Currency Conversion FAQs

Can you do like-for-like? Does that mean no FX (Foreign Exchange) mark-up?

Yes. BlueSnap can settle (pay out) to your merchant account in like‑for‑like currencies. Check out the full list here. For transactions in these currencies, if you have accounts that can receive these currencies, BlueSnap can authorize and settle without conversion fees or FX fees either to your account or to your customer.

How much does the shopper pay in FX when they choose to pay in their own currency? Is the mark up different for Minor and Major currencies?

BlueSnap knows pricing is critical to converting shoppers to buyers, as a result BlueSnap pricing is very competitive. In addition, showing an accurate price at checkout provides confidence to the shopper the price they see is the price they pay.

When we do the currency conversions, we calculate it using the live Interbank rates (similar to what you can see on Reuters, Xe.com, and other sites) and, when not a like-for-like currency, BlueSnap adds a mark-up that covers the cost of converting that transaction into your settlement currencies. The mark-up is different for different groups of currencies.

Who keeps that mark-up?

The mark-up serves different purposes. As previously mentioned, it covers the cost of converting these transactions into your settlement currency, so you don’t have to incur this cost. BlueSnap also keeps a portion of this for providing this service to you.

I am a merchant based in the US, and my shopper is in France. How does the flow work?

In this case, you probably want to display the price to your customer in Euros, but you are likely to have only a US bank account in USD. So, BlueSnap displays the price in Euros using the live Interbank rates and add a mark-up to cover the cost of converting that transaction into your settlement currency (USD). The transaction is authorized in EUR, but is settled into your account in USD.

I am a merchant based in the UK, my shopper is in Canada, and CAD is one of my like-for-like currencies. How does the flow work?

Assuming CAD is one of your agreed like-for-like currencies, and that you have a bank account in CAD, the flow is simple: Shopper sees the price in CAD and the transaction is authorized and settled back to you in CAD without the need for a currency conversion, hence without conversion fees. If, however, you don’t have a CAD bank account, and you only have one in GBP, you incur a fee when we have to convert the transaction to GBP prior to settling to your account.

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