We are pleased to announce the re-launch of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) to the U.S. market effective immediately. As you may know, the card associations issued a moratorium on the establishment of new DCC accounts in 2010 that resulted in a DCC Cease and Desist communication to all Elavon Business Development groups on May 7, 2010.
Late in 2010 the card associations lifted the moratorium and published new DCC compliance requirements. Among these mandates, acquirers are now required to register all merchants enrolled in DCC regularly, as well as provide enhanced disclosure on transaction receipts including not only the Sale Currency, Cardholder Currency and Conversion Rate but also the Conversion Markup.
There is redefined disclosure language including a specific area to check or acknowledge “I accept” for DCC on the transaction receipt in addition to the standard cardholder signature. As a result of these new requirements there is now a required DCC Annual Registration Fee for all new merchants enrolled in DCC and we will now support DCC on a subset of the POS equipment previously supported. Below you will find detailed information to help you understand DCC and these new requirements.
Dynamic Currency Conversion
Dynamic Currency Conversion allows international cardholders in the U.S. the option to have their purchases instantly converted at checkout into their local currency. Currency conversion is calculated at a competitive exchange rate, and the U.S. dollar amount, conversion rate, conversion fee and home currency amount are all disclosed at the time of sale and printed on the transaction receipt. Merchants and Elavon partners have the opportunity to share in the revenue generated from conversion fees.
DCC works with foreign-issued MasterCard and Visa cards. Currencies supported include the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Euro, and Japanese Yen. DCC allows cardholders to know exactly how much their purchase costs, in their own currency, at the time of sale. Merchant funding is done in U.S. dollars, and merchants receive a rebate for all DCC-qualified transactions on their monthly processing statement.