Then click on the conversion options next to your card, and select “Bill me in the currency listed on the seller’s invoice”.
Navigating to this option from the PayPal home page is quite convoluted…
Note: I have a sneaking suspicion that every now and then PayPal decide to change my card back to them doing the conversion. So I recommend revisiting this page to check that the setting is still holding every time you are about to check-out.
example:
PayPal conversion on merchants $14.99 transaction: 11.61GBP
Monzo conversion on same $14.99 transaction: 11.16GBP
Allowing Monzo to do the conversion -> saves 45p (approx 4%)
No, it usually isn’t. Only the worst debit cards with a per transaction fee like Lloyd’s cost more. Also, while not a thing in the UK yet, in many countries cards charge a foreign transaction fee even if the currency is the home currency (though this usually doesn’t apply to PayPal as they have processing in most countries, it does apply to most DCC).
Thank you for this link. I got stung by DCC on PayPal today, and it was worse than ever before. I added a new (Mastercard) card to make a USD purchase, and there was nothing even remotely resembling consent. Every screen said I would be charged USD all the way through to the final confirmation - nothing about currency conversion until the email receipt arrived (I was watching, I knew it was too good to be true).
I just spent 20 minutes (a third of my lunch break) on the phone with PayPal, where I was not happy. I really tried my best to be friendly to the staff, but with the misinformation at the front line (you must have been given a choice, there should have been a confirmation screen) it was hard. I asked to be escalated to a manager - which itself was a pain, but happened.
The second line (which they were quick to point out wasn’t a manager) offered me a £3 account credit for the ‘technical problem’ that led to me not being informed I’d be charged in GBP. I accepted, as it was more than the exchange difference (though it means I’ll need to make another PayPal purchase).
Still, PayPal clearly knows no one wants this ‘service’ or they wouldn’t use deceptive screens (every screen showed I’d be charged in USD) and misinformation to push it.
This is sad: In the past I always felt that PayPal made the conversion very clear (although they always hid the option to get rid of it). They must’ve either changed that for the worse, or it was a genuine technical issue (which is somewhat doubtful but possible, I guess…)