What is it?
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) allows international customers to pay in their home currency when making a purchase in a country that uses a different currency.
DCC offers an extra level of service to international guests paying with a foreign card. During the payment process, the guest is given the option to pay directly in their own currency; quickly, clearly, and without the need for conversion at the front desk or in the restaurant.
Please note that DCC is only available if you have payment terminals via Smarthotel.
How does it work?
- You initiate a payment like you usually do, and the guest presents their card to the payment terminal.
- The terminal recognizes the currency that is used for billing the guest when they use their card.
- If the guest's billing currency differs from the local currency, the terminal prompts the guest to choose between paying in the local currency or their own billing currency.
- If the guest accepts DCC by choosing their own billing currency, foreign-exchange conversion is applied to the transaction. The receipt generated includes information about the conversion. If the shopper rejects DCC by choosing the local currency, the transaction continues in the local currency.
Below an example of how this is, for a specific transaction shown in the Adyen portal
EUR 89,50 * GBP 0,9092475 = GBP 81,38
The 0.909 GBP shown on the receipt is the ECB exchange rate including 5% markup fee.
2,9% of EUR 89.50 = EUR 2,59 This is the DCC markup split which is divided in two equal parts between the hotel and Smarthotel.
Supported currencies and countries/regions
Adyen currently supports the following DCC currencies:
AED, ALL, ANG, AUD, BAM, BHD, BRL, CAD, CHF, CLP, CNY, COP, CZK, DKK, EEK, EGP, EUR, FJD, GBP, HKD, HRK, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, ISK, JOD, JPY, KES, KRW, KWD, KZT, LKR, MAD, MXN, MYR, NGN, NOK, NZD, OMR, PEN, PHP, PKR, PLN, QAR, ROL, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, SKK, THB, TRY, TWD, UAH, USD, UYU, UZS, VND, ZAR.
DCC Revenue
The markup charged on guests who pay in their home currency generates revenue for your business.
Merchants that have signed up for DCC receive a part of the mark-up fee paid by the cardholder. This mark-up is set at 5.00 % and currently calculated in a two-way split where the Adyen part of is already deducted in the reporting. The remaining markup fee is evenly split between your business and Smarthotel.
The total earned markup fee for the DCC accepted transactions is found on your monthly statement. Smarthotel sends a separate invoice to pay for half of this markup.
In a specific payment batch there is a column DCC markup. The amount shows the 2,90% part of the markup.
Example settlement batch report
Complying with regulations
To avoid fines and the loss of DCC privileges, it is important to comply with the disclosure and receipt requirements of the card schemes when choosing to offer DCC to your guests.
According to card scheme regulations, the guest must be given the choice to accept DCC, or decline it and pay in the local currency. The guest must be made aware of the cost of the currency conversion, and it is not permitted to force a choice on the cardholder.
Refer to Dynamic Currency Conversion - Rules & Regulations for detailed guidance on card scheme requirements.