Currencies Direct warning

saflondonmser

I'd like to warn other users of Currencies Direct's not very transparent tactics and low exchange rates. It'd also be great to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.

Quick summary: when you open an account with CD, they put you on a price plan. The rates you're offered are not the same as the ones offered to other users and they try to persuade you to exchange on a low rate with constant phone calls. From a conversation I had with my CD account manager, I believe that the low rate I was offered was because I had joined using the MSE link and they may have tried to offset the bonus I was going to get by increasing their profit margin.

I've made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and I'm currently waiting for a response. Full story below:

Back in January, I opened an account to transfer a five-figure sum of euros to GBP via a MSE link that would have entitled me to a £200 Amazon voucher.

As I hadn't used CD's services before, I made a trial transfer of 1,000 euros and received £840.30. The euro to GBP rate that day was 0.84426, which led me to believe that I was getting a fair rate.

From the moment I opened the account, I received daily calls, emails and texts from my CD account manager, who promised I could get better rates over the phone. When I finally spoke to her, I let her know that my intention was to exchange a large amount of money and I was told that the rates for large amount were better than the one for lower amounts as they could reduce their profit margin, so I proceeded to transfer the five-figure amount to my CD Wallet.

Once the full amount was in my wallet, the rate I was offered dropped suddenly. For instance, on 1st February the market rate was 0.83376 but I was only offered 0.8025. At the same time, my CD account manager kept calling trying to persuade me to transfer as, according to her expertise, euro was going down rapidly and I needed to act fast. I did not appreciate her tactics and asked her politely not to contact me as I knew currency rates fluctuate and I was happy to wait for a better rate. I also told her that I had set a rate alert on the app for that purpose. The alert was for 0.841. 

Rates did improve a few days later but the rate I was offered remained low. I found this suspicious, so I opened a second account using my second family name. Both accounts passed CD security checks and the details on them were identical, apart from family name, phone number and email address.

To my surprise, the rates offered on my second account were higher than on my first account and closer to the actual market rate. On 11th March the market rate was 0.84224 and I was only offered 0.8107 on my first account and 0.8410 on my second account. To put this in perspective, if I had transferred using my first account I would have been £1,000 worse off.

I raised this with my account manager, who explained that the rates offered to customers may differ. I asked why I was getting different rates when the details on both accounts were identical and she mentioned that the only difference was that my first account had been opened via the MSE link. I asked for an explanation and she referred me to their complaints department.

After a couple of weeks, CD's complaints department got back to explain that customers are put in price plans and that the rates offered depend on the customer's circumstances. I have asked CD to provide any section of their T&Cs or information on their website where this is explained and they have not got back to me. They also said that if I wasn't happy with their response I could complain to the Ombudsman, which I have done.

After their final response, I received another email stating that my first account had not passed security checks and it had been closed, despite the fact that I had already passed their checks and made a transfer successfully. Rather ironically, as soon as my account was closed, I got confirmation that my rate alert target of 0.841 had been reached.

CD has now returned the euros I had in my wallet and I have used another online currency exchange provider. This provider's rates and fees are available for everyone to see, even if you don't have an account. The final amount I got was better than what CD had offered, even if we had taken into account the £200 Amazon voucher.

Middle_of_the_Road

saflondonmser said:

I'd like to warn other users of Currencies Direct's not very transparent tactics and low exchange rates. It'd also be great to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.

Quick summary: when you open an account with CD, they put you on a price plan. The rates you're offered are not the same as the ones offered to other users and they try to persuade you to exchange on a low rate with constant phone calls. From a conversation I had with my CD account manager, I believe that the low rate I was offered was because I had joined using the MSE link and they may have tried to offset the bonus I was going to get by increasing their profit margin.

I've made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and I'm currently waiting for a response. Full story below:

Back in January, I opened an account to transfer a five-figure sum of euros to GBP via a MSE link that would have entitled me to a £200 Amazon voucher.

As I hadn't used CD's services before, I made a trial transfer of 1,000 euros and received £840.30. The euro to GBP rate that day was 0.84426, which led me to believe that I was getting a fair rate.

From the moment I opened the account, I received daily calls, emails and texts from my CD account manager, who promised I could get better rates over the phone. When I finally spoke to her, I let her know that my intention was to exchange a large amount of money and I was told that the rates for large amount were better than the one for lower amounts as they could reduce their profit margin, so I proceeded to transfer the five-figure amount to my CD Wallet.

Once the full amount was in my wallet, the rate I was offered dropped suddenly. For instance, on 1st February the market rate was 0.83376 but I was only offered 0.8025. At the same time, my CD account manager kept calling trying to persuade me to transfer as, according to her expertise, euro was going down rapidly and I needed to act fast. I did not appreciate her tactics and asked her politely not to contact me as I knew currency rates fluctuate and I was happy to wait for a better rate. I also told her that I had set a rate alert on the app for that purpose. The alert was for 0.841. 

Rates did improve a few days later but the rate I was offered remained low. I found this suspicious, so I opened a second account using my second family name. Both accounts passed CD security checks and the details on them were identical, apart from family name, phone number and email address.

To my surprise, the rates offered on my second account were higher than on my first account and closer to the actual market rate. On 11th March the market rate was 0.84224 and I was only offered 0.8107 on my first account and 0.8410 on my second account. To put this in perspective, if I had transferred using my first account I would have been £1,000 worse off.

I raised this with my account manager, who explained that the rates offered to customers may differ. I asked why I was getting different rates when the details on both accounts were identical and she mentioned that the only difference was that my first account had been opened via the MSE link. I asked for an explanation and she referred me to their complaints department.

After a couple of weeks, CD's complaints department got back to explain that customers are put in price plans and that the rates offered depend on the customer's circumstances. I have asked CD to provide any section of their T&Cs or information on their website where this is explained and they have not got back to me. They also said that if I wasn't happy with their response I could complain to the Ombudsman, which I have done.

After their final response, I received another email stating that my first account had not passed security checks and it had been closed, despite the fact that I had already passed their checks and made a transfer successfully. Rather ironically, as soon as my account was closed, I got confirmation that my rate alert target of 0.841 had been reached.

CD has now returned the euros I had in my wallet and I have used another online currency exchange provider. This provider's rates and fees are available for everyone to see, even if you don't have an account. The final amount I got was better than what CD had offered, even if we had taken into account the £200 Amazon voucher.

I didn't read your lengthy post. A few bullet points to summarise would be helpful.

masonic

The new system of auto-bumping threads that haven't received any replies is doing well. This thread would probably be better in the Praise, Vent & Warnings section.

A service like this should definitely not be used to hold savings or investments. No FSCS protection on money they hold for you.