Should ’0% Commission’ Advertising For Travel Money Be Banned?
Published: 22 June 2011 By MoneyHighStreet Staff Leave a Comment
UK consumers feel strongly that travel money companies should be banned from advertising ’0% commission’ without disclosing that additional charges are built into exchange rates.
In a recent survey carried out on Facebook*, 1075 UK consumers answered whether or not they felt that travel money companies should be able to advertise ‘0% commission’ without disclosing that additional charges are built into exchange rates.
With 1000 people participating an overwhelming 93% of respondents agreed that “this leading form of advertising should be banned”.
In the UK, some of the large name travel money companies like Travelex, Marks & Spencer and the Post Office commonly use “0% commission” as a strapline to advertise their services.
However the issue is you’re likely to get stung with uncompetitive exchange rates as this is where these companies ‘hide’ their charges to you.
As the statement of ’0% commission’ therefore doesn’t reflect the true cost to the consumer, many travellers are now calling for this practice to be banned.
Some of the Facebook comments from participants included…
John Carter: “Why is there no regulator for this 0% commission claim? Especially with the Olympics coming up there is a great opportunity for UK Government to set a Kite Mark standard.”
David Edwards: “Misleading advertising is wrong in any circumstances. With particular regard to foreign exchange it highlights our nation as ‘rip-off Britain’. It is perfectly acceptable for a service provider to charge a fee but that fee should be completely transparent and fair comparisons should be accessible in plain simple English.”
Stephen Heath, CEO of travel money card provider FairFX.com added: “It seems that the lack of transparency in this marketplace has hit a nerve with consumers, and that a campaign needs to be started to come up a better way of comparing the overall cost of travel money.”
MoneyHighStreet.com comments: “We very much support the need for a better way of comparing the actual cost of travel money and certainly strapline advertising that misleads people should be banned.
Getting the best currency exchange rates is vital, whether you are dealing with your holiday travel money or larger financial currency transactions and as part of this you need to know exactly what you will be charged.”
* The survey results and consumer feedback can be viewed here
