Questions, answered properly
One question per page, each answered from the document that settles it: the Visa and Mastercard rulebooks, the text of the EU regulation, and field tests that actually measured what DCC costs. Where a source could not be verified, the page says so instead of guessing.
After the payment
How do I know if I was actually charged DCC?
The arithmetic that proves a conversion markup, what a compliant DCC receipt must show under Visa and under Mastercard, and what to do when the receipt is gone.
Read → Getting the money back · 22 sourcesI was charged in my own currency without being asked. Can I get the money back?
Visa claims the whole transaction, Mastercard claims only the difference, and both clocks start at clearing rather than at your statement. What a DCC dispute actually involves.
Read → Refunds that come back short · 24 sourcesI got a refund on a foreign purchase and less money came back. Why?
A credit is a separate transaction with its own exchange rate, not a reversal of the purchase. What the DCC guidance says, the escape hatch that breaks it, and what you can check yourself.
Read →Before you press the button
Is paying in my home currency ever actually cheaper?
What would have to be true for home currency to win, the four field measurements this page can verify, each kept with its own publisher, sample and benchmark, and where break-even lands.
Read → The markup percentage · 24 sourcesThe screen says "includes a 5.5% markup". What is that a markup over, and where is it even required?
Over the ECB reference rate, under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1230. And it does not reach dollars, pounds or francs.
Read → No way to decline · 29 sourcesThe machine gives me no way to decline the conversion. What now?
Visa's rulebook and Mastercard's standards both require an active choice. The exact wording, what to capture at the machine, and what reporting achieves.
Read → Can a card refuse for you? · 24 sourcesCan any card refuse DCC for you automatically?
The honest answer is no. What your issuer actually controls, which card products are carved out at the acquirer's end, and why the Amex ban story is unproven.
Read →Where it catches people
I accepted a conversion on a deposit. What rate do I actually pay?
What Mastercard's merchant guidance and Visa's rules actually say about pre-authorisations at hotels and rental desks.
Read → Prices in your currency online · 19 sourcesA foreign website is showing prices in my currency. Is that DCC, and should I switch it?
Multi-currency pricing and DCC look identical at checkout. The exchange rate tells you which one you are in.
Read → Who profits from it · 39 sourcesWhy do hotels, rental desks and airport ATMs push this?
The commercial chain behind every currency prompt: DCC providers, acquirers, merchants and ATM deployers, with the rulebooks and the operators' own words.
Read →Short answers instead?
The FAQ covers the same ground in a paragraph each. These pages are for when the paragraph is not enough. For a specific payment, the calculator settles it in numbers, and the refusal card carries the sentence to say at the counter in 40 languages.