As a rule, it is advised to always pay in local currency when using your card abroad, as paying in sterling incurs a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fee. This fee is typically 1% of the transaction, which is then often added to the processor’s foreign transaction fee – raising the total to around 2-3%. You can also be caught out when withdrawing from a cashpoint and selecting the sterling option. So, when you choose to pay in the local currency, you’re letting your home bank handle the currency conversion – meaning that it is typically far cheaper as it comes out closer to the “true” currency conversion rate.