Card Briefs: Trintech's Software Converts Currencies

Trintech Group said it has introduced a piece of software meant to reduce consumers' currency conversion confusion when using credit cards in foreign countries.

The package, Multi-currency at Point of Sale, or MaPoS, allows merchants to convert the value of a transaction at the time of purchase into the currency of the cardholder's choice. The amount shown, if in the home- country currency, is the same that will show up on the cardholder's statement, said Trintech co-founder and chief executive officer John McGuire.

Trintech, which was founded in Ireland in 1986 and recently established its headquarters in Silicon Valley, developed MaPoS for Europe, where it was running for two years before coming to the Americas. Mr. McGuire said the system will be useful in Europe during the changeover to the euro, and in serving travelers between the United States, Canada, and Latin America.