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Could this currency deal help you lock in a better rate on leftover cash?

Written By:
Guest Author
Posted:
10/04/2017
Updated:
10/04/2017

Guest Author:
Paloma Kubiak

The value of the pound has fluctuated wildly since the Brexit vote, causing grief for holidaymakers buying and selling their currency. Could this ‘buy back’ guarantee help lock in a better rate on your left over money?

Foreign exchange specialist Caxton FX has today re-launched its £5 ‘Buy Back Guarantee’ to give holidaymakers ”peace of mind” in the midst of the pound’s volatility since June 2016.

It guarantees to buy back your unused currency at the same rate you bought it for.

If the pound were to get stronger, those going away now could find they’re unable to change their currency back at a favourable rate so they’ll lose out.

What you need to know about Caxton’s ‘Buy Back Guarantee’

You need to be a Caxton customer and have its Caxton FX prepaid currency card. If you don’t have one, you can apply online, make an initial load during the application process and then you’re eligible for the product.

It costs £4.99 for each currency that you want to guarantee. So if for example you’ll be visiting France and the US, it’ll cost you £9.98 to guarantee both the euro and US dollar rate.

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To get it, when you’re loading your currency card with travel money, you’ll see an option to buy the guarantee for that particular transaction. The minimum amount you can guarantee is £100 and the maximum is £6,500.

It is valid for 90 days from the day of purchase, or 30 days from your first overseas transaction or ATM withdrawal, whichever’s first. There is no redemption fee for changing your money back to sterling.

But if the rate on the day is better than the rate they bought at and locked in (for example £1 = $1.15 and then on their return was £1 = $1.10), Caxton confirmed customers “will be under no obligation to use the guarantee and can simply change their currency back to pounds at the day’s standard rate via the redeem balance function.” However, this costs an additional £1.50.

As you have to be a Caxton FX customer and you’re buying currency from them, the guarantee doesn’t apply to currency bought from other bureaux.

However, Caxton told us that its rates are “very competitive versus banks and airports on travel money” – you can use its comparison tool to see how much you can get on average versus other exchange firms.