Currency Card: How Currency Conversion Works When Paying Abroad

On a foreign website like the PlayStation Store, the price is listed in hryvnias, but a different amount is charged because the payment is processed in U.S. dollars. A discrepancy with the receipt occurs when the store’s currency doesn’t match the transaction settings. Let’s break down the exchange chain and show you how to remove the extra step.

Three components of a purchase: how double conversion occurs

In an international transaction, three elements are involved: the receipt amount, the network’s settlement currency (Visa or Mastercard), and the buyer’s account balance. When these match, the charge goes through without any currency conversion. When paying with a hryvnia card at a foreign store, a staged currency conversion takes place.

The network converts the receipt into its settlement currency at its own exchange rate, and the issuer converts it into hryvnia at the card exchange rate. In Raiffeisen’s example (May 2024), 300 zlotys charged to a hryvnia Visa card are converted to 75.54 USD at a rate of 0.2518 and debited as 3,044.26 UAH at a rate of 40.30.

However, if you have a card in dollars or euros with monobank, payments in these currencies are processed without conversion. The exact amount of the receipt is debited from your balance. This makes card payments abroad predictable and independent of exchange rate fluctuations until clearing occurs in 2–3 days.

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Point-of-sale terminals and websites: two pitfalls

Overpayments occur if Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is triggered at a checkout or ATM. The device offers to charge in hryvnia, but the merchant or acquirer sets the exchange rate with a markup of several percent. On the screen, it’s best to select “Pay in local currency.”

Another pitfall awaits online, where an international service displays the amount in hryvnia, but the payment is processed in dollars based on the network’s exchange rate and the bank’s rate. In monobank, you can disable this in the “Payment Settings” menu using the “Double Conversion” toggle. And for Netflix or Spotify subscriptions, it’s more convenient to change your profile settings: a separate foreign currency card will deduct the subscription fee without any losses.

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How the NBU’s currency instruments and limits work

There’s a format on the market where a single card switches between balances depending on the currency of the transaction. This is how a multicurrency card works, but with monobank, you can open separate cards in USD and EUR for Apple Pay or Google Pay at no cost and top them up by purchasing dollars or euros within the NBU limit—up to 200,000 UAH per month.

Following Resolutions No. 90 and No. 105 (August–September 2026), the thresholds for transactions outside Ukraine (in equivalent terms) depend on the source of funds:

• purchases of goods and services from all hryvnia balances of individuals (including non-bank accounts)—up to 200,000 UAH per month;
• expenses involving the individual’s own foreign currency account—no general threshold (except for 100,000 UAH for luxury goods under MCC codes 5094, 5944, 5972, and 500,000 UAH for housing rent and certain services);
• cash withdrawals from hryvnia cards—up to 12,500 UAH per 7 days; from balances in USD or EUR—up to 200,000 UAH per day (monobank fee—2%).

To prepare for a trip or shopping, simply turn off dual currency conversion. Going forward, select the local currency at the cash register and buy dollars or euros in the app. That way, your overseas purchase will be made without an extra exchange step.

Олена Болган