Compare UK Post Office to Cheaper Money Transfer Alternatives
Our Independent Review of Post Office Travel Money
The UK Post office provides several convenient travel money services including foreign currency exchange, online ordering, a travel money card and international transfers to foreign bank accounts.
Post Office Travel Money provides services from more than 11,000 locations across the U.K. Post Office locations are often open for long hours, and around 3,000 branches are open every day. The Post Office offers money conversion services into 80 foreign currencies.
Local Bureau de Change Services From Post Office Travel Money
You can buy and sell travel money directly at a Post Office location using the exchange rate for that Post Office location. These local exchange rates will differ from the Post Office online exchange rates and can be more expensive than from a specialist online currency exchange provider. The Post Office does not provide local exchange rates online although you may be able to get a local exchange rate by calling a specific location. There is no minimum order amount when exchanging money in a Post Office branch.
Online Foreign Currency Services From Post Office Travel Money
You can order your foreign currency online and have it delivered to your home or pick it up from a Post Office location. If you order before 3 PM U.K. time, you will get your money on the next working day. You can get better online exchange rates if you convert larger amounts of money—there’s a minimum value of £400 and a maximum value of £2,500. If you order euros or U.S. dollars, the Post Office Click and Collect Express service means you can pick up your currency from a Post Office branch two hours after you place the order.
Bank Account Wire and Money Transfer Services From Post Office Travel Money
You can send money overseas directly to a foreign bank account by using the Post Office International Payments service. Their wire transfer services are provided by Western Union, which means the beneficiary can choose to pick up money at a Western Union agent location in their own country or have the money transferred into their bank account. Please see our Western Union review for examples of exchange rates, fees and other important information.
Post Office Travel Money Money Card
Post Office Travel Money provides a prepaid Mastercard travel card that you can use to spend money overseas. You can load up to 23 currencies onto the card and use it wherever you see the Mastercard logo. You can manage your travel card through the Post Office Travel mobile app and should activate your card before you leave the U.K. The card is Chip and PIN enabled and also allows contactless payments.
The travel card allows you to load money in the following currencies: Euro (EUR), US Dollar (USD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Croatian Kuna (HRK), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Polish Zloty (PLN), Pound Sterling (GBP), South African Rand (ZAR), Swiss Franc (CHF), Thai Baht (THB), Turkish Lira (TRY), UAE Dirham (AED), Czech Koruna (CZK), Japanese Yen (JPY), Hungarian Forint (HUF), Norwegian Krone (NOK), Danish Kroner (DKK), Swedish Kronor (SEK), Chinese Yuan (CNY), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), Saudi Riyal (SAR) and Singapore Dollar (SGD).
UK Post OfficeFees & Exchange Rates
Post Office Travel Money does charge fees for some specific services, like certain activities on their travel card. In most cases, they make their money on the difference between the “base,” interbank* exchange rate and the exchange rate that they charge to you.
*The interbank rate is also known as the mid-market or standard exchange rate, which is the midpoint between the buying and the selling prices of the two currencies.
Post Office Travel Money Card Fees
Post Office Travel Money charges fees for some services offered through its prepaid money card. The fees we’ve shown below are for cards issued in the U.K. You can find fees for other countries on the Post Office Travel Money website.
- There is a fee of two euros or equivalent to withdraw cash using the card through an ATM or at a physical location
- If your card expires, Post Office Travel Money charges an inactivity fee of £2 per month after 12 months
- A three percent additional charge applies if you use your card to pay in a different currency than the 23 available on the travel card
- If you load U.K pounds onto the card there is a commission of 1.5 percent (min £3, max £50)
Post Office Travel Money Card Limits
Post Office Travel Money does have limits for its prepaid money card.
- You can load between £50 and £5,000 onto the card after you have passed an address verification check
- The maximum amount you can have on your card is £10,000 and you can’t load more than £30,000 in a 12-month period
- The maximum amount you can withdraw in a single transaction is 450 euros or equivalent
Post Office Travel Money Online Fees
If you order online and arrange for the foreign currency to be delivered to your home, there is a delivery fee of £4.99 if you order less than £500, but there is no delivery fee if you order more than that.
The Post Office does state that additional charges may sometimes apply when ordering online, but they do not provide information on how much those charges may be. Here’s what they say on the website, “Any fees relating to commissions, card issuer, or delivery will be displayed during the order process. Please note that your credit card provider may charge a cash advance fee for buying Travel Money. When you place your order you will be given the option to select a preferred delivery date/time. Any additional charges that may be applicable, for example ordering for home delivery on a Saturday, or for home delivery orders under £500, the system will display the fee charged.”
Overseas Money Transfer via Western Union
Post Office Travel Money provides overseas transfers through a partnership with Western Union. Please see our Western Union review.
About Fees Levied by Banks
Certain fees may be levied by banks when you are transferring money to another account. These fees are outside the control of Post Office Travel Money. Circumstances, where banks may charge additional fees, include:
- Wire transfers into or out of sender or beneficiary accounts
- Transfers that are sent via SWIFT or certain other banking protocols
- Beneficiary banks charging a fee to receive a transfer
- Intermediary banks charging fees to process money in transit
These fees could mean that the beneficiary receives less money than stated by Post Office Travel Money due to circumstances beyond Post Office Travel Money’s control. If you want to understand what these extra fees are likely to be, please contact your bank and the beneficiary's bank.
Post Office Travel Money Exchange Rates for Online Travel Money
Post Office Travel Money offers online currency exchange services and makes money on the difference between the exchange rate they offer to customers and the base exchange rate. For example, the base rate to convert U.K pounds into U.S. dollars is 1.23 dollars per pound. Post Office Travel Money offers an exchange rate of 1.181 USD per pound if you’re exchanging £400. That’s a difference of four percent, or £16.
Note that the more money you exchange, the better the exchange rate. Here are some other examples:
Exchanging 400 U.K. Pounds Into Euros
- Base exchange rate, 400 GBP converts to 449 EUR
- Post Office Travel Money exchange rate, 400 GBP converts to 432 EUR
- The Post Office Travel Money exchange rate is 3.8 percent more expensive, or around 15 GBP in exchange rate fees
Exchanging 900 U.K. Pounds Into South African Rands
- Base exchange rate, 900 GBP converts to 16,922 ZAR
- Post Office Travel Money exchange rate, 900 GBP converts to 16,189 ZAR
- The Post Office Travel Money exchange rate is 4.3 percent more expensive, or around 39 GBP in exchange rate fees
Exchanging 1,400 U.K. Pounds Into Swedish Krona
- Base exchange rate, 1,400 GBP converts to 17,003 SEK
- Post Office Travel Money exchange rate, 1,400 GBP converts to 16,145 SEK
- The Post Office Travel Money exchange rate is 5 percent more expensive, or around 70 GBP in exchange rate fees
Exchanging 2,000 U.K. Pounds Into Australian Dollars
- Base exchange rate, 2,000 GBP converts to 3,669 AUD
- Post Office Travel Money exchange rate, 2,000 GBP converts to 3,539 AUD
- The Post Office Travel Money exchange rate is 3.5 percent more expensive, or around 70 GBP in exchange rate fees
Exchanging 2,500 U.K. Pounds Into U.S. Dollars
- Base exchange rate, 2,500 GBP converts to 3,074 USD
- Post Office Travel Money exchange rate, 2,500 GBP converts to 3,012 USD
- The Post Office Travel Money exchange rate is 2 percent more expensive, or around 50 GBP in exchange rate fees
If you’re purchasing currency online or you want to transfer money to an overseas account, you can get better deals by comparing specialist currency exchange providers. Several money exchange services have overall fees of one percent or lower, even when taking into account differences in exchange rates.
All of the Post Office Travel Money exchange rates quoted in this section are based on their online rates for converting money for home delivery or store pickup. Local bureau de change rates may vary and are more expensive than what we quote here. All rates correct as of early October 2019.
Post Office Travel Money Exchange Rates for In-branch Travel Money
Here’s what the Post Office says about its in-branch exchange rates, “Branch exchange rates depend on several factors, eg., branch location, competition, cost of order, convenience, etc. We will always try and offer the best rate, subject to this criteria. As with many retailers, the cheapest order / distribution method is online, where centralised packing costs can be used. This is why online exchanges are invariably better than branch rates.”
Comparing Post Office Travel Money Rates To Other Providers
You can easily compare many money transfer services directly using our comparison tool. There are several new services that it’s worth comparing directly to Post Office Travel Money.
Modern, Mobile-Only Banks
There are several new, mobile-only banks that are becoming more widely available throughout the U.K. and Europe. Providers like N26, Monese, Revolut, Monzo or Bunq provide a wide variety of financial services to the modern consumer. All of these modern banks provide international travel cards and international money transfer services, and it’s worth comparing them to Post Office Travel Money.
For example, Monzo provides international money transfers through TransferWise, a very popular and trusted currency exchange provider. If you compare sending 1,000 GBP to a Swedish bank account the recipient would get 12,103 SEK with Monzo / TransferWise compared to 11,546 with Western Union, a difference of around five percent or £50.
Specialist Currency Providers for Other Destinations
You may also be able to get a better deal for money transfers when you’re sending money to certain countries. For example, if you’re sending 500 GBP to Saudi Arabia, the beneficiary would get around 2,289 SAR with Xendpay, compared to 2,158 with Post Office Travel Money, a difference of around 5.3 percent or £26.
How Easy Is It To Send Money With UK Post Office
You can find Post Office Travel Money facilities at most Post Office branches and through their website. Their foreign exchange services are quick and convenient. Their wide availability makes them useful for local currency exchanges, although the fees can be high. International money transfers and travel card services from the Post Office provide a range of additional options if you want to send or spend overseas.
Credibility and Security
You can trust the Post Office to provide a safe and secure exchange of foreign currency. Post Office Travel Money offers currency exchange through First Rate Exchange Services Ltd. First Rate Exchange Services Ltd has a Money Service Business licence No.12133160.
Customer Satisfaction
Unfortunately, the Post Office does not score well for customer satisfaction on Trustpilot, achieving a score of just 1.5 out of 5* across 700 reviews. Ninety percent of the reviews said that they were “poor” or “bad” compared to nine percent of reviews that said they were “excellent” or “great.”
*The scores we show here are for the Post Office overall, not specifically for travel money.
Positive
There were not many positive reviews of the Post Office Travel Money service, however, some did praise the Travel Money card with reviews like this, “Really easy opening of the Travel money card at the counter, with great face to face friendly service. Next day activation of the card was smooth and excellent telephone customer care service was friendly and helpful. Giving their names and added extra attention by offering to help with 'anything else we can be of service.'”
Negative
Issues raised by reviewers that are specific to Post Office Travel Money include unreasonable conversion rates on the travel money card, poor top-up rates, differences between branch and online exchange rates and difficulties with customer service. Here’s a quote from a review about their in-branch exchange rates, “avoid their travel money service like the plague, purchased currency, then checked after only to find I've been levied over 8%, in the exchange rate, they have totally ripped me off, explained to counter clerk wasn't needing money for 2 weeks, but no mention of a better rate, they’ve ripped me off to the tune of 40 pounds more than I could have paid.”