Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP)

What Multi-Currency Pricing is

Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP) lets your online store show prices in a customer’s currency and process the payment in that currency. You can still receive settlement and reporting in your home currency or another chosen currency. MCP is a merchant pricing and conversion feature, not an interchange category or a card-network assessment.

Your checkout determines how customers choose a currency. It can show a localized price based on the customer’s location, offer a currency selector, or do both. If the page displays only the localized price, customers lose the option to pay in your store’s currency. That can cause confusion when the conversion or your business location is not clear.

MCP localizes the price, but the conversion terms determine the amount behind that price.

How it works

Your store starts with a price in its base currency. MCP converts that price for display and sends the payment in the selected customer currency. The currency conversion determines the amount charged to the customer, while your settlement currency determines the currency in which you receive funds. Some service setups use a rate secured before processing; others calculate the rate when the transaction is processed.

MCP is distinct from Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). MCP presents prices in multiple currencies as part of your store’s pricing and checkout. DCC is a separate conversion offer made during an eligible payment, and its rules should not be assumed to apply to MCP.

What it means for your business

MCP does not have a universal fee or rate established in the guidance cited here. The research provides no standard MCP fee amount, so the conversion rate and any service charges need to be evaluated from the terms offered for your setup. Do not treat a quoted conversion rate as a card-network fee.

A customer who sees a foreign card transaction can still face additional fees or taxes from their card issuer. Clear checkout information helps prevent surprises: state the transaction currency, identify your business’s country, and explain that the customer’s bank may add charges. Visa’s ecommerce guidance calls for the merchant’s country and permanent-establishment address to be disclosed in the checkout sequence.

Where checkout details go wrong

Unclear currency or business-location information can lead customers to misunderstand a charge and dispute it. A currency name like “dollar” is ambiguous because it can refer to U.S., Australian, New Zealand, or Hong Kong dollars. Display the currency code, such as USD or AUD, beside the amount.

Keep your store’s local currency visible as a clear choice, or make it easy for a customer to switch back to it. That gives the buyer control over the displayed price and reduces confusion about what currency will appear on the card transaction.

What you can actually change

1. 01
   Get the rate breakdown. Ask for the exchange rate, how it is set, the settlement currency, and every MCP-related service charge. Compare the effective converted amount with your store’s base-currency price.
2. 02
   Make currency clear. Show the currency code beside each localized price, identify your business’s country in checkout, and give customers a clear way to select your store’s currency.
3. 03
   Test the full checkout. Place a test order using a different currency and review the checkout, receipt, customer charge, and settlement report. Confirm that each shows the expected currency and amount.

Frequently asked questions