I can verify that in Finland when changing the option to card issuer's conversion from Paypal website, Settings -> Payments -> Pre-approved etc. like advised earlier, doesn't work. Paypal charges the exact same amount from conversion, which is roughly 4% from the exchange rate. It was only when I tried your method that I found some difference. When I used the old "confirm and pay" buttons on the old page, on my bank statement I read Paypal had charged 5,91 eur from a $6,50 purchase, which is close to 1,10 EUR/USD. It's still not identical to what the rate was at the time, bit over 1,12 but better than what I've got usually. Yesterday I bought using the normal interface, selecting "credit card". Today I went to my bank to check. I was shocked to see in reservation a 4,38 eur on a purchase for $4,70. That's the 1,073 again Paypal uses for dollar conversion! It's still only a reservation though, but I'm not very hopeful it'll change. Now I bought for $2,03 and went back to the old page again and selected to use credit card (because my balance has more than that it would normally use the balance). The setting for Visa rate exchange was still there. I clicked "confirm and pay" and went to my bank. Sure enough, this time there was a 1,85 eur added to the reserve, something what you might expect using a 1,10 exchange rate. I have a lot of auction payments coming so next I'll be trying whether it's enough to select "Visa" on the normal interface or do I have to always go to the old screen.
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