New Uber feature may overcharge you. Here’s how to turn it off

(NEXSTAR) – Heads up, Uber riders. Unless you disable it, a new setting in the app may end up costing you the next time you hail a ride overseas.

The feature, called Preferred Currency Pricing, allows you to pay in your home currency while traveling abroad. What that means is an American traveling in Europe would see Uber prices listed in U.S. dollars, not in euros. In Mexico, you’d see the price in dollars not pesos.

The new pricing option makes it easier for riders to know how much they’re paying when they’re out of the country, Uber says.

There’s no issue with that at face value, but the catch lies in the terms and conditions: There will be a fixed 1.5% conversion fee applied automatically.

There’s no reason to pay that 1.5% fee if your credit card doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee (which many do not). You should let your credit card do the currency conversion for you, advised travel expert and Points Guy founder Brian Kelly in a video on the topic. In most cases, that won’t cost you anything extra.

“The only way this would make sense is if you have a credit card that charges you a 3% foreign transaction fee. In this case, choosing the 1.5% through Uber would make sense. But most credit cards don’t charge a foreign transaction fee. If you’re not sure, check your card right now,” Kelly said.

How do I turn off the new Uber currency conversion?

Now that you’ve confirmed the credit card or other payment you have linked to your Uber account doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee, or has one lower than 1.5%, you may want to disable Preferred Currency Pricing.

To do that, you can open the app, tap “Account,” then “Wallet.” Scroll down the page until you find the “Preferred currency” section.

Tap it, and you can select “no preferred currency,” then “confirm.”