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A DCC integration follows a structured path from initial discovery to full production rollout. Each phase has clear responsibilities and exit criteria so both you and Fexco know when to move forward. This page covers the full lifecycle. Use it to understand where you are, what comes next, and who owns each step. The following diagram shows all eight phases. Select a phase to see what you handle, what Fexco handles, and when to move to the next phase.
  1. Discovery Review the available integration methods and decide which approach to use for each DCC component.
    1. Review the integration methods available for merchant boarding, rate service, and transaction import.
    2. Contact Fexco’s implementation team if you need guidance on choosing an approach.
    Fexco may request BIN data during this phase to help size the DCC opportunity for your merchant base. Move to the next step when: You have chosen your integration methods and are ready to start development.
  2. Development You build your integration against Fexco’s specifications. The duration varies significantly depending on your development methodology, team capacity, and the number of DCC components you are integrating.
    1. Code your integration using the chosen methods for merchant boarding, rate service, and transaction import.
    2. If your integration includes file-based methods, use the file format specs and sample files in this portal to build your boarding files and transaction files correctly.
    3. Test your integration locally. For file-based methods, validate your generated files against the file format specs and sample files. Verify that required fields are present, data types are correct, and files match the expected structure. For REST API methods, verify that your requests and response handling work as expected.
    4. If you are using file-based methods, submit your boarding files (XML Boarding File Upload) and transaction files (XML I-File, I-File, or V-File) to Fexco for validation at any point during development. Fexco typically returns a confirmation file within 30 minutes showing any errors and warnings. Larger files or those processed through the manual Opswise workflow may take up to an hour.
    File validation is the most common source of back-and-forth during integration. Submit files early and often to catch issues before UAT.
    Move to the next step when: You can successfully generate boarding files and transaction files that pass Fexco’s file validation, and your code handles the confirmation file responses.
  3. Connectivity setup Fexco’s network team and your IT team establish the secure connection between your systems and Fexco’s infrastructure. If your integration includes file-based methods, this involves setting up SFTP access and IP whitelisting:
    1. Fexco provides a peering document with SFTP connection details.
    2. Your team configures SFTP credentials and provides your IP ranges for whitelisting.
    3. Fexco whitelists your IPs and confirms connectivity readiness.
    See Security setup for the full setup procedure. Move to the next step when: Secure connection confirmed between both systems.
  4. SIT (System Integration Testing) A short phase to verify that the connectivity established in the previous step works in both directions. For file-based integrations:
    1. You send a test file to Fexco’s SFTP server.
    2. Fexco confirms they received it.
    3. Fexco sends a confirmation file back.
    4. You confirm you received it.
    For REST API integrations, Fexco provides the URL details for your cert environment (see API environments) and you verify connectivity by sending a test request. Move to the next step when: Both you and Fexco have confirmed that data flows correctly in both directions.
  5. UAT (User Acceptance Testing) This is a Fexco-led process. Unlike the file validation you do on your own during development, UAT is a formal certification that your entire integration works end to end. Fexco’s Client Currency Solutions team creates a test script tailored to your specific configuration, covering your boarding templates, currencies, rate configurations, and file formats. Your role is to execute the script and fix any issues that come up:
    1. Fexco provides the test script for your setup.
    2. You run through it, submitting boarding files, transaction files, and rate requests through your integration.
    3. Fexco validates that everything arrives correctly, reviews reports and settlement outputs, and provides feedback.
    4. You correct any issues and resubmit until Fexco signs off.
    The most common UAT issues are file validation errors, template configuration mismatches, and currency precision errors. Confirmation files from Fexco show exactly what failed.
    Move to the next step when: Fexco’s finance team approves the outputs and confirms transactions arrive as expected.
  6. Production test Before going fully live, you run a controlled test in the production environment. You can run a closed test using an in-house test terminal or ATM that is not visible to real cardholders, or an open test where you briefly enable DCC at a real location and then disable it. During production test:
    1. Fexco configures your production merchant templates. This requires formal approval from a nominated business owner on your side and a Fexco approver (required for ISO and PCI audit compliance).
    2. You run transactions through production and verify that settlement, batch reports, and rate offers all work as expected.
    3. Fexco monitors from their side and confirms settlement processes correctly.
    Move to the next step when: Everything works as expected in production and both you and Fexco have signed off.
  7. Pilot A standard pilot runs for approximately two weeks with a defined subset of merchants or ATMs operating under real conditions. The pilot validates that everything works at scale before full rollout. See Run a pilot for details on selecting pilot merchants, monitoring criteria, and sign-off requirements. Move to the next step when: Pilot merchants show expected behavior. Fexco’s finance and business teams sign off.
  8. Rollout: After a successful pilot, you roll out DCC across your full merchant base. Fexco’s account management team becomes your primary contact, with technical and support teams available for production issues and escalations. You manage day-to-day merchant boarding and transaction processing through your integration. This developer portal remains available as an ongoing reference for API specs, file formats, and troubleshooting.

Next steps

Ready to begin? Start with these guides depending on where you are in the journey.