1/9/2006

Chairman's Message - Winter 2006
Cardholder Choice is Essential to Dynamic Currency Conversion

By Philip Beck, CEO,

Long Beach, New York, January 9, 2006 -- Welcome to Planet Payment®! As one of the world’s leading providers of multi-currency processing services, Planet Payment is committed to addressing the key issues and opportunities facing our industry today.


In that spirit, I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly address the issue of cardholder choice as a component of the DCC experience. As Planet Payment sees it, giving the international customer the choice of whether to pay in his home currency or in the merchant’s currency is absolutely critical if DCC is to attain the full measure of acceptance and enjoyment that it should. Allow me to elaborate:


First, when customers are offered DCC as a real choice by an educated merchant, they quickly see its key benefits, namely the certainty and convenience of paying in the currency they truly understand – their own – and may opt in. Conversely, forcing a customer to accept DCC creates the impression that DCC is something less than the valuable service it is. That’s a great disservice, considering the benefits of DCC easily stand on their own merits.


Second, merchants benefit from the customer service “wow” that comes from offering choice. International customers feel more welcome at merchants who let them know their currency is accepted, and they shop at those merchants – even the customers who don’t choose DCC!


Finally, cardholder agreement to DCC is a requirement of both Visa and MasterCard, and it’s non-negotiable that all DCC transactions must be compliant.


Planet Payment offers its DCC to merchants who are committed to offering their international customers real choice, and we encourage everyone associated with the industry to follow the same rigorous standards. Finally, I invite everyone who has tried DCC to share their experiences with me so we at Planet Payment can make our service as valuable to international travelers as possible.


Philip Beck