Your best currency options

Going overseas? Sophie Elsworth looks at the options available to avoid high charges and poor exchange rates

MANY holidaymakers wait until just three days before their departure to organise their overseas currency.

The Currency Shop’s director, Justin Rampono, said most visitors to its website said they needed currency quickly.

This leaves people with fewer options and higher costs to organise their money before they depart.

Mr Rampono said travellers should allow at least one week to arrange their cards and cash to avoid getting badly stung with charges.

We’ve asked the experts the best ways to arrange a currency exchange, to ensure you aren’t hit by poor currency rates and excessive fees. COMPARE RATES Once their trip is booked, jetsetters should start watching the currency exchange rates for the countries they are visiting.

Travelex’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand, Darren Brown, said it was important to understand these rates to get good value for money.

“Depending on the destination you are going to, you can start to watch the value of that local market and what it’s worth,” he said.

Through the Travelex website, users can lodge a currency rate they hope to get and, if it reaches that point, they will be notified.

This gives them an opportunity to exchange money at a higher rate.

Use financial comparison websites to compare travel money cards in order to find the ones offering the best value for money.

You can also walk around the CBD of your nearest capital city and see on the screens in front of travel agencies what rates are being offered. AVOID AIRPORTS Mr Rampono said exchanging money within a few days of departing “limits your options and those options aren’t great”.

“Exchanging money at the airport can see you lose anywhere between 14 and 28 per cent of your money,” he said.

But being a little organised could make a huge difference, Mr Rampono said.

“If you bought the same amount of currency online and just picked it up at the airport, you could save yourself about 2 to 3 per cent in charges,” he said.

Airport exchange bureaus can cash in on customers who have failed to organise their money by giving them much lower exchange rates.

Travelex’s Mr Brown said there could be additional charges for getting cash at the airport.

“Airports are an expensive operating model and their expenses are higher, so typically there could be fees that are attached,” he said. CBD EXCHANGES Where’s there’s more choice there’s usually more competition, and this applies to currency exchanges, Mr Rampono said.

“We found in cities like Melbourne and Adelaide, the best rates were where a lot of currency exchanges were grouped together,” he said.

Avoid using a credit card to pay for currency because you’ll likely incur an additional charge, and make sure you have ID with you if you are exchanging a significant sum of money – often about $1000 or more.

These bureaus usually require photo ID to make a cash exchange.

Mr Rampono urged travellers not to be afraid to bargain and ask for a better rate than that advertised at the front of the exchange bureau.

“They can often do you better so ask, particularly if you are exchanging $1000 or more,” he said.

“You’ll be surprised how many times they can say, ‘Oh, yeah – we can do this rate’.” PICK THE RIGHT CARD There are loads of travel cards to choose from before you jet off, and some banks even offer enticing deals that remove many costs for using your debit or credit card overseas. ING’s Orange Everyday account does not charge international transaction fees for purchases when you’re travelling abroad or for making purchases online. The bank also reimburses ATM charges globally – fees which can quickly equate to hundreds of dollars when using a debit card overseas. The bank’s latest figures show 69 per cent of its primary bank customers with access MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019 to an Orange Everyday account have benefited from the global card benefits.

On average, customers have saved $45 each.

Up Bank, a subsidiary of Bendigo Bank, also offers a daily transaction card with no fees on overseas purchases but does charge customers ATM fees.

Up’s founder, Dom Pym, said it was not uncommon for banks to claim to have no fees but then hit customers elsewhere.

“Some banks may claim to have no overseas purchase fees, but then they charge a slightly higher foreign exchange rate instead,” he said. MIXED WALLET Make sure you carry a range of payment options so if something goes wrong with one, you have something to fall back on.

ING’s head of retail bank, Melanie Evans, said having a mixed wallet when travelling “gives you comfort”.

“It means no matter what happens you are not going to be left without cash,” she said.

“We do know sometimes wallets go missing.

“We might be subject to theft or we find ourselves somewhere where our card doesn’t work or a payment type isn’t accepted.

“In that event it’s important Australians travel with a mixed wallet or a back-up of some sort.”

Having multiple accounts – debit and/or credit – is a good way to go.

Jetsetters should also get some cash in smaller denominations because some retailers, taxi drivers and restaurants will not accept larger denominations.