Currency

Do you have spare currency from a holiday or business trip? Here’s what to do with it…

By Shon Alam, founder of Bidwedge

When you return for a trip what do you do with the local currency that you still have in your pocket or purse?  It’s highly likely that you will put it in a drawer or perhaps a special moneybox and tell yourself that you will use it when you next travel to that country.  Some organised people even put the spare cash into carefully labelled envelopes and file them away for future use.

But what happens when you travel abroad again?  Quite often you may find yourself at the airport kicking yourself because you have forgotten to bring the spare notes with you.  Just when you need them to give a tip to a taxi driver.

This is not just conjecture.  A recent survey from M&S Bank published in November 2019 (https://www.swnsdigital.com/2019/11/the-nation-sits-on-2-7-billion-in-foreign-currency/) revealed what happens to UK travellers’ leftover foreign currency.

It found that £3 billion in unused foreign CASH currency is sat in drawers of UK households and that each year, on average, travellers return with £1 billion in various denominations in CASH, plus around £1bn is spent each year by UK travellers ‘using up’ currency in their departure airport before returning home.

For larger amounts, buy back schemes, and even just taking the hit and changing your unused currency at the airport when you get home, are options. But beyond that, and especially for small amounts, there isn’t an easy, cost effective solution – so the cash sits in a drawer and gets ‘wasted’.

What can be done about this?

Now, rather than letting those spare notes gather dust, there is a simple way that travellers can avoid wasting their leftover cash.

Bidwedge lets you create a free account, state the amount of currency you have and then they’ll tell you the price they will pay for your currency. If you agree, you post your currency to Bidwedge and the agreed amount will be paid direct into your bank account. There are no additional fees, postage is free, and all transactions are insured. The aim is to make this an easy process. In addition, we even pay in advance on all GBP value of £30 and less.

Bidwedge’s Currency Buy Back is currently available for Euros and US Dollars and starts as low as 10Euros or $10.

Bidwedge is independent of both banks and currency wholesalers, putting their community of users at the centre of the platform.

So right now you have no excuse for squirreling away your spare Euros and US Dollars.  Next time you are tidying up have a look at how much you have hidden away.  Collect all those spare notes.  Add them up and ask Bidwedge to let you know how much sterling you can get.  You may be surprised to find out how much all those spares notes are worth.  Perhaps enough to give yourself a treat!  In addition, the foreign notes will go back into circulation so it’s a win-win.

About the Author

Shon Alam is the founder of Bidwedge. Bidwedge makes it easy to change your left-over cash currency back into Sterling – at great rates for even the smallest amounts. Just enter the amount, see the rate you’ll be paid, post the cash and watch the money appear in your bank account. It’s easy to do.

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