Now when an international customer uses their foreign Visa or MasterCard in a terminal, they'll immediately see the cost of the purchase in their own currency and have the option to pay for it in that currency or in Canadian dollars.

Ideal for businesses processing a high volume of foreign transactions, Moneris DCC is easily added to existing terminals. It offers merchants the ability to process payments, in a customer's preferred currency at an exchange rate displayed on the terminal, providing clear pricing to the customer. This program can help merchants improve their bottom line, while providing greater customer service and flexibility when dealing with international travelers.

"Many visitors to Canada, particularly from the U.S., don't realize how much more affordable things are here due to the favourable exchange rate. When they see the cost of items displayed in their own currency on the terminal, they tend to spend more," said Rob Cameron, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Moneris. "Foreign spending in Canada has increased more than 17 per cent year over year.1 Giving businesses the flexibility to offer currency conversion at the store level makes payments easier for them and their customers visiting from abroad."

In 2015, international arrivals to Canada increased 7.5 per cent year over year.2 U.S. travelers are increasingly coming north of the border as the Canadian dollar has weakened against the U.S. dollar, making 5.2 million overnight trips, and spending $3.4 billion.3

Southern Ontario's Niagara-on-the-Lake region, a destination attracting more than 2 million tourists each year, is home to Cecile's Home & Gift, a business using Moneris DCC. The store serves many tourists and the owner is always looking for new ways to improve the customer experience.

"Currency conversion payment options are something I had seen while travelling in Europe and I really liked the feature," said Chris Martineau, Owner, Cecile's Home & Gift and Cecile's House. "When the option was presented to me from Moneris, I immediately took advantage. We are in the early stages, but we've already had a number of tourists come in and it made their experience that much simpler and straightforward when it came time to pay."

With DCC, merchants may benefit from:

• Improved payment services, increasing customer satisfaction;
• The ability to offer their customers the choice to pay in over 90 currencies including: Euro, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, British pound sterling and more;
• No monthly program fees or rate look-up fees;
• The potential to reduce chargebacks and avoid confusion due to unrecognized amounts on cardholder statements; and,
• The opportunity to share in the DCC currency conversion revenue.

Foreign Visa and MasterCard credit cardholders also benefit from DCC through:

• Increased transparency on transaction amount(s), offering comfort and peace of mind when making a purchase because the price and currency conversion rate is displayed and the sale is processed in their own currency; and,
• Simplified expense reporting for business travelers as receipts in their own currency will match their cardholder statements.

Canadian Tourism Data:

• Overseas residents made 2.2 million overnight trips to Canada and spent $3.6 billion.2
• The more favourable U.S. to Canadian dollar exchange rate is expected to contribute a 3.3 per cent growth in overnight travel from the U.S. in 2016.4
• In 2015, the number of U.S. overnight visitors rose 8.3% compared to 2014 to reach nearly 12.5 million.1
• According to Moneris spend data for Q4 2015, the top three foreign cards used were from China (+24.10% YoY), U.S. (+14.68% YoY) and United Kingdom (+13.68% YoY).

Available now, DCC is available for merchants using standalone payment terminal solutions with more options available later in 2016. Moneris DCC uses rate look-up functionality provided by Planet Payment's Pay in Your Currency.