Pay in Home or Local Currency When Travelling Overseas?

Almost every traveler is faced with this scenario – which currency to pay in for your purchases? Home or local?

Home currency is your own currency i.e. Ringgit Malaysia (MYR).

Local currency is that of the country you are visiting i.e AUD, USD, SGD, GBP, etc.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), otherwise known as Cardholder Preferred Currency, is the process whereby the purchase amount is converted by a shop, restaurant, online store or an ATM to your home currency at the point of sale.

This may sound confusing, but it simply means that if you opt to pay in your home currency i.e. MYR, the store cashier will use their own exchange rate to convert to your home currency, resulting in a fee. One common misconception is that paying in your home currency will exclude you from foreign transaction fees. THIS IS NOT TRUE, ALWAYS CHOOSE LOCAL CURRENCY!

With the Merchantrade Money card, you are able to purchase multiple foreign currencies and store them directly in one card (in respective wallets) and the rates do not fluctuate. Thereby giving you the advantage of saving even more on your overseas retail or e-commerce spending.

Tips while you travel:

1. Ask to pay in local currency. You’ll be avoiding unnecessary DCC charges this way.

2. Always check the receipt after each transaction to ensure that the amount is charged in the local currency.

3. If the transaction is mischarged in home currency i.e. MYR, ask for the transaction to be voided and perform transaction again.

You can also download the Merchantrade Money app on Google Play Store and App Store to track your transactions.