If you are traveling abroad, make sure that when you pay with your credit card, you choose to use the local currency when that option is available. Sure, we might feel more comfortable using the currency we are used to every day, but tourists withdrawing money from cash machines or paying electronically in shops and restaurants are finding out the hard way that when choosing their home currency, fees are charged for a feature called "dynamic currency conversion," and those fees can be as much as 7.6%, more than double the cost of paying in the local currency (between 1.5% and 3%).
You can't escape international fees, as credit cards will always find a way to charge fees to the consumer, and as always, processing fees are charged to every merchant for processing credit card sales. However, currency conversion fees, which are often hidden, can be quite costly for tourists.
The currency choice service is highly lucrative for those who operate it. We recommend that next time you travel abroad and are given the choice, you opt for the more reasonable conversion fees charged by your bank rather than paying in your home currency.
For more information about the payments industry, please follow our blog, and for more information on how we can help businesses grow through solutions beyond payments, contact us today!