Every year, millions of foreign tourists flock to the Portuguese coast in search of the many scenic and gastronomic wonders that Portugal has to offer.

This search for our country's hidden treasures ends up having a profound impact on national business, which is evident in the weight of tourism in Portugal's GDP: 16.6% in 2024.

Although the revenue from purchases made by these foreign customers is fundamental to the economic survival of many businesses, it's not always easy receiving payments in foreign currencyespecially due to the costs associated with transaction, exchange and receipt fees.

There is, however, a much less expensive alternative that can even pay for itself through additional income: the feature DCC - Dynamic Currency Conversion.

How can the DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) feature benefit your business?

Born so that conversion of foreign currency payments is simpler and faster and less expensive for merchants, the DCC feature allows your foreign customers to pay in the home currency of the debit/credit card they use to pay for their purchases.

The whole process is very simple, as it is carried out directly in the automatic payment terminal (TPA) that you have installed in your physical shop or in the REDUNIQ online solutions available in your e-commerce shop.

As well as being more convenient for the customer (and prompting them to return to the shop), this feature could bring other major benefits to your business, such as:

• Exemption from the payment of membership and monthly fees;
• The possibility of receiving a percentage of the markup (margin applied to the exchange rate of the transaction);
• Simplified management of incoming transactions (the exchange is carried out automatically in the terminal or online payment solution);
• Greater transparency and security in payments for both the client and the business.

Finally, if your business uses the DCC - Currency conversion for REDUNIQ paymentYou can also speed up payments using the contactless present in TPAs Smart e Easy, accept remote payments (whether you sell with or without a website) via the E-Commerce payment gateway and the solution Pay by Link and offer transactions in 35 different foreign currencies.

Advantages of DCC functionality for companies making international transactions

By placing the international payment solutions With DCC at their service, companies making international transactions will be able to reap a number of advantages. Thus, among the main benefits of the DCC functionality are:

• Increase in the number of sales;
• Greater ability to attract foreign customers due to greater convenience in payment;
• Reduced operating costs with exchange rates and membership fees;
• Simplification of transactions, since the entire exchange process is immediate and integrated at the time of payment;
• Source of additional revenue, as the business will be able to receive an additional amount (markup) on the exchange rate used in each DCC transaction;
• Improved customer experience with the DCC, as they now have access to a simpler and more familiar means of payment.

How to implement DCC functionality in your payment system?

As we touched on in one of the previous points, DCC can be implemented in two ways (depending on the sales channel in which you operate), as long as you use the following methods REDUNIQ's online and physical payment solutions.

For example, if you operate a physical souvenir shop, you can take advantage of the DCC functionality by installing a TPA Android SmartThis terminal also allows you to receive payments with national and international cards, MB WAY, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PIX and Parcela Já with UNICRE (an app that allows you to pay in instalments between 2 and 6 times without interest).

Alternatively, if you want to keep costs down, you can use the Free TPA with an Easy monthly fee that guarantees you, in addition to the DCC feature, no membership fee and no loyalty period, a single monthly fee and the possibility of accepting payments by debit and credit cards, contactless, MB WAY, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

If you sell online via a website, you'll find the DCC functionality integrated into the E-Commerce payment solution or, if you sell online without a website (via social networks or marketplaces, for example), in the remote payment solution Pay by Link.

Finally, whenever you need technical support, you can count on the REDUNIQ team to help you resolve the problem, without any disruption to your business.

What is the difference between DCC and a traditional currency conversion?

The big difference between DCC and traditional currency conversion lies in the way the conversion itself takes place.

Whereas in DCC the conversion is immediate, automatic and integrated at the time of payment, in traditional conversion, the consumer pays in the local currency and it is then up to the bank or card processor to make the exchange.

Not only is this not very convenient for either the merchant or the customer, but the latter cannot choose the type of currency in which they want to pay, something that is not the case with the DCC feature, a solution in which the customer can choose the currency of the transaction directly at the point of sale.

The differences, however, don't stop there. There is greater transparency, since the DCC exchange rates and other fees associated with the transaction are shown at the time of payment on the terminal display or in the online payment solution.

Finally, by using DCC, the retailer can also generate additional revenue by offering a percentage of the markup, something that doesn't happen with traditional conversion.