# Currency and jurisdiction specified for international products

- **Pattern:** `ab-001409` (`finserv-disclosure.presentation-quality.currency-jurisdiction`)
- **Severity:** low
- **Lifecycle:** active
- **Last modified:** 2026-04-18
- **Canonical URL:** https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001409
- **License:** CC-BY-4.0 — attribute to AuditBuffet Pattern Catalog (https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001409)

## Why it matters

A bare `$9.99` is ambiguous the moment a visitor from Canada, Australia, Singapore, or the UK lands on the pricing page — four different dollar currencies share the same symbol, and misreading a 35% exchange delta is a chargeback waiting to happen. Missing jurisdiction statements compound the problem: without naming the governing state and regulator, you cannot rely on choice-of-law clauses in disputes, and you violate disclosure expectations from the CFPB, FTC, and state financial regulators. The content-integrity taxon flags this as a trust-and-accuracy failure rather than a cosmetic one.

## Severity rationale

Low because the ambiguity is usually resolved before purchase, but it still drives chargebacks and weakens choice-of-law defenses.

## Remediation

Label every price with an ISO 4217 currency code and add a jurisdiction paragraph to your legal footer. Update `app/pricing/page.tsx` to append `USD` (or the correct code) next to each amount, and add a governing-law sentence to `app/terms/page.tsx`:

```tsx
<span className="amount">$9.99</span>
<span className="currency">USD / month</span>
```

Then in terms: "This service is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware."

## Detection

- **ID:** `currency-jurisdiction`
- **Severity:** `low`
- **What to look for:** Count all pages where monetary amounts are displayed (pricing, checkout, statements, fee schedules). For each, check whether the currency is explicitly labeled (e.g., "USD", "$X.XX USD"). Also check the terms page, footer, or about page for a jurisdiction statement naming the governing state/country and regulatory body.
- **Pass criteria:** At least 1 explicit currency label (e.g., "USD") appears on the pricing or checkout page alongside monetary amounts. If the service operates in a specific jurisdiction, at least 1 jurisdiction statement exists (naming the governing state/country). Report the count: "Currency labeled on X of Y pages with monetary amounts."
- **Fail criteria:** No explicit currency label on any page displaying prices, or no jurisdiction statement anywhere on the site when the service is jurisdiction-specific.
- **Skip (N/A) when:** The product is a single-currency, single-jurisdiction product that only displays amounts with unambiguous currency symbols (e.g., US-only product using "$" with a US-only user base and no international traffic).
- **Detail on fail:** Quote the pricing page file path. Example: `"Pricing page at app/pricing/page.tsx shows '$9.99/month' with no currency code. For international visitors, it is unclear whether this is USD, CAD, or AUD. No jurisdiction statement found on the site."`
- **Remediation:** Add currency and jurisdiction labeling in `app/pricing/page.tsx` and `app/terms/page.tsx`:

  ```tsx
  // app/pricing/page.tsx
  <div className="pricing-item">
    <h3>Professional Plan</h3>
    <div className="price">
      <span className="amount">$9.99</span>
      <span className="currency">USD per month</span>
    </div>
    <p className="jurisdiction">
      Available in the United States only.
    </p>
  </div>

  // app/terms/page.tsx
  <p>
    This service is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware and
    regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and your
    state's financial regulator.
  </p>
  ```

Taxons: content-integrity

HTML version: https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001409