FairFX Publicity > Sterling Related Posts
In a recent article the London Evening Standard has discovered that British holidaymakers were charged a total of £106million for taking out money with their credit card abroad last month.
They highlighted that the biggest lenders, including American Express, Alliance and Leicester, Virgin Money, Halifax, Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland, are charging credit customers more than £50 to withdraw €1,000...
This means that holidaymakers are being charged nearly six per cent. According to the article, on taking out €1,000, Lloyds TSB and Halifax credit card customers pay 2.95 per cent commission - £25.95 - and a three per cent withdrawal fee - £26.39 - meaning their travel money costs £931.95.
The article recommends FairFX, saying that “Another popular currency card, from FairFX, sells €1,000 for £888 and has four times as many users as at the start of the year. It charges €1.50 for every withdrawal abroad.”
Click here to read the article in full.
Monday 21 September 2009, 11:53am
With most people re-evaluating their more exuberant spending habits, we’d like to ask the question - Should everyone start taking solvency tips from students?
After all, students are right at the heart of receiving up-to-date financial health advice from experts like Martin Lewis or from finance-focused newspaper journalists.
A recent article to offer great money-saving tips is one that was published in the Times in August… and we’re really happy that one of the recommendations was the FairFX Travel Money Card!
The article highlighted that if students are taking a gap year before university, or if they’re planning on travelling during the holidays, a pre-paid card could be useful.
It confirmed that for travel in Europe and America, the Fair FX card offers one of the best deals. Click here to read the article in full.
Friday 18 September 2009, 10:51am
A recent article in the Birmingham Post has confirmed online currency exchange rates to be among the best.
However, according to the article one in five people still leave it to the last minute and change money at the airport, where they are almost certain to get a poor rate. About 15 per cent rely entirely on credit or debit cards, where providers are reckoned by price comparison service uSwitch.com to collect fees and charges worth £281 million a year.
Stephen Heath and Ian Strafford-Taylor – both FairFX Directors are featured in the article. Heath and his business partner Ian Strafford-Taylor aimed to bring the Easyjet low cost online model to currency conversion in launching FairFX in 2006 – now they handle £100 million worth of foreign currency a year through cards and cash.
Low costs keep their exchange rate consistently high in best buy charts; its only charge on ATM withdrawals will be the one levied by the machine owner. Of course, saving on prepaid cards is maximised if buyers are canny enough to buy at a favourable exchange rate.
Wednesday 16 September 2009, 10:34am
More websites than ever are writing about the benefits of the FairFX Currency Card. This follows the publication of research which showed the overall value that the FairFX Card offered compared to competitors in the market.
Opodo mentioned in their article entitled "Travellers 'face hefty forex costs'" that Fair FX discovered that just 4% of travellers understand that they can be charged even when money changing services are advertised as being 'free'.
Easier.com continues the theme in their article ""FairFX.com calls on travel money industry to clean up its act" saying that the worst industry practices identified include:
- Publicising free services whilst increasing hidden costs
- Non usage fees
- Cross-border fees
- 0% commission / commission free
- Differential pricing online vs high street branches
- Poor exchange rates at many airports
- Misleading guarantees
CompareAndSave.com concluded that Prepaid credit cards 'offer better value'.
The article quoted Stephen Heath (chief executive of FairFX.com), saying: "We are calling on all providers to be clear and transparent about the fees, so that the traveller can decide upfront whether they are happy to end up with less of their currency in their wallet."
He added: "We believe very strongly that travellers need to be aware of these hidden costs."
SpanishNews.es added that FairFX offered "Exchange Rate Relief for Travellers" saying that compared to other travel cash providers; notably Lloyds, Marks & Spencer and the Post Office (UK) the FairFX pre-paid was the clear winner, offering rates at €1.1475. The difference was even more marked when compared with (airport) Travelex.
We’d like to thank everyone for helping to spread the great travel money rates news!
Wednesday 19 August 2009, 04:05pm
As we're only a matter of weeks away from Brits starting to go off on their summer holidays, it seems that the press is turning its credit crunch focus onto how much travel money you can get for your pound sterling.
Firstly, and article by published by the Guardian on Sunday advised on how to be flash without the cash when you're on holiday by using a prepaid card when you're on holiday. Read the full article here.
Yesterday the Telegraph published an interesting article which highlighted money saving tips for gap year students. One of the tips included using the FairFX travel money card. Read the full article here.
Today the Daily Mail highlighted that if you obtained your travel money from the airport, you might end up having up to £300 less spending money for the average family summer holiday compared with using a FairFX card. Read the full article here.
Wednesday 27 May 2009, 04:08pm
Four great articles which mention FairFX have been published over the last couple of days.
Firstly the Telegraph started off by featuring the five ways to get the best deal on your holiday money. They confirmed that the best prepaid card for foreign travel is the FairFX travel money card.
Next it was the turn of financeMarkets.co.uk to advise 'Beware the myth of 'commission free' exchange rates' before TravelDailyNews.com discussed 'The myth Of "0% commission" holiday money'.
Finally, despite Auto-Europe.co.uk advising its readers on how to avoid currency cons they still confirmed that thousands of Brits would still headed for the airport as soon as the schools closed for Easter to soak up some sun in a European resort.
Wednesday 08 April 2009, 03:17pm
Four major UK newspapers are seeking to expose the 0% travel money myth to ensure that holidaymakers get as much foreign currency for their money as possible in 2009.
Stories in the Mail, the Guardian, the Observer and the Times have highlighted that 37% of travellers thought that meant they were getting their foreign currency for free when they were told it was "0% commission".
The Mail started off by announcing that the OFT asked to probe claims travellers are being 'conned by currency charges'. Soon after, the Guardian continued by saying that firms are being accused of giving misleading headlines to mask poor exchange rates. The 0% focus continued with the Observer saying that the falling value of the pound means getting a good deal on currency exchange is ever more important before the Times discussed the '0% deals' which are often anything but.
FairFX.com Chief Executive Stephen Heath concluded: "People think they are paying '0% commission', but that couldn't be further from the truth."
Monday 06 April 2009, 05:09pm
Currency cards are now starting to make serious inroads into more conventional forms of travel money.
After last week’s article in the Evening Standard which confirmed that FairFX.com took on nearly 60 per cent more card customers in January month than December, ThisIsMoney, the online publication from the Daily Mail have highlighted that currency cards do not carry a foreign currency exchange rate fee, an extra levy of approximately 2.75% compared with the average credit or debit card.
The ThisISMoney article goes on to say that debt and credit cards may also have a similar till charge when paying in shops and restaurants, but there is no such charge with a currency exchange card.
Click here to read the article in full.
Monday 02 March 2009, 12:29pm
As the pound continues to fight back against the Euro and US Dollar, foreign currency exchnage news websites are relying on FairFX to provide up-to-date information on currency fluctuations.
On Friday, the London Stock Exchange published an article showing that the pound has crawled back over 12% of its value from the euro since December’s low of €1.02. Click here to read the full article.
Monday 09 February 2009, 11:45am
A comprehensive article about prepaid cards in Money Magpie has highlighted Opodo's great deal with FairFX to give people a FREE FairFX Card. (Subject to initial load of at least €10 or $20)
To quote the article, they say: "The FairFX Mastercard is a really good deal. Although there is a purchase fee, the only other fee they charge is a cash withdrawal fee which is very reasonable.
They also add: "Although the cards only come in US dollars or euros, you can use them anywhere in the world and you will not be charged foreign exchange commission. They also have business exchange rates which means you get more foreign currency for your pound.
"We've just found out that customers who buy the FairFX card through Opodo) can get it for free with a minimum load value of €10 / $20."
Click here to apply for your FREE FairFX Currency card today.
Wednesday 28 January 2009, 05:12pm
Latest 'Sterling' Posts
21 September 2009, 11:53am
18 September 2009, 10:51am
16 September 2009, 10:34am
19 August 2009, 04:05pm
27 May 2009, 04:08pm
08 April 2009, 03:17pm
06 April 2009, 05:09pm
02 March 2009, 12:29pm
09 February 2009, 11:45am
28 January 2009, 05:12pm
Monthly 'Sterling' Archives
2009
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