Watchdog warns of overcharging for foreign money

UNDERCOVER financial watchdogs were overcharged by up to €15,000 when they visited main street and airport bureaux de change to buy foreign currency.

Posing as consumers, staff visited 75 banks and currency exchange offices during summer and used euro to buy sterling, US dollars, Polish zlotych and Czech koruny.

Yesterday, the Government’s financial regulator revealed its undercover buyers had been overcharged by a handful of the bureaux.

“We have ensured that the firms have not benefited as a result,” said spokeswoman Jill Forde yesterday.

The Irish Examiner understands the amount of overcharging was about €15,000 and the money has since been paid back.

The overcharging was a result of mistakes made by bureaux staff or banking systems, Ms Forde said.

The undercover buyers also found a handful of foreign currency sellers failed to display up-to-date exchange rate information or simply had no rates on show.

Others failed to tell the consumer the amount of commission before the transaction took place.

The financial regulator regularly carries out the “mystery shopper” inspection. For the latest undercover operation in June the regulator’s staff visited a total of 75 branches of five banks and five foreign currency sellers nationwide.

They bought foreign currency with euro and wanted to find out how much consumers were charged when changing money and whether buyers were given enough information.

The regulator said most of the bureaux complied with the consumer law on foreign currency purchases and on the fees they can charge.

“In a small number of cases the margin being imposed exceeded what the service provider was entitled to impose,” said Ms Forde.

She was unable to say how much the undercover buyers spent at each bureau or how much they were overcharged in percentage terms.

The watchdogs have written to bureaux and have ensured the mistakes have been put right.

Yesterday Ms Forde said consumers who buy foreign currency should check their receipts and ensure they know what they are being charged.

In 2004 broadcaster RTÉ uncovered evidence that AIB had been overcharging some foreign exchange customers for eight years due to a systems error.