Best way to convert euros cash into pounds?

Financial Chat
1

I often have euros in cash and am wondering the best way to convert them to pounds? I usually go to my local euroexchange booth which has better rates than the bank but wondering if there are any better ways to do it.

Thanks!

2

Is there any reason you need it quickly? Would it be worth just keeping it in Euro and saving the fee to convert back to Euro if you went to a Euro country?

I generally wait until a friend is travelling and do a direct exchange with them, better for for of us.

3

I usually don’t spend in euro countries. If I exchange it when I’m italy would I get a better rate?

4

What I mean is that if you visited Italy you then wouldn’t have to pay the fee to convert pounds to euro (for the amount you currently have).

5

True but I usually don’t spend much as I stay at my grandparents. So I’d rather have it in pounds.

6

Ok - daft question, perhaps, but why do you find yourself with euros in cash in the first place?
Could that be avoided?

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7

No, can’t be avoided as my grandparents only use cash, so it’s repayments for if I order them something from online etc.

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8

I know this is way out there (& totally ignorant of their circumstances) could you have a euro account in Italy and your grandfolks pay into that account?

(We may have a whole mission here - how do we fix this? :thinking:)

9

Unfortunately not. They certainly aren’t very tech literate and I’m worried that they would accidentally send money to a random account or get scammed.

10

Gotcha.

Right then,…anyone got a clever solution? :thinking:

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11

Maybe a Barclays Currency account? Haven’t looked into it (every shop here takes sterling and euros so never needed it) but I know it exists and you can deposit notes

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12

I live in Northern Ireland and would sometimes travel down to the Republic and then have to obtain Euros.

I find that any left over are generally worth keeping until you need them! If I have a large quantity, I’ll usually take them to the Post Office and get them changed into Sterling though.

Failing that, wait until a friend or family member is travelling within Europe and get the Google exchange rate :smiley:

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13

How much needs converting? €10? €100? €1000?

14

That sounds like an interesting question and I don’t actually have an answer, but I’m just gonna share some of my thoughts:

  1. It might be worth having a look at conventional banks and their EURO accounts. Then maybe you can transfer the money from there to something like a TransferWise or Revolut account and convert them within the app.

  2. It looks like there are going to be a couple more solutions for that issue in a couple of years (or if you are lucky maybe within a few months). On the one hand if Revolut or TransferWise officially become British banks they might start offering options for EURO cash deposits. On the other, Starling Bank just started launching their EURO account. You can currently deposit cash (pounds) at any post office, and even though they explicitly state that there is no option for EURO deposits, that might change as the account grows larger

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15

Around €100.

16

I have a transferwise account, but how would I deposit euro cash into it? Would I get a better exchange rate?

Thanks!

17

Keep hold of it until you next need the Euro’s?

Unless you need the cash of course

18

Yea, I kind of need the cash. I don’t often spend on euros either.