Best place to purchase Sterling?

wolfnight

Morning, I am just wondering if anyone knows the best places to change euros into Sterling?

I have got approx €2000 that I want to change over to sterling however I am not sure where would give the best rate, least ammount of commison etc and also if I should change it now or wait till I get over to England in Jan.

Thanks for your help.

Victor

wolfnight wrote: »

Morning, I am just wondering if anyone knows the best places to change euros into Sterling? I have got approx €2000 that I want to change over to sterling however I am not sure where would give the best rate, least ammount of commison etc

Phone around the banks. Tell them how much you want to change and ask them how much they will give you. None of them will be magically better than the others.

Bank of Ireland do charge a reduced commission on any money you return if you are one of their customers.

also if I should change it now or wait till I get over to England in Jan.

Nobody know how things will change between now and then. So, rather than holding €2,000 in cash for the next few weeks, you might as well change in January.

Resi12

Well if you are under 16 and a member of a credit union you get no charge as far as I know, maybe you have a younger family member?

corkgal1981

No commission charged by An Post either, regardless of age.

Resi12

corkgal1981 wrote: »

No commission charged by An Post either, regardless of age.

Really? Do you need to be a member or are there any other terms and conditions to that?

Toots

Resi12 wrote: »

Really? Do you need to be a member or are there any other terms and conditions to that?

Nope, you can just go in and get it. Depending on how busy they are that day, you might not be able to get a whole lot, but they don't charge commission and they stock US Dollars and Sterling.

Victor

corkgal1981 wrote: »

No commission charged by An Post either, regardless of age.

All well and good, but what is their margin?

EUR1 appears to be USD1.31 = STG0.85
An posts rates today were EUR1 = USD1.22 =STG 0.82

whatnext

Victor wrote: »

All well and good, but what is their margin?

EUR1 appears to be USD1.31 = STG0.85
An posts rates today were EUR1 = USD1.22 =STG 0.82

was just going to say the same thing, their spread is massive ie the effective exchange rate. The same for the credit union. The banks have been best for me lately, I get my mum to do it for me because they have no commission for pensioners, it's only a couple of bob saved, but enough to shout her a lunch.

The easiest way to compare is to ask how much will they give you for the 2k after fees, commission etc.

ArphaRima

Almost nowhere charges commission anymore. They all just offer ripoff rates for cash.

Call your bank. Get a quote and book a rate with their international traders. I do this for any significant amount, though I think it has to be a bank transfer rather than cash.

freelancerTax

You might get a better rate in one of the small shops that do currency exchange (avoid all the big heavily branded ones) in the u.k
I can only speak of London but I have found them to be far closer to the actual rate than any bank

unclebill98

Every bank charges commission for FX exchange. Depending on your account type you may avoid it. The amount the OP is talking about would mean there would be very little difference between the banks or FX exchange outlets. You'd spend more on phone calls than what you'd save calling around.

As for booking with there "International Dealers" most will laugh you off with the small amount and most do not offer deals on a straight forward cash sum. Its mainly for chq's.

As for charges, UB's max charge is 2.54 euro. But if your not a customer you'll only be able to exchange 1270 euro before having to run it through a UB account.