Paying in Your Home Currency in Frankfurt? How to Decline the ATM and Terminal Conversion Offer

In Frankfurt the local currency is the euro, so if your card is in another currency, an ATM or card terminal may offer to charge you in your own currency. That offer is called dynamic currency conversion, and the Verbraucherzentrale and the financial supervisor BaFin say declining it is usually cheaper, because your card issuer then converts at its own rate. EU rules require the party offering the conversion to show its total charge as a percentage mark-up over the European Central Bank reference rate before you pay, and to tell you that you can pay in the local currency instead. Choose euros, check the amount on the screen before you enter the PIN, and keep the receipt.

The Setting: A Euro Country, a Card in Another Currency

If your account is in dollars, pounds, Swiss francs, rupees or any other non-euro currency, then every payment in Frankfurt involves an exchange. There are two ways it can happen. Either you pay in euros and your card issuer converts, or the ATM or terminal converts first and bills you in your own currency. The second option is called dynamic currency conversion, DCC for short. German sources call it “Sofortumrechnung” or “dynamische Währungsumrechnung”, the wording on a machine in Frankfurt may be in English or German, and it is built to look helpful: you see a number in your own currency and think it is simply the real price.

The Verbraucherzentrale calls it a cost trap. Its advice is that, as a rule, it is cheaper to decline the conversion, because your credit card company or home bank converts on better terms. BaFin, the federal financial supervisor, says that labels such as “no fees” or “fixed rate” can hide a considerable mark-up, which only shows up later on your statement.

How the Price Is Built

A simple illustration, with invented numbers: suppose the ECB reference rate is 1.10 US dollars per euro and a payment is 100 euros. At that rate, the fair conversion is 110 dollars. A terminal offering “pay in USD” at 1.22 is charging a mark-up of about 11 percent, so you pay 122 dollars. If you decline, your issuer converts at, say, 1.10 with a 2 percent fee, and you pay about 112 dollars. The figures are made up, but the structure is what matters: one mark-up replaces another, and the only way to compare is to see both.

That is why the EU rules force the percentage to be shown. According to Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1230, the party offering conversion at an ATM or a point of sale:

states its total conversion charge as a percentage mark-up over the latest ECB euro reference rate and discloses it before the payment is started;
shows the amount payable in the local currency and the total in your account currency;
clearly displays the information at the ATM or terminal and tells you in advance that you can pay in the local currency and have your own payment provider convert;
makes the information available afterwards on a durable medium, such as the receipt.

The same Article obliges payment providers to publish their own mark-ups, and requires a provider to send an electronic message after a card payment in a Union currency that differs from the account currency, once per month for each currency. That helps a card holder with an account in, say, Polish zloty or Swedish krona. For other cases the scope is uncertain. BaFin says the issuer’s information duties are limited when a card is used outside the EEA, so do not rely on a disclosure you may not get.

How to Decline at the ATM

Insert the card, choose the language and enter the PIN.
Select the amount in euros. Cash comes out in euros anyway.
If the machine asks whether to charge your account in euros or in your own currency, choose euros, the local currency. The European Consumer Centre Germany gives the same instruction: always choose the local currency, because the operator otherwise converts, often at a bad rate.
Ignore the wording. The Verbraucherzentrale says such offers often advertise a “guaranteed exchange rate” or “no mark-up”, while the operator’s rate or surcharge makes the amount higher.
Look for the machine’s own fee. The European Consumer Centre says it has to be displayed before you confirm the withdrawal. Cancel if you do not want to pay it.
Take the receipt.

How to Decline at a Shop or Restaurant

Say “in Euro, bitte” before the card goes in. When the terminal asks, pick the euro amount. Before you enter the PIN or sign, check that the amount shown is in euros, as the Verbraucherzentrale advises, because otherwise the conversion can simply be slipped in. Visa’s guidance for cardholders says that the choice to accept or decline must not affect your ability to pay, that you should not be steered by font size or colour, and that you should report pressure to your card issuer.

At Frankfurt Airport

A newcomer without a German account often has only a foreign card at first. Frankfurt Airport lists ATMs from Euronet, Frankfurter Sparkasse, Prosegur Change and Travelex in its terminals, and currency exchange from Travelex and Prosegur Change, with advance orders listed for Terminal 1 (Travelex) and Terminal 3 (Prosegur Change). Its Euronet page shows many Euronet locations in Terminal 1, open around the clock. We did not use the machines and cannot say what they offer, and the airport is not the party that sets the screens. Read each one, choose euros, and withdraw only what you need for the first days. For local transport and the first days, see our guide on the airport and transit connections.

Cash, Fees and What Else Costs Money

Conversion is one of three layers. The others are your own bank’s fee for using the card abroad and the machine operator’s fee. Your issuer’s price list shows its fee for foreign use, so read it before you travel. According to the European Consumer Centre Germany, changing cash is rarely worth it. For account options, see our pages on the newcomer bank problem and transfer costs, and on paying in cash.

If Something Goes Wrong

Wrong currency charged at a till. Ask at once for cancellation and a new payment in euros.
Statement shows a higher amount than the receipt. Ask your card issuer for the rate and mark-up used, and compare with the ECB reference rate for the day.
No information was shown. Photograph the screen if you can, keep the receipt, and write to the card issuer. The European Consumer Centre Germany publishes guidance for cross-border problems.
You think a card was misused. Block the card with the issuer right away.

Compliance Note

This guide summarises EU rules and public pages of BaFin, consumer organisations and Frankfurt Airport as read in October 2026. It is general information, not financial or legal advice. Rules, scope and operators’ screens change, issuers’ fees differ, and we did not test any machine. Confirm fees and mark-ups with your card issuer before you rely on a comparison.

FAQ & Common Pitfalls

What exactly is dynamic currency conversion?

It is an offer at an ATM or card terminal to charge you in your card's currency instead of the local currency. In Frankfurt the local currency is the euro, so the screen might ask whether you want to pay in euros or in, for example, US dollars. If you accept, the ATM operator or the merchant's payment provider sets the exchange rate. If you decline, you pay in euros and your own card issuer converts the amount, using its rate and any fee it charges.

Is the offer illegal?

No, but it is regulated. Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 says the party offering conversion at an ATM or point of sale must state its total charge as a percentage mark-up over the latest euro reference rates of the European Central Bank, disclose it before the payment, show the amount in the local currency and in your account currency, and tell you before the payment that you can pay in the local currency and have your own bank convert later. The information must be available afterwards on a durable medium, for example a receipt.

Does that EU rule protect me if my card was issued outside the EU?

We cannot say that for every case. The Regulation is about payments in the Union, and BaFin notes that the information duties of the card issuer are limited when a card is used outside the EEA, and fall away if no EEA provider is involved. The practical protection that applies to everyone is your right to choose, so decline the conversion offer and read the screen. If you think the information was missing, ask your card issuer how it treats the case.

Which option is cheaper, euros or my home currency?

The Verbraucherzentrale and BaFin say that declining the conversion is usually cheaper, because the ATM operator or merchant's rate often includes a markup, while your bank or card company usually converts at better terms. The Verbraucherzentrale says declining is cheaper as a rule, which is not a guarantee. To check for yourself, compare the rate on the screen with the day's ECB reference rate, and compare it with your card issuer's published conversion mark-up, which EU rules require payment providers to publish.

My card is a euro card from Spain or Italy. Does this affect me?

Not for conversion, because there is none. Euro payments within the EU must not cost more than corresponding domestic payments, as the Verbraucherzentrale and Your Europe explain. An ATM operator in Germany can still charge its own fee for using the machine, and according to the European Consumer Centre Germany that fee has to be displayed before you confirm. Cards with a non-euro EU account, for example in Polish zloty, are affected by conversion, and the issuer must tell you its mark-up by electronic message after such a payment.

What about the airport?

Frankfurt Airport says there are ATMs in the terminals from Euronet, Frankfurter Sparkasse, Prosegur Change and Travelex, and currency exchange at Travelex and Prosegur Change, with advance orders listed for Terminal 1 (Travelex) and Terminal 3 (Prosegur Change). We did not test the machines and cannot say which of them show a conversion option. The operator of each machine sets the screens, not the airport, so read each one. The European Consumer Centre points out that you can usually find ATMs in airports and tourist areas, and that exchanging cash is rarely worth it.

What if I accepted conversion by mistake?

At a shop or restaurant, ask immediately, before you leave, whether the payment can be cancelled and redone in euros. We found no rule that obliges them to do so, so be polite. At an ATM, the transaction is final once the cash is out, so check the screen before you confirm. Afterwards, look at the receipt and the statement, and ask your card issuer if the mark-up looks high or the information was missing. Visa advises reporting cases of pressure to the issuer.

Can I avoid the question altogether?

Often, once you hold a euro account and card: then there is nothing to convert. Opening a bank account when you are new can be hard, which our guide on the newcomer bank problem covers. Until then, make the choice at each payment.