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Payments and Currency

This page explains how prices are set, which currency you are charged in and why the amount on your card statement can differ slightly from the total you saw. If anything here does not match what happened on an order, contact us and we will look at it.

 

1. Prices are held in Guyana dollars

Every price on Surplus-GY is stored in Guyana dollars. That is the real price of the goods, and it is the figure every calculation starts from.

If you are browsing in another currency, the price you see has been converted from Guyana dollars for display. Your total is worked out in Guyana dollars first and converted once, so the figures on the page always agree with each other.

 

2. Converted prices include a conversion allowance

Prices shown in a currency other than Guyana dollars include a conversion allowance of 4%, and are rounded up to the nearest whole unit of that currency.

The allowance covers the cost of moving money between currencies: the rate our payment provider settles at is not the mid-market rate you would find quoted online, and there is a spread between the two. Rather than add a separate fee at the end, the allowance is built into the price you see, so the number on the page is the number the order is priced from.

Prices shown in Guyana dollars carry no conversion allowance. Nothing is converted, so there is nothing to allow for.

 

3. Which currency you are charged in

Card payments are settled in US dollars. Our card provider does not accept Guyana dollars, so a Guyana dollar total is converted to US dollars and your card is charged that US dollar amount.

Where your display currency is one the provider does accept, your card is charged in that currency at the total shown, and nothing is converted after you pay.

Two other ways of paying convert nothing at all:

  • Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) settles in Guyana dollars.
  • Your Surplus wallet holds a Guyana dollar balance and spends it directly.

The checkout tells you which currency your card will be charged in, and roughly how much, before you pay.

 

4. Why your statement may differ slightly

Three things can put a small difference between the total on your receipt and the amount that leaves your account.

  • Rounding. Converted prices round up to a whole unit, so a converted total can be a fraction above the exact conversion.
  • Your own bank. If your card is not in the currency we charge in, your bank converts at its own rate, which is not ours and which we cannot see. Many banks also add their own charge for a payment in a foreign currency.
  • Timing. Exchange rates move. The rate used when you paid is the one that applies, and your bank may apply its own rate on a different day.

What we can promise is that the total on your receipt is the amount we asked your card for. Every figure on a receipt is worked back from that charge, so the lines on it add up to the total, and the total is what we took.

 

5. Refunds

A refund goes back to the way you originally paid. A card payment is refunded to that card, an MMG payment to MMG, and an order paid from your wallet is refunded to your wallet.

A refund is issued for the amount that was charged. Where that payment was converted, your bank converts the refund back at whatever rate applies on the day it is processed, which may not be the rate on the day you paid, so a refunded amount can differ slightly from the amount originally debited. That difference is your bank's, not ours, and we cannot adjust it.

How long a refund takes to appear depends on your bank or payment provider.

 

6. Your Surplus wallet

Wallet credit can be spent on Surplus-GY only. It cannot be withdrawn, transferred to another person or converted back to cash, and it has no cash value away from the platform.

Top-ups are subject to a smallest amount, a largest single amount and a limit on how much you may add in any 24 hours. The figures that apply are shown to you before you pay. A top-up fee may apply, covering what the payment network charges to move the money, and it is shown before you confirm.

 

7. Questions about a charge

If an amount does not look right, contact us with your order number before raising it with your bank. We can see exactly what was charged and in which currency, and most differences are explained in a single reply.

Email: customerservice@surplusgy.com
Phone: +592-703-1777