Dual-currency credit cards are mainly for the convenience of consumption abroad, and are of little significance to domestic residents unless they go to duty-free shops.
The other currency of the dual currency must be freely convertible in the international market, such as US dollar, Japanese yen and euro.
ATM /POS machines in every country can only withdraw/swipe local currency, and China has foreign exchange control, so RMB credit cards cannot be used abroad. Dual-currency credit card holders can spend money abroad, because the foreign currency in circulation can be freely exchanged, so as long as there is a foreign currency (such as US dollars), the cardholder's capital needs in any country can be met.
What does a dual-currency credit card mean?
Dual-currency credit cards are credit cards with RMB and USD (Euro) settlement accounts, and their functions are basically the same as those of single-currency credit cards. Dual-currency card is a kind of bank card that only appeared in recent years. With the continuous development of economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, traveling and shopping abroad has become a very common thing, thus forming a wide demand for bank cards settled in foreign currency. Dual-currency credit cards came into being.
Many domestic banks have successively cooperated with international bank card organizations such as VISA and MasterCard to launch bank cards with RMB and USD settlement functions. In China, RMB settlement can be realized through UnionPay. After going abroad, you can spend and withdraw cash at ATMs of merchants and banks that support VISA or MasterCard, and settle in US dollars.
Dual-currency credit cards mainly include RMB-USD and RMB-Euro. The former is more common, because many countries in the world still use dollars to settle accounts, so it is more convenient. However, if you spend money in Europe, you need to exchange it again with a RMB-US dollar credit card, and you need to pay the exchange fee again. Rmb euro credit card can be directly converted from euro into RMB.
At present, foreign exchange has not been fully liberalized, and the dual-currency card has brought convenience to people's consumption settlement for outbound travel. Make RMB and foreign currency freely convertible within a certain limit.
What does a dual-currency credit card mean?
Dual-currency credit card is a credit card with UnionPay logo, which can be paid through UnionPay channel. Credit cards with other card organization logos can be paid through other card organizations. Usually corresponding to RMB and foreign currency accounts respectively. The common dual-currency credit cards are UnionPay Visa, UnionPay MasterCard and UnionPay JCB.
According to international practice, a card can only belong to one bank card organization, and the card organization is responsible for transfer and settlement. Dual-currency credit card is the product of the transitional period before the opening of RMB transfer and clearing market. Once visa or MasterCard has obtained relevant qualifications, it can require commercial banks to transfer and clear RMB through their own channels.
In other words, in the future, visa or MasterCard single-label cards issued by foreign-funded clearing institutions with corresponding clearing qualifications, such as visa or MasterCard, can also be directly swiped in RMB in China.
Extended data
1. At present, there are two accounting methods for dual-currency credit cards. One is that foreign currency and RMB are accounted for separately, and two bills are issued, and cardholders need to repay in RMB and foreign currency respectively.
The other is foreign currency consumption, which is accounted for in RMB. Usually, at the time of settlement, the card issuer converts the local currency consumed by the cardholder into US dollars, and then directly credits it to the RMB account. The exchange rate generally adopts the exchange rate of RMB against the US dollar on the day of consumption, and the cardholder only needs to pay back RMB.
If it is recorded in RMB, the repayment is more convenient, but if it is recorded in US dollars, it is necessary to purchase foreign exchange for repayment. Cardholders can deposit US dollars directly before the repayment date, and those without US dollars need to purchase foreign exchange manually.
2. When using dual-currency credit cards in consumption abroad, you should also pay attention to the currency conversion fee. If you spend money in the euro zone with a US dollar card, you will get this so-called currency conversion fee, which is usually 1.5% or 1.75%.