These offer 24 hour collection on key currencies, prepaid multi-currency cards and 0% commission for reserve and collect travel money. Gatwick Airport similarly has various foreign exchange bureaus, run by moneycorp⁴. These offer ATM cash withdrawal, as well as currency to order online and collect for no commission fees. There are foreign exchange bureaus, run by Travelex, in all Heathrow's terminals³. It’s never advisable to exchange your money at airports or hotels², but if it’s an absolute necessity there are places in London where you can do this. Avoid airport and hotel currency exchanges You can monitor the live mid-market rate at any time by checking our online currency converter. The good news is that finding out the true current value of the pound is easy. So, it’s always worth checking whether this kind of extra fee is hidden within the exchange rate. This means that the provider is making commission from the exchange, while you get a poorer rate. If the exchange rate you’re offered differs from the mid-market rate, there’s a good chance there’s a mark-up added on top. More importantly, it’s the fairest exchange rate you could possibly get. The mid-market rate, also known as the interbank rate or spot rate, is the midpoint between the buy and sell rates from global markets. The pound is freely traded on the open market, and the exchange rate is the value at which traders are prepared to buy or sell at a given point in time. Sign up for exchange rate alerts so you can convert currency at the perfect time. Try timing your exchange for when your home currency is stronger compared to the pound.
This is why timing is everything when exchanging currency. Factors affecting the rate include economic, political and other changes. This means that its value is determined by current supply and demand and will fluctuate over time. The Great Britain Pound (GBP, also known as pound sterling) has a floating exchange rate¹, just like many major and widely traded currencies. Here are a few tips to consider when exchanging currency in London. Things to know before exchanging your moneyīefore you part with your hard-earned cash, it’s useful to learn a little more about the process of exchanging money in different currencies. This means low fees and the real, mid-market rate every time.Īlso, check out Wise’s multi-currency account, which lets you manage and send dozens of currencies all from the same account.
Its smart technology skips hefty international transfer fees by connecting local bank accounts all around the world. This means more profit for the bank, but a worse deal for you. They add a margin or mark-up on top of the mid-market exchange rate, which is the one you’ll find on Google or currency sites like Xe.com. Sending money to or from the UK? Wise could save you more compared to your bankīanks and some money transfer providers often give you an unfavourable exchange rate when you convert currencies.
If you’re not careful, you could be losing a lot of money without even realising it.Ĭheck out this guide on how to get the best deal possible exchanging your money when travelling to London. While lots of companies claim to offer the ‘best’ and ‘most competitive’ rates around, this isn’t always the case. Unfortunately, foreign exchange is big business. For visitors from other countries, this means finding the best places for currency exchange in London.
Visiting London? There’s so much to see and do in the UK capital, so you’ll have plenty of brilliant experiences to spend your money on.īefore you do, you’ll need to get your money sorted. Travelling to Australia Austria Bangladesh Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Egypt Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kenya Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Malta Mexico Monaco Morocco Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam The UAE The UK The US.Life in Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Brussels Canada China Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Luxembourg Malaysia Malta Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Russia Singapore South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Sydney Thailand Vietnam The UAE The UK The US.