Dynamic currency conversion system and method

1. A system for dynamic currency conversion comprising:

a bank identifier system operating on one or more processors and configured to determine whether currency conversion is available for a card-issuing bank of a presented card;

an exchange rate system operating on the one or more processors and configured to determine whether an exchange rate has expired; and

wherein a card holder is presented with an option for selecting a foreign currency transaction by the bank identifier system after it is determined that currency conversion is available for the card-issuing bank and that the exchange rate has not expired.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the bank identifier system and the exchange rate system operate on a point of sale terminal.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the bank identifier system and the exchange rate system operate on a transaction processing system.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the bank identifier system and the exchange rate system operate on a merchant e-commerce server.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a point of sale update system configured to provide one or more of updated bank identifier data and updated exchange rate data to one or more point of sale systems.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a point of sale status system configured to change a status of one or more point of sale systems to enable or disable dynamic currency conversion.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising a dynamic currency conversion eligible status system configured to change a status of a plurality of point of sale systems associated with a merchant to enable or disable dynamic currency conversion.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising an exchange rate suspension system configured to change a status of one or more point of sale systems to enable or disable dynamic currency conversion based on exchange rate expiration data.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the bank identifier system further comprises a bank currency system configured to store one or more currencies accepted by each card-issuing bank, such that a local currency can be compared to each currency accepted by the card-issuing bank of the presented card to determine whether to present the card holder with the option for the foreign currency transaction.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the exchange rate system further comprises an exchange rate period system configured to store an exchange rate period for each currency, such that a current time can be compared to the exchange rate period to determine whether to present the card holder with the option for the foreign currency transaction, wherein each exchange rate period for each currency can be independently updated.

11. A method for processing transactions in a foreign currency comprising:

determining with one or more processors whether foreign currency processing is allowed by a card-issuing bank for a presented card;

presenting a card holder with an option for foreign currency processing if foreign currency processing is allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card using the one or more processors; and

processing a transaction as a local currency transaction using the one or more processors if foreign currency processing is not allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

determining whether an exchange rate for a foreign currency has expired before presenting the card holder with the option for foreign currency processing if foreign currency processing is allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card; and

processing the transaction as the local currency transaction if the exchange rate has expired.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein determining whether foreign currency processing is allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card is performed at a point-of-sale terminal.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein determining whether foreign currency processing is allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card is performed at a transaction processing system.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein determining whether foreign currency processing is allowed by the card-issuing bank for the presented card further comprises:

determining whether a currency conversion status allows foreign currency conversion processing; and

processing the transaction as the local currency transaction the currency conversion status does not allow foreign currency processing.

16. A method for changing the status of a point of sale terminal for foreign currency conversion comprising:

receiving a foreign currency conversion status of enable from a payment processor at the point of sale terminal;

setting a foreign currency conversion status indicator at the point of sale terminal to enable;

determining whether a foreign currency exchange rate has expired; and

setting the foreign currency conversion status indicator at the point of sale terminal to disable if the foreign currency exchange rate has expired.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein receiving the foreign currency conversion status of enable from the payment processor at the point of sale terminal comprises receiving one of a plurality of foreign currency conversion statuses of enable from the payment processor at one of a corresponding plurality of point of sale terminals that are each associated with a specific merchant.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

receiving a multi-currency processor unavailable status at the point of sale terminal; and

setting the foreign currency conversion status indicator at the point of sale terminal to disable.