Multicurrency by Mews Payments lets your guests see prices and pay by card in their own currency, with the conversion fee shown clearly. It applies to eligible card payments processed through Mews Payments: online, at the front desk, and in your outlets. Your property earns a share of the conversion fee as additional revenue. Mews enables Multicurrency by default for eligible properties.

 

Multicurrency applies to payments taken through the Booking Engine, Payment Requests, Mews Terminals in Mews Operations, Mews POS for in-person payments, and Mews Kiosk. It does not apply to POS Digital Ordering payments.

 

Mews Terminal S1 and S2 are the only terminals that support Multicurrency. On terminals, Multicurrency works through dynamic currency conversion (DCC), which offers the guest the choice to pay in their card's home currency or in your property's currency.

 

Term	Definition
Dynamic currency conversion (DCC)	A card terminal feature that offers the guest the choice to pay in the currency of their card instead of your property's currency. In Mews, DCC is how Multicurrency works on Mews Terminals.
Card network	The company that runs a card scheme and processes payments made with it, for example, Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, JCB, American Express and Discover.
European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate	A daily benchmark exchange rate published by the European Central Bank. Receipts and terminals compare the guest's exchange rate against it to show the percentage above the reference rate.
Markup fee	The percentage added to the exchange rate when a guest pays in their own currency.
Payment Requests; POS Digital Ordering	A payment request is an email from Mews Operations that lets a guest pay an amount they owe by card using a secure link. POS Digital Ordering lets guests scan a QR code at their table to order and pay from their phone in Mews POS.
Supported region	A country where Multicurrency is available on terminals.

 

In this article, you can find answers to the following frequently asked questions:

• Online Payments
  • Is Multicurrency available for payment requests from the billing screen?
  • Why did the amount for a transaction change between viewing the checkout screen and paying?
• Payment Terminals
  • Is Multicurrency available for all Mews terminals?
  • Can I switch to Mews Terminal S1 or S2 to use Multicurrency if my current terminals do not support it?
  • Is Multicurrency available in Mews POS?
  • Why is the European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate percentage different on the guest’s emailed payment receipt and the terminal?
• Currency coverage
  • Which currencies can I charge guests in for online payments?
  • Does my property's location affect which card networks I can accept for online payments?
  • Is dynamic currency conversion available at terminals in my country?
  • Which card networks support DCC at terminals?
  • Which currencies can guests pay in at the terminal?

Online Payments

Is Multicurrency available for payment requests from the billing screen?

Multicurrency is not available for payment requests sent from the billing screen in Mews Operations.

Why did the amount for a transaction change between viewing the checkout screen and paying?

The amount can change because the system refreshes the currency conversion quote when the guest clicks pay. The system requests a quote from [INSERT: provider] when the checkout screen opens, and requests a new quote when it processes the payment. The quote can fluctuate between the two. The checkout screen tells guests that the amount may update during payment, and the Terms and Conditions also explain this.

Payment Terminals

Is Multicurrency available for all Mews terminals?

No. Multicurrency is available only on Mews Terminal S1 and S2, in regions where Multicurrency for terminals is supported. Other terminal models do not support Multicurrency, and payments on them are charged in your property's currency. Multicurrency on S1 and S2 applies to payments taken in Mews Operations, Mews POS and Mews Kiosk. 

 

Multicurrency applies to payments taken via:

• Mews Operations, for example, front desk payments
• Mews POS, for example, in-person payments
• Mews Kiosk

Multicurrency does not work on unsupported terminal models. 

Can I switch to Mews Terminal S1 or S2 to use Multicurrency if my current terminals do not support it?

You can switch to Mews Terminal S1 or S2 to use Multicurrency for in-person payments in Mews Operations or Mews POS. Your property must use one of these terminals in a supported region. If your current terminals do not support Multicurrency, contact your Mews Customer Success Manager to request an upgrade to a compatible terminal.

 

Is Multicurrency available in Mews POS?

Mews POS supports Multicurrency for in-person payments when your property uses Mews Terminal S1 or S2 in a region where Mews POS is available except in the following regions: Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. To check S1 and S2 terminal availability in your region, visit the Terminals page. Multicurrency in Mews POS needs no extra setup because Mews Operations manages the settings. The system requires no additional configuration in Mews POS. Mews Operations manages Multicurrency settings and applies them across supported payment flows.

 

When the guest uses an eligible card, they can choose to pay in:

• Their home currency, with a clearly displayed markup fee, or
• The property currency, with no Multicurrency fee.

Why is the European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate percentage different on the guest’s emailed payment receipt and the terminal?

For Multicurrency payments processed through Adyen terminals, the percentage above the European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate on the guest’s emailed payment receipt may differ from the percentage shown on the terminal. This is because the percentage is calculated by comparing the transaction’s exchange rate with an ECB reference rate. If the terminal and the email receipt use different ECB reference rates, the percentage calculated can be different. This difference concerns only the displayed ECB comparison. It does not change the amount charged to the guest or represent an additional conversion fee.

If the payment amount or currency also differs, contact Mews Support for further assistance.

Currency coverage

Which currencies can I charge guests in for online payments?

Mews Payments supports multiple currencies for online payments on Visa and Mastercard. UnionPay supports most of these currencies. Coverage for JCB, American Express, and Discover varies by card network and the region of your Mews Payments account.

You can view the full list of supported currencies in Multicurrency by Mews Payments: Coverage for online payments 

Does my property's location affect which card networks I can accept for online payments?

Your property's location affects which currencies you can accept for JCB, American Express and Discover online payments. Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay have the same currency coverage in every region. For JCB, American Express and Discover, coverage depends on the region of your Mews Payments account. The table shows the currencies for online payments.

 

Network	Europe and the UK	United States	Canada
JCB	Currencies listed here	Currencies listed here	CAD and USD only
American Express	Currencies listed here	USD only	CAD and USD only
Discover	Currencies listed here	Currencies listed here	CAD and USD only

You can view the full currency lists for each network in Multicurrency by Mews Payments: Coverage for online payments 

Is dynamic currency conversion available at terminals in my country?

Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) at Mews Terminals is available for properties in the countries listed in the Multicurrency by Mews Payments: Coverage for terminal payments help article.

Which card networks support DCC at terminals?

Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro support DCC at Mews Terminals. When a guest pays with a card from another card network, such as American Express, UnionPay or JCB, the terminal charges the payment in your property's currency and offers no conversion. 

Which currencies can guests pay in at the terminal?

Guests can pay in any of the currencies that DCC supports, and you can enable a custom subset of these for your property. See Multicurrency by Mews Payments: Coverage for terminal payments for the full list.

With Multicurrency configured, your property accepts payments from international guests in their preferred currency and earns additional revenue from the conversion markup.