When you use your card abroad, you’ll typically see an option asking you to choose if you'd like to pay in the local currency or pound sterling (GBP).

To ensure favourable currency exchange rates, we’d highly recommend choosing the local currency, as we use Visa foreign currency exchange rates. This means that there are no unexpected extra fees on top of your card payments abroad and you can benefit from the best available exchange rates.

Feel free to check the exchange rates calculators available on Visa’s website.

Note: We’ll always use the exchange rates available at the time when the transaction is fully settled, typically a couple of days after you’ve made the transaction.

What happens if I choose to pay in pound sterling (GBP)?

When you select pound sterling (GBP) as your currency, the merchant (or an ATM) converts your transaction into pounds using dynamic currency conversion (DCC). This means that the merchant has more control over the exchange rates that will be used to complete your transaction and you’re likely to pay more than if you’d chosen the local currency.