Cross-border Charges

This guide aims to provide a clear understanding of cross-border charges, ensuring you can offer valuable advice and support to your customers.

What Are Cross-Border Charges?

Cross-border charges are fees applied to transactions made in a currency other than the card’s denomination, in this case, USD. The primary reason for these charges is currency conversion. When a customer uses their Miden card abroad or for online purchases from foreign merchants (non-USD merchants), the currency needs to be converted to the merchant's local currency by the card processor, in other to settle the merchant, and this conversion process incurs a fee.

It is also important to note that these conversion rates can fluctuate based on market conditions, impacting the final amount charged.

Impact of Cross-Border Charges on Card Transactions

Cross-border charges can affect your customer’s cards or card transactions in several ways:

1. Additional transaction Charge: Every foreign transaction, i.e., transactions occurring on non-USD denominated sites, or sites where the merchant would eventually be settled in a currency other than the USD, will include an additional fee.
2. Negative Balances: These charges can sometimes lead to negative balances on your Miden card. For instance, If your customer is close to their limit or the transaction is processed with a delay, these fluctuations and fees can lead to a situation where the charged amount is more than what your customer anticipated, resulting in a negative balance. This is more likely to happen if the currency in question is particularly volatile or if the transaction happens over a period (like a hotel stay) where the exchange rate changes between the time of authorization and the time of final charge.

It is important to know all about cross-border charges. These are extra fees that happen when customers use their cards in other countries. Your job is to teach cardholders about these fees so they understand them better.