One foreign charge: how much over the mid-market did it really cost Foreign card true-cost calculator: the conversion fee and DCC markup, added up

The statement shows a single charged amount, with no hint of how many markups are buried inside. This calculator pulls one foreign card charge apart: what it should have cost at the mid-market rate, plus your issuer's currency-conversion fee, plus another layer if DCC caught you, and where that leaves what you actually paid and how many points over the mid-market that is. Fill four fields, tap once. Use it to reconcile after the fact, or to have a rough number in your head before you tap at the till.

Foreign-currency amount The foreign amount on this charge, e.g. 120 (EUR)

Mid-market rate (1 foreign = ? home) The reference mid-market rate you looked up, e.g. 1.08

Currency-conversion fee % Issuer's foreign-transaction fee, often 1.5; leave the default if unsure

This one was DCC'd (the terminal made me settle in my home currency), add a merchant markup of %

How to read this The "at mid-market" figure is the cheapest baseline, computed at the mid-market rate. You almost never get it, but it's the yardstick. "Actual estimate" = baseline × (1 + conversion fee) × (if DCC'd, × (1 + merchant markup)). The gap between the two is what this charge quietly costs you. If the gap is wild, it's usually DCC or a high spread. To understand where that markup comes from and how to spot it on the statement, read the hidden markup on overseas card spending and understanding DCC.

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