Exchange Money

Don't exchange a good deal for a bad deal. Are you current with your currency? If not, you can bank on not getting the best rate for your cash.

You don't need to commission us to help you exchange your money and there's no transaction fee either!

Exchange rates affect all of us every day of our lives however for most people, their relevance only becomes obvious when there is a direct need to change currency. When the moment comes, the average traveller has only a general idea of what their pound or dollar will buy in another currency. Banks, in particular, use this ignorance to make a handsome profit on currency exchange transactions. The 'sting' comes in when the few cents or pennies difference is multiplied by hundreds or even thousands of units of the source currency. On top of that, they often have the nerve to slap an administrative fee on the exchange.

For example, let's assume we are going to change £1,000 into Euros and that the best current rate available is £1 = €1.30 although the bank will only give €1.25 to the pound with a £10 transaction fee on £1000.

Theoretical conversion into Euros (based on 1:1.3) = €1,300

Actual conversion - Euros given (based on 1:1.25 with a £10 transaction fee) = €1,125

This equals a shortfall of €175 or 13.5% on the overall transaction. That is a lot of money and you will lose even more if you take it to the bank to exchange back into pounds if it is left over at the end of your holiday.

Some suggestions for getting a better deal:

Never be afraid to haggle with banks, travel agents or anyone who changes money. Do this before you make the change - ring around and see who will offer you the best deal.
Find out what it will cost to use your credit and debit card abroad and see what difference that makes on purchases of different sizes. It is also a good idea for security reasons to tell your credit card company where you are going so that they will not be surprised to see purchases from unusual locations.
Try specialist currency exchange bureaux - normally these are more expensive but it is worth a phone call.
If you are looking to change a lot of money (eg if you are putting down a deposit on a property overseas) then there are special currency dealers who charge much lower rates of commission. For the example above, it would be a realistic expectation to get around €1,270 per £1,000
See if you can find out whether you will get better rates in the country you are going to.

Avoid going to black-market dealers as they will not supply you with the paperwork you may need if you are challenged. They will offer better rates than the bank or official money changers but you should still avoid them since in many countries dealing like this is a serious offence and you may face a heavy fine or even imprisonment if you are caught.

Some countries will not let you take their currency out of the country and will buy back unused currency at impossibly low rates. Since this is 'official' and carried out by their Customs officers, the only way around it is to carry with you 'universal' currency like dollars or sterling and, wherever possible, pay in these (keeping an eye on what exchange rate this is effectively offering you).

Just bear these things in mind when you next have to exchange money.