DCC? I don't understand

Whilst paying for goods, have you been asked ‘Sir/Madam, would you like to pay in pounds or euros?’, whilst on your holiday in the South of France?

Maybe you know you have both currencies on your Caxton Card, but you don’t know which one to choose.

Our advice is CHOOSE EUROS. CHOOSE LOCAL. Sometimes this is called ‘without conversion’ on the merchants payment options.

Being billed in sterling rather than the local currency is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC).

Otherwise:

1) If you don’t select the local currency, then the merchant converts your payment at their exchange rate.

2) Their rate is for that day, and you have no control over what their rate is.

3) The merchant will make profits from your transaction.

You therefore need to ensure you have enough local currency, in this case, euros on your Caxton Card.

If you don’t, you will be charged in sterling.

If you don’t have sterling on your account, then funds will be debited from your account in the following order:

1. GBP
2. EUR
3. USD
4. AUD
5. CAD
6. NZD
7. HKD
8. CHF
9. JPY
10. DKK
11. ZAR
12. PLN
13. SEK
14. NOK
15. HUF

If you only have one currency on your card, and need to pay in a new currency

If we have the currency you wish to pay with, for example switching from EUR to AUD, you will need to login to your account online and select the option on the left-hand side on your account that says 'switch balance'. This facility is not currently available on the mobile app.

Please note, should you have pending transactions on your card, you will need to wait for these to settle prior to being able to switch your balance.

Top Tips:

• Always ensure you check the payment screen when using your card.
• Load your card with the local currency to lock in the rate at the time.
• If you are travelling to two destinations, you are able to load twice per 24hrs. This means you can load Australian dollars in the morning and New Zealand dollars in the evening!
• If you are unsure what currency you are going to be using you can always load sterling and let the card do the conversions for you, or use our mobile app to load the right currency when you know