Brits discard unspent currency

British holidaymakers are sitting on a pile of unspent foreign currency from their holidays, new research by Santander Cards has revealed. The card provider discovered that holidaymakers have returned home with a colossal £1.78 billion worth of foreign currency this year, as a result of Britons overestimating their spending while abroad.

The research found that 62 per cent of Britons have been on holiday this year, with nearly half (48 per cent) having holidayed abroad. With the average holidaymaker spending £1079 on their main holiday, Britons have collectively splashed out more than £31.4 billion on holidays already this year.

Of those Britons holidaying abroad, 71 per cent have returned home with unspent foreign currency. The average holidaymaker brought back £61 worth of foreign currency from their holiday, translating to £1.78 billion across the UK.

More than six out of 10 (62 per cent) holidaymakers with unspent foreign currency hold onto it for their next trip, while a fifth (23 per cent) convert it straight back to sterling and a benevolent eight per cent give the money away - three per cent to charity and five per cent to friends.

While one per cent of holidaymakers ‘currency speculate', converting their money back to sterling when conversion rates are more favourable, three per cent either do nothing at all with their unspent foreign currency or throw it away, wasting the equivalent of an astounding £29.8 million.

Callum Gibson, Director at Santander Cards, comments: "While it's not surprising that Britons are returning from foreign holidays with some leftover spending money, the incredible amount of unused foreign currency floating around the nation's homes is quite unexpected.

"When on holiday abroad, it's often more cost efficient for holidaymakers to carry only small amounts of cash and pay for other purchases using a credit card. The Santander Zero card has no foreign exchange fee anywhere in the world, helping to make holiday spending less expensive and also saving holidaymakers the hassle and expense of changing currency back. It also offers 0 per cent on balance transfers for 12 months and purchases for three months and has no fee on cash advances."