Currency Exchange in Prague: 3-Hour Refund Right and DCC

Your right to cancel an exchange within 3 hours

This rule comes from the Bureau-de-change Act (No. 277/2013 Coll.), and the Czech National Bank's customer-rights page sets out how it works. It is the single most useful thing to know if you change cash in Prague and then realise the rate was poor.

• Deadline: 3 hours from the exchange, at the same bureau. The clock runs only during the bureau's public opening hours, and you can rely on the hours printed on your receipt. If the clock stops overnight, it restarts with at least 30 minutes left.
• Amount: if you handed over €1,000 or less, you can cancel the whole exchange. If you handed over more, you can cancel only the part equal to €1,000.
• No reason needed and no fee: the ČNB's ten golden rules say the bureau may not obstruct the right.
• What you get: you return the koruna, and the bureau returns your money. Alternatively, the bureau may let you keep the koruna and pay you the difference between what you received and what you would have got at the ČNB rate for the day before the exchange.
• Proof: the bureau must give you written proof of the withdrawal, in Czech and English at least, with the date and time and the amounts each side returned.

If the bureau obstructed the withdrawal, misled you, or did not tell you about the right on its rate list or exchange slip, the ČNB page says the deadline becomes 6 months and you can withdraw at a location other than that bureau.

Worked example

You hand over €200 at a city-centre counter and notice that the koruna you received is well below what your bank's app showed. You can return the full koruna amount within 3 hours and get €200 back. Had you handed over €1,500, you could reverse only €1,000 of it. The ČNB lists failure to refund up to €1,000 when a customer exchanged more as a separate violation.

What the bureau must show before you exchange

The ČNB's ten rules set out the counter-side obligations (checked 19 October 2026):

• Buy and sell are from the bureau's side. Selling euros or dollars to get koruna, you get the bureau's buy rate. Buying foreign currency with koruna, you pay its sell rate. The buy rate must be shown before the sell rate. A wide gap between the two is a warning sign.
• No commission. Commissions on exchanges are prohibited, with an exception for coins and cheques.
• Only the worst rate is posted. The rate list may show only the least favourable rate the bureau offers. A better "VIP" rate can be mentioned in general terms inside the bureau, never as a number on the board, and staff should tell you what it is.
• Over €1,000: paperwork first. For larger exchanges the bureau must give you written information in advance (its name and ID number, the currencies, amounts, rate and your right to cancel). Do not hand over cash until you have read it.
• Rates vary by bureau. Bureaux set their own rates, independently of the ČNB's published rates, so compare buy rates for the exact currency you are selling.

If a bureau will not refund you

Complain to the bureau first, on the spot. If it refuses, you have two routes, both listed by the ČNB:

The ČNB says it cannot order compensation or settle a private dispute; that is the arbitrator's job. Its notice on serious violations also says a bureau may not refuse a refund because you signed a pre-contract information form, and may not attach conditions that delay it.

Card terminals and ATMs: always choose koruna

Dynamic currency conversion is the offer, on a card terminal or ATM screen, to charge you in your own currency instead of koruna. The conversion is then done by the DCC provider at its own rate, not your card issuer's.

The ČNB's explainer on DCC (published 30 June 2022) says an amendment to the Payment Services Act, in force since 1 July 2022, applies to DCC offered in the Czech Republic and mainly protects foreigners using it there. Before you confirm, the provider must show:

• the total charges as a percentage markup over the European Central Bank reference rate;
• the total amount that will be debited from your account;
• in a comparable way, the option to pay in the merchant's currency at your card issuer's rate.

The ČNB explains that if the merchant rather than the customer picked the currency, the customer can refuse the transaction and ask for it to be re-entered in the merchant's currency. In Prague that means: if a waiter or cashier has already chosen your home currency on the terminal, refuse and ask for the payment in koruna. The ČNB notes that complaints after the fact are often hard to pursue, so the moment to say no is before you tap or enter your PIN.

How much cash you actually need

Less than you might think for getting around. PID's ticket buying guide lists contactless-only ticket terminals in trams, urban buses and metro stations, so you can ride without coins. Our guides to Prague transport tickets and getting in from the airport cover the fares. When you do withdraw cash at an ATM, the same DCC rule applies: decline the conversion and take koruna.

If you are shopping for goods to take home, the VAT refund guide explains the paperwork, and the Prague tourist tax guide covers the per-night fee on your hotel bill.