Financial: Tip of the Week - Save nearly £100 on your holiday currency!

Save nearly £100 on your holiday currency!
 
Every bank, Post Office and even Marks and Spencer want to get you to buy your foreign holiday money from them. But now everyone is becoming a bit more wary of carrying large amounts of foreign currency in cash on holiday, and travellers’ cheques are proving to be less and less popular. Personally I find buying currency a pain, and generally use the place that’s most convenient to get a small amount to get started. I then rely on my bank debit card for drawing cash from cash machines in my resort. Travel agents have also started selling cash cards but they always sound expensive, and I’m wary of any hidden costs.
 
But for my last holiday I thought about it a bit more.......
 
Based on allowing about £1500 spending money for my 2 weeks in the sun, I compared using my bank debit card in a Spanish ATM against using a prepaid debit card from a provider that I researched through ad+ financial. Based on making 10 total withdrawals over the holiday, here are the relative costs.
 
Bank of Scotland debit card

• €1700, withdrawn in euros converted to £1501 (exchange rate of 1.133 euros per £)
• But the transaction fee was £1.50 each time for a total of £15.00
• In addition, there was a debit card currency conversion fee of 2.75%, for a total of £41.28
• In effect, it cost me £1557.28 to withdraw €1700,
• With the ad+ financial recommended pre paid card
• €1700, withdrawn in euros converted to £1454 (exchange rate of 1.169 euros per £)
• The transaction fee was €1.25 each time for a total of €12.50 (equivalent to £10.69)
• There was no currency conversion charge as the card was already pre-loaded in Euros
• In effect it cost me £1464.69 to withdraw €1700, a total saving of £92.59

 
Using a Financial Planner can bring lots of benefits and savings, and at ad+ financial our Diamond Programme Service includes lots of different ways to create real value for our clients.
 
For further information on pre-paid foreign currency debit cards, foreign currency transfers or foreign exchange transactions, as well as all round financial planning advice, please contact:
Alan Craig at ad+ financial on 0141 643 9200 or acraig@adplusfinancial.co.uk

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