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# Local Currency or Your Card’s Currency: How to Read the Payment Terminal
- URL: https://roadme.io/blog/local-currency-or-your-cards-currency-how-to-read-the-payment-terminal/
- Published: 2026-10-11T07:44:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T07:44:29.000Z
- Author: RoadMe
- Tags: Recommendations

When a payment terminal abroad offers local currency or your card’s currency, choosing local currency is usually the sensible starting point. It declines the merchant’s currency conversion offer and leaves any necessary conversion to the arrangements for your card. It does not remove your issuer’s fees or guarantee the lowest cost in every case.

This guide assumes your card is accepted for the transaction. For the wider preparation of cards, cash and backup methods, see the [cash or card travel checklist](https://roadme.io/blog/cash-or-card-abroad-what-to-check-before-you-travel/).

## Understand who is offering the exchange rate

Suppose a restaurant bill in Spain is €60 and your card is billed in pounds. You may be offered a choice between paying EUR 60 and paying a converted amount in GBP.

Choosing euros sends the payment in the restaurant’s original currency. Choosing the merchant’s pound amount accepts its conversion offer, known as **dynamic currency conversion, or DCC**. The conversion is provided through the merchant’s payment arrangements, rather than being the ordinary conversion under your card terms.

The trade-off is visibility versus cost: DCC gives you a displayed amount in another currency, but its rate may include a markup. A familiar currency does not make that rate competitive.

The currency you call “home” may also differ from the card’s billing currency. That matters if you live in one country, hold a card issued elsewhere or use a multicurrency account. Check the actual currency codes rather than assuming the terminal has identified the balance you want to use.

Before a day out, estimate admission prices and other planned spending in the destination’s currency. You do not need to accept a conversion service simply to understand what a purchase costs.

> You can outline the day’s visits in [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io) around your interests and preferred pace. Use that programme to check local prices with venues, then assess payment costs separately under your card’s terms.

## Read the offer before tapping or entering your PIN

Check the original purchase amount first. Then look for the two currency amounts, the conversion rate and any disclosed markup or additional charge.

Visa’s DCC guidance requires these details to be shown on the screen and receipt. The merchant should give you a choice rather than select a currency for you. A promise of a “guaranteed rate” is not enough to assess value.

| Wording you might see                   | What to establish                                                                    |
| --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Pay in EUR / Pay in GBP                 | Which option keeps the original transaction currency                                 |
| Pay in local currency                   | The currency in which the payment will be submitted                                  |
| With conversion                         | The provider’s rate and converted amount                                             |
| Without conversion / Decline conversion | Whether you are declining the offered conversion, rather than cancelling the payment |

These are examples, not a universal screen layout. Do not rely on the colour, size or position of a button. Read the currency code: USD, CAD and AUD are different currencies even though each can be shown with a dollar symbol.

If you want the local-currency option, say: **“Please charge me in the local currency, without currency conversion.”**Ask to see the terminal before confirming. If the choices or costs remain unclear, pause the payment and request clarification.

## Compare both options in the same currency

To compare DCC with local-currency payment, include your issuer’s relevant charges. Comparing the merchant’s converted amount with a search engine’s reference rate leaves out part of the calculation.

Here is an illustrative example for a GBP-billed card. A €60 purchase has a DCC offer of £57\. Assume the alternative card conversion would use £0.85 per euro, with a 2% issuer fee.

| Option     | Calculation                                                | Estimated cost in GBP |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| Pay EUR 60 | 60 × 0.85, then add 2%                                     | £52.02                |
| Accept DCC | Displayed offer, assuming no other charges in this example | £57.00                |

Under those assumptions, local-currency payment costs **£4.98 less**. The figures are invented for the calculation; they are not current exchange rates, a provider quote or standard card fees.

For a real payment, check how your issuer calculates conversion and which date’s rate applies. The final posted amount may differ from a pre-payment estimate. If your issuer has other relevant charges, include them for each option.

A card marketed as having no foreign transaction fees can still encounter a merchant’s DCC markup. These are separate costs. Equally, paying in local currency does not remove a foreign transaction fee that your own agreement applies.

For cash rather than a card payment, the same net-cost approach is covered in the guide to [comparing travel currency exchange rates and fees](https://roadme.io/blog/travel-currency-exchange-how-to-compare-rates-and-fees/).

![](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/file4-5.webp)

## Check how a multicurrency card uses its balances

If you hold euros and pay a euro bill in EUR, your provider may take the payment from that balance without another exchange. This depends on its balance-selection rules and the availability of sufficient funds.

Do not assume an offer to pay in your “home currency” uses that euro balance. It may submit the transaction in a different currency, creating a need for conversion under your account rules.

Before travelling, check which balance is used, what happens when it is insufficient and what charges apply. At the terminal, still choose the transaction currency deliberately. A multicurrency account does not make every offered conversion appropriate.

## At an ATM, separate conversion from withdrawal fees

An ATM can dispense local banknotes while offering to charge your card in a different currency. The currency of the cash and the currency of the submitted transaction are separate questions.

To decline the operator’s conversion, identify the option that keeps the transaction in local currency. “Without conversion” refers to the ATM’s offer; it does not promise that your issuer will perform no conversion or charge no fee.

Read any access or withdrawal fee separately. Declining DCC does not remove an ATM operator fee, your issuer’s withdrawal charge or credit-card cash advance costs. If the screen combines several offers, establish what each acceptance means before proceeding.

If you cannot determine the amount and transaction currency, cancel before confirmation and use another available option.

## Check the receipt and address an unwanted conversion

Keep the receipt and identify the transaction currency. A DCC receipt may show both local and billing amounts, so seeing two currencies is not enough to establish an error. Compare the completed transaction with the choice you made.

Your banking app may display the account-currency equivalent of a payment originally submitted in local currency. That display alone does not prove the merchant applied DCC.

If conversion was applied without your consent, ask the merchant to investigate and, where possible, reverse the payment. Establish the first transaction’s status before paying again and retain any reversal confirmation.

If the issue remains unresolved, contact the card issuer with the receipt, date, amounts and an explanation of the currency choice you were offered. Visa and Mastercard provide processes for incorrectly applied conversion, but a complaint does not guarantee a refund or a particular outcome.

Accepting a clearly disclosed offer and later finding a cheaper exchange rate is different from being denied a choice or charged in the wrong currency.

> Before heading out, download your destination city in [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io) while you have internet access. Its maps and navigation will then be available offline, helping you continue to the next stop without relying on mobile data.

Before approving a payment, identify **the original price, the transaction currency and the provider of any conversion**. A brief check gives you a clear basis for choosing, rather than accepting a familiar-looking amount by default.