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Brits are sitting on £2.1bn of forgotten holiday money

23rd May 2013 Print

Britons are sitting on billions of pounds-worth of left over holiday currency, according to a new report from Debenhams Personal Finance.

The average person has almost £60 of foreign currency in their homes, which adds up to a national total of £2.1bn in unused cash - prompting the launch of a new card to help people make the most of it this summer.

The Debenhams Buyback Giftcard allows customers to put the full value of their unused currency in sterling onto the card. The advantage being that the retailer has pledged to add an extra 10% “bonus” to the card to spend in store.

Research by Debenhams has revealed that 97 per cent of Britons who went abroad last year* have a stash of foreign currency hidden away in their homes, with the average figure standing at £59.40.

Says Head of Debenhams Personal Finance, Mike Hazell: “There is a huge amount of foreign currency lying around in UK homes just waiting to be turned back into spendable, British money. Most of us have different currencies sat in jars and drawers that we’ve completely forgotten about. And if you change it back with Debenhams, you’ll get an extra ten per cent to spend in store.

“We have a history of offering our customers fantastic value for money, and our Buyback Giftcard does just that. It is completely unique in the marketplace, and unlike many other travel money bureaux, we offer our customers a competitive sell and buy rate on their currency.”

The study found that the average UK traveller would have to come back from holiday with £84.50 before they would be inclined to change it back to sterling. This rises to £120.70 amongst Londoners, but falls to £54.60 for those from Scotland.

One in five (19 per cent) said that they have never changed their money back – they simply find other ways to ‘get rid of it’, with men being much more likely to change their money back than women.

The most popular currency to have lying around is the Euro, which 69 per cent of us have stashed away in our homes. This is followed by the US Dollar (24 per cent) and Egyptian Pound (six per cent).

Continues Hazell: “It’s surprising to see that the average Brit would only bother to change their money back if they had £83. Not many of us have jobs that pay £83 per hour – yet changing your cash back to sterling only takes a couple of minutes. And by putting the money onto a Buyback card, you can even beat those post-holiday blues by treating yourself to a bit of shopping – with an added 10% bonus.”

How it works:

A customer selling back €100 would receive £78.37 (based on an exchange rate of 1.276, correct at 15th May 2013) and then receive an additional 10 per cent on this - meaning that they have a value of £86.21 to spend on their Buyback Giftcard.

A customer selling back $100 would receive £60.79 (based on an exchange rate of 1.645, correct at 15th May 2013) and then receive an additional 10 per cent on this - meaning that they have a value of £66.87 to spend on their Buyback Giftcard.

There is no minimum amount of currency which can be changed back and loaded on to the card, making it the perfect way to convert foreign currency.

It applies to all currencies.

Up to £1,000 can be loaded at a time, with a maximum balance on the card of £2,000.

Customers can take advantage of the Buyback Giftcard by visiting their nearest Travel Money Bureau, open 7 days a week in over 40 stores.