Ending expensive holiday money charges.

Did you know that Britons lose over £1bn in hidden charges when changing up money to take on holiday?  This was the finding of research carried out by the consumer action group, Consumer Focus, in their subsequent Super Complaint to the Office of Fair Trading in autumn 2011.  Transactions carried out in a Bureau de Change are often described as 0% commission, but this statement and the rates given to consumers is simply not true when the Buy & Sell rates offered by Bureau de Change are compared to the daily ‘interbank exchange rates’ (these are the foreign currency exchange rates that banks and other large financial institutions use to deal between each other).  Bureau de Change and Banks use the difference, known as ‘the spread’, in both Buy & Sell rates and the interbank rate, as a means to lock in a profit and the amount of  the spread rises substantially if you carry out your transaction at an airport, a tourist zone or require an ‘exotic’ currency.  So, claims of 0% commission are totally misleading – they’re making a pretty good profit through their loaded exchange rates! As Mike O’Connor, Chief Executive of Consumer Focus noted:

‘We also want to see an end to deliberately misleading marketing phrases such as ‘O% commission’, as services are not fee-free. Consumers have a right to know how much they are paying for their transaction and whether there are better options available.’

Don’t get Bureau de Short Changed - there’s no need to give away your hard earned cash to a middleman thanks to a new, totally free to use website www.currencyswapshop.com  

This new and innovative site allows sellers to advertise their leftover holiday cash for sale via both auction and ‘Swapshop’ platforms.  Both sellers and buyers are encouraged to get better value by aiming for the daily interbank rates by setting reserves, and bidding accordingly.  It’s totally free to use, and gives users the fun and thrill of an auction with the added benefit that they will get value for money too.  Alternatively, users can opt to use the ‘SwapShop’ portal to swap goods for foreign currency (or vice versa) or even swap currency for currency – handy if you have leftover US Dollars from your last holiday and are planning your next trip to Australia, for example. Why keep those leftover foreign notes and coins in a drawer when you could sell or swap them on www.currencyswapshop.com


The site is free to use, registering takes less than a minute.  Join the holiday money revolution today!