FAQs

You can access our service easily – simply register with us, and we will assign an account manager to speak to. There’s no cost or obligation to register, and you are welcome to speak with us first by calling our team directly at 0800 622 6522.

Bank service levels vary enormously, but generally you should find our service easier to use, because we are specialists in currency exchange and international payments – most banks do not offer the same personal service.

No – we offer a personal service, with a named, experienced account manager, who is available by telephone, email and WhatsApp during business hours (or a named colleague in their absence). We believe that dealing with significant payments on your behalf deserves a human touch, making your life easier, with the assurance of being able to pick up the phone to us whenever you like.

Yes. A Place in the Sun Currency Ltd is regulated by the FCA in the UK, and A Place in the Sun Currency Europe SL is regulated by the Bank of Spain. Please see our page about regulations for more details and what this means for your transactions with us.

Instructing your payment correctly is your ultimate responsibility, but at A Place in the Sun Currency we operate industry-leading fraud prevention systems, to help keep your money safe. We make a number of checks, both by prompting you and by our own research & systems, before sending any payments on your behalf. We will always explain the risks of sending funds when you instruct us to do so, or suggest sending a small test payment first.

Our internal processes, developed over many years, make errors with payments virtually impossible. But, in the extremely unlikely event that we did not follow your instructions correctly, we would be obliged to make the correct payment instead at our own cost. We carry a significant level of professional indemnity insurance.

No. The FSCS covers personal bank accounts, not money held on your behalf by a payment service provider. Instead, the FCA Safeguarding rules apply to funds held with A Place in the Sun Currency.

We deal in all major currencies, including most commonly Pound Sterling, Euros, and US Dollars. The full list of currencies we can receive or send on your behalf, is:
– GBP (Pound)
– EUR (Euro)
– USD (US Dollar)
European Currencies
– CHF (Swiss Franc)
– NOK (Norwegian Krone)
– SEK (Swedish Krone)
– DKK (Danish Krone)
Rest of World
– CAD (Canadian Dollar)
– AUD (Australian Dollar)
– NZD (New Zealand Dollar)
– AED (UAE Dirham)
– SAR (Saudi Riyal)

We can help with transfers to and from most countries, subject to our internal compliance policy and worldwide sanctions rules, which are updated regularly. With some countries, there are also logistical or local regulations which make transfers difficult or impossible. Please contact us to check your requirements if your circumstances involve an unusual jurisdiction.

We send Euros, US Dollars and Sterling on a same-day or next-day basis, depending on the amount and the time of day (bank cut-off times mean that same-day payments are not possible during some hours). Other currencies typically take one to two working days to arrive – please check with us if you are in a hurry. It’s important to note that we do not control receiving banks’ clearance times, and while most banks will credit your payment quickly on receipt, you shouldn’t rely on it being instant. Banks, and A Place in the Sun Currency, can also hold payments if there are any compliance or fraud queries – we will inform you if this is necessary for your payment, and how to resolve any delays.

Yes, if for example you have savings from working overseas in one currency, and are buying property or moving to another country, you can exchange directly from one to the other in most cases. This will save you moving your money once into Pounds, and again into the currency you need, so is likely to be the cheapest option.

No. We only deal in official currencies that are transferred to and from ordinary bank accounts.

No. We only offer our service for currency to be physically sent to a bank account – you can’t buy currency from us and then reverse the transaction in an attempt to gain from market movements.

We don’t charge any fees or commission when you exchange currency, because we make a margin on the exchange rate that we offer you. For payments over £30,000 there are no fees for making payments either. For relatively smaller transfers, a £5 or £10 charge (depending on the currency and country) applies per payment, to cover our banking costs on these transactions – although this is also waived if you use our Regular Payment Plan.

You should only enter into a contract to exchange currency with us, if you are sure you would like to commit to using our service. We buy from live currency markets, which can be very volatile, so once an exchange rate has been agreed, we are usually not able to cancel the order without a cost being incurred. Please note that ‘cooling off’ periods do not apply to live financial market transactions, for the same reason.

We will always send the full amount of currency you have bought and paid for. For payments to the EU, we route funds via our banking facilities in Germany, so that they originate in the EU, which should eliminate any post-Brexit ‘receiving’ charges, although we cannot guarantee that. Outside the EU there may also be other small routing charges applied by banks in the payment chain, which we cannot control or negate, but can advise when likely to be incurred.

We always offer commercial exchange rates – as opposed to the lowest ‘tourist’ rate. The exact rate we can offer you will depend on a number of factors, such as the amount you are exchanging, which service you are using, and the complexity of the transaction. We monitor our prices to ensure they are consistent, and a full pricing policy is available on request. We always offer a rate before you agree to exchange your funds, so you would only instruct us to go ahead if you are happy with the rate on offer.

We welcome all customer feedback, good or bad. For individual feedback, please email help@aplaceinthesuncurrency.com; or you can leave a Google review or use our independent review service here. We also regularly send customer feedback requests.

While complaints about our service are extremely rare, we operate a complaints procedure, and in the first instance would welcome the opportunity to resolve any dissatisfaction with you directly. Please email complaints@aplaceinthesuncurrency.com and we will send you further details.

Yes, depending on the A Place in the Sun Currency services you have used. In the first instance please email complaints@aplaceinthesuncurrency.com, or call us and ask to make a complaint, and we will send you full details of our complaints procedure, which includes contact details for the Financial Ombudsman Service.