1-800-725-1243