Process overview

Typical DCC payments consist of two requests:

• A CURRENCYRATE request – This is used to retrieve an up-to-date conversion rate from a DCC provider. This is processed while the customer is on the Payment Pages, prior to confirming the purchase. We use this information to calculate the amount in the customer’s local currency and display this as an option for payment.

The customer will be offered a choice to pay in either the currency you specify in the POST, or the local currency associated with their card. (If these two currencies are the same, the payment will be processed immediately in this currency).

• An AUTH request – Once the customer has decided on the currency for the payment, an AUTH request is processed. This is to request the customer’s bank to authorise the payment in the customer’s preferred currency.

What the customer sees

Payment choice

The customer is initially shown the payment choice page, where they can select the payment type that they wish to use. This differs from the normal choice page in that the amount is initially hidden. This is because the currencies and respective amounts to be offered to the customer have yet to be established. This comes after the customer enters their payment details on the next page.

Payment details

If the customer chooses a payment type that supports DCC, they are informed that they are able to pay in an alternative currency to the currency submitted in the POST. Here they will be able to see the amount in the currency you submitted in the request.

We will use the card number (PAN) entered by the customer to establish their local currency, by submitting the information in a CURRENCYRATE request. The conversion rate partner will supply a conversion rate that is used to convert the amount in the currency you submitted in the request to an amount in the customer’s local currency.

If the cardholder’s local currency is the same as the submitted currency, the customer will not be shown a conversion rate and instead will process the payment in this currency (skipping the currency choice page described below).

The amounts paid in the customer’s currency have a small fee added to them to cover the cost of the conversion by the third-party conversion rate provider. This fee is determined by calculating a percentage of the amount in the customer’s currency and adding this to the total amount. For further information, please contact your conversion rate provider.

If the payment type selected does not support DCC, the payment flow is not affected and the customer will complete the payment in the currency specified in the POST.

Currency choice

The amounts in both currencies are displayed on the currency choice page. The customer will be able to choose between paying in either currency.

If the customer changes their card number (PAN) at this stage, before clicking “Pay Securely“, we will re-establish the customer’s local currency using the new card and perform another CURRENCYRATE request to retrieve the new conversion rate. The customer will be redisplayed the payment details page, along with the following warning that the new amounts calculated may differ from the amounts previously shown:

 

Once the payment currency has been selected, a subsequent AUTH request will be processed by your acquiring bank. This uses the currency and respective amount chosen by the customer on the Payment Pages.

Response page

Following a successful DCC payment, the customer is shown the response page with details of the transaction processed. This includes information on the currency conversion performed on the transaction.

Your progress

Now you have considered the requirements and understand the DCC payment process, you can configure your hosted Payment Pages solution.

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