Exchange Rates best Value

Elmo

Just noticed that banks sell and buy and below/above the current market rate.

Is there anywhere that I can get cash based on the currently exchange rate with a small fee?

TheVoodoo

The rate you see on RTE news ect is the rate at which the major financial institutuions themselves trade at. The FX rates would be slightly lower to the ' average customer ' ( i.e everybody who's not a bank )

The majority of banks now are also following the new anti-money laundering laws now. You can only buy/sell foreign excahnge in a bank with which you hold an account, and all transactions must go through that/an account. Could very well be wrong, but The only exceptions i know of would be the BOI in the airports, or Ulster bank as a whole.

Apart from that you would need to contact the bank that you have your accounts with. I'm sure they could help you out.

Elmo

I have £900 in cash. Would like to get its current value. Told by aib I would get around 1060 and yet if I wanted to buy £900 they would charge me €1122.

daithijjj

Im presuming you are talking about sterling into euro? Are you based in roi?

I did a search myself today because il be changing some sterling to euro but i will be doing it in the uk, this link will give you an idea of a fair rate to use as a comparison but the daily rate changes obviously.

http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/#results

Jet Black

Elmo wrote: »

I have £900 in cash. Would like to get its current value. Told by aib I would get around 1060 and yet if I wanted to buy £900 they would charge me €1122.

Yeah thats the spread they charge so they can make a profit. They have to buy that money from you and hold it, its value could rise and fall so they have to charge for it. You could ask the bank for a better rate but £900 is not really a lot. The bank I worked would offer a special rate on transactions above ten thousand.

If your looking for the market rate you would want to be changing thousands.

Another way to think of it is if you go into a shop you cant buy a bottle of coke that cost €1 if you only want to buy it at the price the retailer paid for it say .79c

Elmo

Jet Black wrote: »

Yeah thats the spread they charge so they can make a profit. They have to buy that money from you and hold it, its value could rise and fall so they have to charge for it. You could ask the bank for a better rate but £900 is not really a lot. The bank I worked would offer a special rate on transactions above ten thousand.

If your looking for the market rate you would want to be changing thousands.

Another way to think of it is if you go into a shop you cant buy a bottle of coke that cost €1 if you only want to buy it at the price the retailer paid for it say .79c

But it is a hidden cost. They charge an additional 6.35 for the transaction. I have no problem if they clearly stated that they took .02c from the actual rate to help them make profits, and they should not charge an additional transaction fee on top of the rates that they give.

Jet Black

They dont but the majority of banks and forgien exchanges do charge. I dont really see how there is a hidden fee. You can see what they buy and sell at. You know the market rate. So you would be able to work it out. I know the max spread they can charge is 9.5%.

Elmo

Jet Black wrote: »

They dont but the majority of banks and forgien exchanges do charge. I dont really see how there is a hidden fee. You can see what they buy and sell at. You know the market rate. So you would be able to work it out. I know the max spread they can charge is 9.5%.

Only because I am looking at the exchange rate did I find this out. Why don't they clearly state the spread that they charge plus the fee? IMO banks are ripping off customers. I did try to shop around but unlike the UK all the banks seem to be charging the same fee and spread.

Elmo

Took a look at that list above for best rates. So decided to go to ICE at Dublin Airport.

They were willing to exchange £900 to €1020 while to buy £900 they want €1200 from you. There are no other BdC in the airport. :mad:

Blackjack

The transaction charge is pennies, and at best comes close to the cost to the bank for managing and recording that transaction.

The spread is there for them to make something on the deal.

If you have a larger amount, you could ask them if they can give you a better rate. Perhaps amounts greater than 5K, could be more.

Toots

Generally speaking, the more you change, the better the rate you'll get. If you're changing less than €1000, you'll get the least favourable rate, but the rate gets better the higher you go, there's different 'rate bands' but I don't know exactly what the amounts are offhand.

Elmo

Blackjack wrote: »

The transaction charge is pennies, and at best comes close to the cost to the bank for managing and recording that transaction.

The spread is there for them to make something on the deal.

If you have a larger amount, you could ask them if they can give you a better rate. Perhaps amounts greater than 5K, could be more.

Well the spread in the Airport is a rip off not matter how you look at it, ICE are ripping people of coming into the country. The banks are giving better rates. I have no problem with the spread but they just don't advertise it and while the transaction charge of €6.45 is not pennies.

Blackjack

Elmo wrote: »

the transaction charge of €6.45 is not pennies.

Its enought to prevent people wasting time by changing a tenner sterling to Euros after a shopping trip to Newry.

dohouch

Funny the way things happen. Less than 1/2 hour after reading this post heard on radio about this site --http://www.currencyfair.com/-- So have a look. Haven't used it so this is not recommendation.


Or from moneyguideireland.com today 9July10

Currency Solutions is one UK based specialist broker that can carry out conversions of larger amounts of currency for you – (amounts over £3000 GBP usually) – commission free and at better exchange rates than the high street banks.
You can visit their website for a free no obligation quote – or you call them on 0044 207 740 0000 - and ask for the Money Guide Ireland dedicated contact - Ernie Enver. He will be able to give you a quick response to any queries.