Cross Border Payments Regulation

A guide to help you understand what charges apply when you use your MeDirect debit card in the European Economic Area (EAA)

What is the Cross Border Payments Regulation?

The Cross Border Payments Regulation applies to transactions carried out using your debit card in the European Economic Area (EEA). This may be a transaction made abroad, an ATM withdrawal, or an online purchase from a foreign retailer in the local currency.

In eurozone countries, you will be able to use your MeDirect card just as you would in Belgium.

Non-Euro currencies

In countries outside of the eurozone, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, you may be offered the possibility to pay or withdraw cash from an ATM either in the local currency or in Euro.

Other fees

The retailer or ATM may charge a fee for processing these transactions while the foreign currency conversions will be carried out by the relevant card scheme, which in the case of MeDirect is Mastercard.

Rates and conversions

To help you better understand the exchange rates that will apply to withdrawals / payments made in local currencies within the EEA, this table indicates the % difference between the daily European Central Bank exchange rate and the rate you will be charged for using your card in a different currency.

For other currencies, consult the Mastercard and ECB exchange rates online. Make sure you have this information to obtain the correct exchange rate:

  • From Currency: Select the currency in which you want to execute a transaction – eg. Polish Zloty.

  • Amount: Enter the amount of the transaction eg. 100 PLN.

  • To Currency: Enter the main currency of your account (the currency from which the amount will be debited) eg. Euro.

  • Exchange rate surcharge: Enter the exchange rate surcharge of the bank – 1.5%.

  • Date: Rates appear daily at a defined time. Before this time, the rate of the previous day will be shown.
    • The final currency exchange rate used to convert the transaction amount to the currency of your card is the rate applicable on the day Mastercard processes the transaction (the processing day may be different to the date of the transaction).