Overview
- Martin Lewis told ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday that when an ATM or card terminal asks to charge in pounds it is asking who will do the currency conversion and that travellers should usually choose the local currency.
- The practice is called Dynamic Currency Conversion and it lets the ATM or merchant convert the sale into pounds before your bank is billed.
- DCC can add a sizable markup to the exchange rate, with reports of extra costs of around 6 to 7 percent and some machines also charging extra withdrawal fees.
- Lewis advised using your card provider to do the conversion or using specialist overseas spending cards that track interbank rates because those options typically give better exchange rates than DCC.
- Consumer group Which? and the coverage note that some machines aggressively push pound conversions because operators earn from the markup, so travellers should read prompts carefully to avoid higher holiday costs.