DCC, the full name is Dynamic Currency Conversion, which is to convert the local currency into your accounting currency in real time. In theory, the currency is converted when the card is swiped. It sounds like a good function, but DCC’s The exchange rates are usually not very good so it is a feature that should be avoided. Let’s talk about the situation in our country. China’s dual-currency credit cards are quite special.

1 Only China’s dual-currency credit cards are printed with two credit card organizations, such as VISA and UnionPay.

2 China UnionPay does not accept RMB transactions settled through credit card organizations such as visa/mastercard. I admit it. For example, we use a dual-currency card in RMB and US dollars to consume euros. According to the current situation, DCC converts the euros into renminbi and then converts them into US dollars for recording. When you repay the loan, you have to repay it in RMB, which results in three exchanges and a huge loss.

For example: Teacher Hua uses a RMB/USD dual-currency card to pay for a meal worth 100 euros. The bank first converts it to 900 yuan for you at an exchange rate of 1:9. And since we are using the Master channel, we cannot settle in RMB and can only settle in EUR/USD. Then use the exchange rate of 1:8 to convert it into euros, and the price on the bill becomes 900/8 = EUR112.5, a loss!

Then why not go through the UnionPay channel?

1 Since UnionPay POS machines are not popular enough,

2 visa/mastercard uses various methods to block UnionPay,

3 UnionPay’s exchange rate is not very cost-effective ( (Except in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asian countries),

The most ideal way is to use a U.S. dollar dual-currency card issued by a major bank in the U.S. dollar area, and a euro dual-currency card issued by a major bank in the Euro area. In Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia, you can use UnionPay cards, and the exchange rate is pretty good. The reason why big banks are specifically mentioned is that small banks may charge handling fees for related items when using U.S. dollar cards, such as Minsheng and Huaxia. This type of card is called a pseudo dual-currency card in major credit card forums.