Foreign exchange - Consumer & small business questionnaire - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Response 957597552

Foreign currency conversion services 1/3

Have you used a currency conversion service in the last two years?

Please select one item

Yes

Foreign currency conversion services 2/3

How often did you use the following services in the last two years?

	1-2 times	3-5 times	6+ times	N/A
Sent money overseas Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	Ticked 6+ times	N/A
Exchanged Australian dollars for foreign cash Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	Ticked 6+ times	N/A
Loaded a travel card Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	6+ times	Ticked N/A
Used a credit or debit card to make overseas purchases Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	6+ times	Ticked N/A
Used a credit or debit card to withdraw foreign cash from an ATM while overseas Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	6+ times	Ticked N/A
Other Please select one item	1-2 times	3-5 times	6+ times	N/A

Which suppliers did you use in the last two years? (please select all that apply)

	Bank	Credit union/building society	Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other	N/A
Sent money overseas Please select all that apply	Bank Ticked Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Ticked Other	N/A N/A
Exchanged Australian dollars for foreign cash Please select all that apply	Bank Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Ticked Other	N/A N/A
Loaded a travel card Please select all that apply	Bank Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Other	N/A Ticked N/A
Used a credit or debit card to make overseas purchases Please select all that apply	Bank Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Other	N/A Ticked N/A
Used a credit or debit card to withdraw foreign cash from an ATM while overseas Please select all that apply	Bank Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Other	N/A Ticked N/A
Other Please select all that apply	Bank Bank	Credit union/building society Credit union/building society	Australia Post Australia Post	Foreign cash kiosk Foreign cash kiosk	Remittance provider (e.g Western Union) Remittance provider (e.g Western Union)	Other Other	N/A Ticked N/A

What are the top 3 priorities you look for when choosing a supplier? (1 = Most important)

Please rank these from 1 to 3

Price

Brand

Ease of access

Range of services they offer (e.g. offering cash and travel cards)

Reliability and speed of service

Ability to interact face-to-face

Ability to interact online

Reviews

Other

Foreign currency conversion services 3/3

What was the last currency conversion service you used?

Please select one item

Sent money overseas

Exchanged Australian dollars for foreign cash

Loaded a travel card

Used a credit or debit card to make overseas purchases

Used a credit or debit card to withdraw foreign cash from an ATM while overseas

Other

Did you find it easy to understand the currency conversion rate for this service?

Please select one item

Yes

Did you find it easy to understand any additional fees you would need to pay for this service?

Please select one item

Yes

Did you shop around?

Please select one item

Yes

Did you consider other options for converting currency? (i.e instead of buying foreign cash, did you consider using a travel card or a credit or debit card?)

Please select one item

Yes

Did you find it easy to compare prices between different currency conversion services?

Please select one item

Yes

If no, why not?

It is very difficult to get online information so you need to walk around. We have a regular funds transfer which we now use

Do you have any other comments about the last time you used a currency conversion service?

Banks are a ripoff and I will never use them again. You can send Aussie dollars via money transfer to convert with the overseas bank but the bank charges 30 dollars a pop even for a 500 dollar transfer. We use a currency desk which is a local subsidiary of the giant Thai currency conversion company SuperRich to send money overseas. Good rates and is free. It's well known in the Thai community. When travelling we must take large amounts of Aussie dollars with us which is really annoying for the security risk. Money exchange desks in many countries is better value especially Thailand and Hong .Kong. Using foreign ATMs - our preferred option is just a rip off due to the source being our local bank in Australia.

General comment

Have you ever had any negative experiences when using currency conversion services?

Please select one item

Yes

Not applicable

If yes, please specify:

I had a friend who loaded up a wallet with 4000 cash. My friend signed the paperwork and did not realise NAN put Thai baht in his wallet instead if Indonesian rupiah. He realised the banks mistake 2 minutes after walking out of the branch. When he returned for them to fix it they demanded he reconvert back to Aussie dollars and then convert to rupiah. He lwiuld have been about 500 dollars out of pocket.

Please include any general comments or other feedback you would like to make in relation to the foreign currency conversion services inquiry:

I think encouraging money conversion hubs for small businesses could be useful in our large cities. This way consumers could price shop easily. Hong Kong does this really well.