Skip to main content
Multi-currency pricing (MCP) is a foreign exchange service that lets a cardholder shop and pay in their home currency on an e-commerce website, mobile app, or kiosk, even when the merchant prices goods in a different currency. This page explains how MCP works, how it differs from DCC, and where it fits in the Fexco platform.

MCP vs DCC

DCC and MCP solve the same problem, showing the cardholder a price in their own currency, but they work at different points in the buying journey. With DCC, the exchange rate is requested at the moment of payment. The cardholder taps or inserts their card, the terminal or host calls the rate service, and the cardholder sees the converted amount for the first time on the payment screen. DCC is most common at physical point-of-sale terminals and ATMs. With MCP, the merchant collects exchange rates from Fexco ahead of time and displays prices in the cardholder’s preferred currency while they browse. By the time the cardholder reaches checkout, the converted amount is already visible in their basket. MCP is most common in e-commerce, where a shopper can switch between currencies before deciding to pay. The following table summarizes the key differences.
If your integration needs DCC as well as MCP, see What is DCC? for a full explanation of how DCC works across POS, ecommerce, and ATM channels.

How MCP works

An MCP transaction follows these steps:
  1. Select a currency: The cardholder visits a merchant’s website and selects their preferred currency.
  2. Collect exchange rates: The merchant’s payment gateway collects exchange rates from Fexco for the currencies the merchant supports.
  3. Display converted prices: The website displays product prices in the cardholder’s chosen currency using the collected rates.
  4. Submit payment: The cardholder selects goods, sees prices in their own currency, and submits payment.
  5. Route the transaction: The payment gateway submits the MCP transaction to the acquirer for settlement.
  6. Authorize the transaction: The card scheme authorizes the transaction in the cardholder’s currency.
  7. Complete the transaction: The MCP transaction completes and the cardholder receives an invoice or receipt in their chosen currency.
The following diagram shows the full sequence, from the cardholder choosing a currency to the final receipt.

Who integrates with MCP?

MCP is both an acquirer-facing service and a merchant-facing solution. Fexco’s direct customers are acquirers and payment service providers (PSPs) who integrate with the rate APIs and then offer MCP as part of their acquirer services to merchants. MCP can also be sold directly to enterprise merchants who manage their own payment infrastructure. MCP is most relevant for acquirers whose merchants operate online stores, mobile apps, or self-service kiosks that serve international customers. If a merchant’s website already displays prices in the local currency and wants to show prices in the cardholder’s home currency before checkout, MCP is the service that enables that.
Merchants and cardholders do not call Fexco’s APIs directly. The acquirer or PSP handles the integration.

MCP integration methods

MCP is available through two integration methods:
  • API: Rate Service Classic is the API-based method for MCP.
  • Non-API: MCP is also supported over XML and ISO 8583.
See Choose a rate API for a full comparison of all integration methods.

MCP activation and merchant boarding

MCP activation is controlled at the template level during merchant boarding. When an acquirer boards a merchant, the template assigned to that merchant determines whether DCC, MCP, or both are active. A merchant must be boarded with an MCP-enabled template before the rate service returns MCP rates for that merchant. For details on how templates work, see How merchant boarding works.

Next steps

Now that you understand how MCP works, explore the pages below to continue: