Travellers lock in the rate to protect against further fall in value of Pound

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Read Time:1 Minute, 29 Second

Travellers in their droves are locking in the rate of exchange on the Euro

and US Dollar to protect themselves from further falls in the value of the
Pound. ICE (International Currency Exchange – www.iceplc.com), the travel
money and prepaid currency card provider has seen an 800% increase in the
total volume of US Dollars travellers are loading to the ICE Travellers
Cashcard (ITC), compared to the same period last year.

The total volume of Euros being loaded has also jumped dramatically, by 256%
in February 2013 vs February 2012. With commentators suggesting that the
Pound will reach parity with the Euro for the first time since 2008, those
planning to travel overseas are hedging their bets and looking for ways to
secure against further falls in the rates of exchange.

Tom Johnson, Head of ICE’s Online Business said: “We’ve seen unprecedented
demand for the ICE Travellers Cashcard over the past month – orders for the
Euro card are up 547% while those for the US Dollar card are up an
astonishing 1050%.

“No-one knows for certain how the exchange markets will fair over the next
few weeks but if you think the value of the Pound is going to continue to
fall, then buying currency now and loading it to a fee free prepaid card
like the ICE Currency Cashcard will offer some budgeting certainty at a
pretty uncertain time.

“Shop around carefully for a prepaid card and check the charges as savings
made on the rate of exchange could be lost through unexpected fees. The ICE
Travellers Cashcard has no charges, unlike most of the other prepaid cards
on the market, comes with a free back up card and 1% cashback on all
purchases, helping travellers to make their money go further.”