Why you should choose Excel Currencies

So you have established that your bank is probably (almost certainly) not going to be your best choice when sending your money abroad, especially when we are talking large sums.

Now it’s over to your decision-making process, gut feeling, research and biases on which specialist currency company you think will be best for you and your situation.

Let’s take a look into your options..

Online only

Are you comfortable buying stocks, shares or commodities by yourself?

Do you prefer to do business without having to speak to a human?

Do you use the self-checkout at the supermarket?

Do you drive a Dacia?

If you have answered yes to all 4, then choosing an online only company may be the choice for you. These companies have automated nearly every role, so it’s quick, easy to use and cheap.

However..

You probably have limited knowledge at best on the FX market (which is the biggest and one of the most volatile markets in the world) and so not having a human to guide you puts you at an immediate disadvantage.

DIY issues..

A DIY service can create stress and anxiety that you may or may not deal well with during an already highly emotional time. As you are buying from a live market (the same as stocks, shares & commodities), booking the wrong amount and/or inputting the wrong account details can be a very costly mistake indeed.

Also, sending a large payment abroad is not like sending a small payment abroad and a property payment is not the same as sending money to family. There are compliance checks required to satisfy our AML procedures, which means having the correct documentation before any payment can be released and you can expect payment delays if doing this alone.

Without someone guiding you, how do you know when is best to exchange or do you just exchange when you are ready or when the money is needed to be sent?

This presents a huge issue because exchange rates will change by around 3% in the timeframe of someone purchasing a property abroad. This means a £6,000 swing on a £200,000 exchange. Imagine what you could put that money towards if timed correctly..

Pay cheap, pay twice..

The Dacia question is relevant if you value getting the cheapest price possible for goods or services. Dacia is the cheapest car brand in the UK and if you see a car as just a way of getting from A to B, then there is no better option. But not everyone sees a car this way and not everyone likes choosing the cheapest option.

Also, cheap rarely means better. Usually something has to give. And that can certainly be said in our industry. Paying cheap often means paying more in the long run via either time or money or probably both when a large overseas payment is concerned.

There is a time and a place to use an online only company in ours and many of our competitors’ opinion. Built for small exchanges and payments (sending money to family for example) and overseas debit cards, they are nearly unbeatable.

This is where they receive their vast number of good online reviews from. However, those with a larger exchanges and payments, well it’s a completely different story and this is reflected in their many 1* reviews.

Complaints..

Last year, the FCA brought in something called the ‘Consumer Duty Act’ to financial service firms. Effectively saying ‘treat your customers the same as if your mother was a customer’. A very interesting and eye-opening concept I’m sure you will agree..

Anyway, a huge reason as to why the FCA brought in this new principle was because of the sheer number of complaints online only companies were receiving from its customers via the Financial Ombudsmen (again you can research this online).

Frozen accounts, money going missing, huge delays on payments, no human customer service help and so on..

Over the years, these online companies (that are trying to resemble banks but without having a banking license) have received more complaints than our high-street banks and we know the kind of reputation they (mostly) all have.

The right service for you?

Remember Purplebricks? Once worth £1.4bn after disrupting the real estate industry was sold for £1 in 2023. Many of you may have had a good experience with Purplebricks, but ultimately it couldn’t service every customer’s needs with their main USP of a cheap commission offering.

We are not in anyway suggesting that these online only companies are going the same way as Purplebricks. Tech-first disruptors are good for industries to get better, we are just saying it’s really horses for courses..

Online only will suit some people in certain situations, but not all and probably not those that are sending a large amount of money abroad for the first time.

Traditional

If longevity is a strong bias motivator for you and/or if you are someone who wants to do business with only the oldest and biggest players in everything you are involved with (no matter the cost) then look no further.

The traditional FX brokerages have been around for 25-years+ and were the original disruptors in our industry, taking market share away from the banks who had monopoly at the time. With huge balance sheets and staff head count, they resemble ‘mini banks’, which is both a good thing and bad thing depending on how you view banks.

Practically all traditional FX brokerages are now large corporations needing to make money for either their investors or shareholders and so competing on marketing, staff and offices is simply a no-go for the rest of us.

How we match up..

We have been in business for over 20-years ourselves, surviving the financial crash and of course the covid pandemic and so that should provide at least some positive longevity bias for you.

Still privately owned, we have built a company and culture based on a low turnover of staff and family feel. Our traders for example have been with us for over 12-years. We have over 50 staff in 6 different countries and we all share the spoils at the end of the year.  

Also, instead of using just a bank for our liquidity, treasury and full FX functionality needs. We have been working with the best-in-class for cross-border payments ‘The Currency Cloud’ since 2011, who have processed an astonishing $100 billion for its customers to date.

The software company was bought by Visa in 2021 for £700 million and is only available to banks and FX brokerages. We leverage Currency Clouds’ full package for an overall faster and more competitive solution for our customers.

Don’t be just another sale..

If affiliation bias is a strong motivator for you, then again, a traditional FX brokerage could be your best bet. They are well affiliated with estate agencies and solicitors, mainly due to having a long and well-established presence/brand in areas where there is high ‘Brit’ traffic.

We may not have offices anymore in the EU (due to Brexit), but we rival the number of affiliations a traditional FX brokerage has. This is because we do not have anywhere near the overheads they have. This means we can offer estate agencies, solicitors and their customers a much more competitive service and exchange rate.

If you don’t mind being just another sale to a big corporation and calling into a call centre who will pass you onto someone that doesn’t know you or your requirements, there is no need to look further down this page.

A traditional FX brokerage rely on their name, affiliations and marketing to bring business to their door and then they will offer a package just about better than a bank. We rely mainly on customer referrals. To receive a customer referral, we have to provide value and a certain level of service to be worthy of a customer referral.

In short, no pro-activeness, no market expertise, no personal touch, average rates and an average experience is what you will likely find with this kind of firm. We believe in offering the red carpet treatment and you shouldn’t settle for anything less in our opinion.

Consultative

Would you like fine dining, but without the cost?

Would you like to work with a market expert who takes an interest in you, your requirements and can help guide you through the world’s biggest market?

Just 2% of the British population are ‘lucky’ enough to purchase property abroad. This is an exclusive club and we believe there should be a high-level of service to match.

A consultive FX company like ourselves will be hands on and will help you create a plan to minimise your risk on the market. Risk management is the name of the game and this comes with experienced traders explaining the hedging options and tools available to you.

Don’t just roll the dice..

81% of professional traders lose money on the FX market. This ranges from someone betting £100 that £-€ will go down by 50 pips to hedge fund or investment bank traders betting hundreds of millions or billions for a 10 pip gain.

The one question we always ask customers is; if experienced traders who use algorithmic technology, religiously follow market trends and forecasts still get the movement of currency wrong more often than not, what chance do you have really of timing your exchange right?

This is where we come in, to help shift the odds more in your favour..

Whilst we cannot advise you on what you should do, we can show you what others are doing and suggesting and we can explain what the trends and forecasts are saying, for you to make a more informed decision.

A consultative FX company will take the stress, frustration and anxiety away when entering the FX market and they will not only save you money by offering a preferential exchange rate, but also by helping you exchange at the right time.