Debenhams Travel Money Exchange Rate Comparison & Service Review

How can you use Debenhams to send money abroad? Is their service reliable? Can you trust Debenhams with your money? How good are their fees and exchange rates?

What Monito Likes About Debenhams

• Fairly wide availability across the U.K.
• A range of online, local, foreign transfer and travel card services
• Debenhams Travel Money services are safe, secure and regulated

What Monito Dislikes About Debenhams

• Exchange rates can be considerably more expensive than the base exchange rate or exchange rates from other providers
• Local bureau de change rates can be more expensive still and you can only get quotes on these rates when you visit a Debenhams Travel Money location
• “Buy Back” rates are also expensive
• The Debenhams Travel Money card is only available in euros or pounds
• Poor customer reviews

Our Independent Review of Debenhams Travel Money

Debenhams Travel Money is a currency exchange provider offered by the department store chain in the U.K. Like John Lewis, Debenhams Travel Money lets you exchange money at a bureau de change, order travel money online and collect it, have foreign currency delivered to your home or transfer money to a foreign bank account. 

Debenhams is a large U.K. department store with over 100 bureaus across the U.K. This makes its money transfer services fairly accessible and easy to use. They offer currency exchange and transfers into more than 60 currencies.

Debenhams Currency Exchange at Local Bureaux de Change

Debenhams allows you to convert travel money over the counter at your local bureaux de change. Many of their stores are open seven days a week, making it quick and convenient to exchange money into popular currencies. If you buy £50 or more in travel money, Debenhams will also give you a £5 gift voucher, although the time to spend it and where you can spend it may be limited. Not every foreign currency is immediately readily available in a Debenhams bureau and you will need to call your local bureau to check availability for next working day delivery of exotic currencies. Exchange rates at a local Debenhams bureau de change are going to be less competitive than their online rates. You can find these exchange rates by visiting your local Debenhams store.

Debenhams “Click & Collect” Foreign Currency Exchange

You can order and pay for your foreign currency on the Debenhams Travel Money website and have it delivered to a Debenhams store. You can order a maximum of £2,499, deliveries of £500 or more are free of charge, and there’s a fee of £6.95 for deliveries below that amount. You can cancel your order at any time before collection but you will pay a cancellation fee of £10. You can use most U.K. debit or credit cards to pay for your order.

If you’re ordering euros or U.S. dollars, if you place your order before 2 PM, you can collect your order at any time on the day after placing your order. If you order other currencies, you can collect your order after 2 PM, five working days after the day on which you placed the order.

Debenhams Home Delivery for Travel Money

If you don’t want to pick up your travel money from a Debenhams store, you can also choose to have it delivered to your home address. If you order before 2 PM, you can expect to receive your travel money within two working days. You can order a maximum of £2,500 for home delivery. Deliveries of £500 or more are free of charge, and there’s a fee of £6.95 for deliveries below that amount—you must also have someone available to sign for the money when it's delivered. You can pay using most U.K. credit or debit cards. You will need to have the order delivered to the same address as your card billing address.

Debenhams Travel Money Card

Debenhams provides a prepaid travel money currency card that’s available in euros or U.S. dollars. You can use it as a debit card abroad or to withdraw money from an overseas cash machine, and there are no transaction fees for payments in the same currency as the card. The Debenhams travel money card is only available from a Debenhams bureau de change and you’ll need to apply in person. You can top up the card at your local Debenhams bureau. 

Debenhams Money Transfers to Foreign Bank Accounts

Debenhams has partnered with Western Union to offer direct, bank-to-bank transfers for when you want to make an international payment or send money to a friend or family member living in another country. Western Union provides transfers to over 200 countries globally. You can only send money through Western Union by visiting a local Debenhams bureau de change. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to see exchange rates for the Western Union service without visiting a local Debenhams store. 

Debenhams Money Transfers for Local Currency Pickup

The Debenhams and Western Union partnership lets you send money for collection in cash from a foreign agent location.

The Debenhams Card Can Get You a Better Exchange Rate

If you hold a Debenhams card, you can show it at a local store and access better exchange rates. These exchange rates are typically 0.1% better than the exchange rates we’ve shown below. 

Debenhams Buyback of Foreign Currency

If you don’t spend all your travel money overseas, Debenhams will buy it back at their buy rate. Unfortunately, their buy rate is not competitive, but they will add an additional 20% to what they offer you if you then load that money onto a Debenhams gift card. 

Debenhams Fees & Exchange Rates

As you can see in the table above, Debenhams Travel Money make their money on the difference between the “base,” interbank* exchange rate and the exchange rate that they charge to you.

*The interbank rate is also known as the mid-market or standard exchange rate, which is the midpoint between the buying and the selling prices of the two currencies.
They also does charge fees for some specific services, like certain activities on their travel card.

Debenhams Travel Money Money Card Fees and Limits

All of these fees are shown in euros, fees in U.S. dollars do vary.

• There is no card application fee or monthly fee for the travel card
• The minimum amount you can initially load onto the card is €100
• The maximum amount you can have on the card is €5,000
• There is no additional transaction fee for spending money in the same currency as the card
• The ATM cash withdrawal fee is €2
• Spending money in a different currency on the card will attract a 3% foreign transaction fee
• Replacing or cancelling the card attracts a €5 fee
• There are no fees for topping up the card, making balance enquiries, replacing cards if they expire or changing the PIN

About Fees Levied by Banks

Certain fees may be levied by banks when you are transferring money to another account. These fees are outside the control of Debenhams Travel Money. Circumstances, where banks may charge additional fees, include:

• Wire transfers into or out of sender or beneficiary accounts
• Transfers that are sent via SWIFT or certain other banking protocols
• Beneficiary banks charge a fee to receive a transfer
• Intermediary banks charge fees to process money in transit

These fees could mean that the beneficiary receives less money than stated by Debenhams Travel Money due to circumstances beyond Debenhams Travel Money’s control. If you want to understand what these extra fees are likely to be, please contact your bank and the beneficiary's bank.

Debenhams Travel Money Exchange Rates for Online Travel Money

Debenhams Travel Money makes most of their money on the difference between the exchange rate they offer to customers and the base exchange rate. The rates shown below apply to their “Click & Collect” and home delivery services. We were not able to get exchange rates for local currency exchange at a Debenhams bureau de change.

For example, the base rate to convert U.K pounds into euros is 1.145 euros per pound. Debenhams Travel Money offers an exchange rate of 1.124 euros per pound, a difference of 2%. That means if you’re exchanging 1,000 pounds into euros, you’ll pay an exchange rate fee of around £20.

Here are some other examples:

Exchanging 1,000 U.K. Pounds Into U.S. Dollars

• Base exchange rate, 1,000 GBP converts to 1,263 USD
• Debenhams Travel Money online exchange rate, 1,000 GBP converts to 1,238 USD
• The Debenhams Travel Money exchange rate is two percent more expensive, or around 20 GBP in exchange rate fees

Exchanging 1,000 U.K. Pounds Into Philippine Pesos

• Base exchange rate, 1,000 GBP converts to 65,138 PHP
• Debenhams Travel Money exchange rate, 1000 GBP converts to 59,058 PHP
• The Debenhams Travel Money exchange rate is 9.4 percent more expensive, or around 94 GBP in exchange rate fees

Exchanging 1,000 U.K. Pounds Into Canadian Dollars

• Base exchange rate, 1,000 GBP converts to 1,671 CAD
• Debenhams Travel Money exchange rate, 1000 GBP converts to 1,614 CAD
• The Debenhams Travel Money exchange rate is 3.5% more expensive, or around 35 GBP in exchange rate fees

If you’re purchasing currency online or you want to transfer money to an overseas account, you can get much better deals by comparing specialist currency exchange providers. Several money exchange services have overall fees of 1% or lower, even when taking into account differences in exchange rates. 

All of the Debenhams Travel Money exchange rates quoted in this section are based on their online rates for converting money for home delivery or store pickup. Local bureau de change rates may vary and are likely to be more expensive than what we quote here. All rates correct as of mid-October 2019.

Comparing Debenhams Travel Money Rates To Other Providers

You can easily compare many money transfer services directly using our comparison tool. There are several new services that it’s worth comparing directly to Debenhams Travel Money.

Modern, Mobile-Only Accounts

There are several new, mobile-only fintech platforms that are becoming more widely available throughout the U.K. and Europe. Providers like N26, Monese, Revolut, Starling Bank, or Bunq provide a wide variety of financial services to the modern consumer. All of these modern accounts provide international travel cards and international money transfer services, and it’s worth comparing them to Debenhams Travel Money.

For example, Starling Bank is a licensed bank in the UK that provides international money transfers at the read mid-market exchange rate. They charge a transparent and industry-low 0.4% foreign exchange rate markup, but never charge fixed fees per transfer.

Specialist Currency Providers for Other Destinations

You may also be able to get a better deal for money transfers when you’re sending money to certain countries. For example, if you’re sending 500 GBP to the United Arab Emirates, the beneficiary would get around 2,301 AED with Xendpay compared to 2,230 AED with Debenhams Travel Money, a difference of around 3.1 percent or £15. 

How Easy Is It To Send Money With Debenhams

Debenhams Travel Money services provide convenient local and online currency exchange and money transfer services, combined with an international travel card.

Credibility and Security

Debenhams Personal Finance is a regulated money service provider. 

Services are provided by Debenhams Retail Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company registration number 00083395 whose registered office is at 10 Brock Street, Regent’s Place, London, NW1 3FG.

Customer Satisfaction

We couldn’t find reviews specific to Debenhams Personal Finance or travel money, so we searched Debenhams as a whole for reviews relating to travel money. Debenhams as a whole did not score highly for customer satisfaction on Trustpilot, achieving a score of just 1.95 out of 5 across more than 2,200 reviews. Around 19% of reviews said that they were “excellent” or “great” compared to 78% of reviews that said they were “poor” or “bad.” 

Positive

There was only one positive review, which said that Debenhams customer service for travel money was courteous and helpful.

Negative

There were several negative reviews. Issues included high exchange rates, poor buyback rates and customer service issues. There were also several complaints that the £5 gift card was only valid in certain parts of the store or for very short periods of time. Here’s an example of a review, “Their travel money service is very expensive and the free £5.00 voucher cannot be used in most parts of the store. I brought 800 euros, the selling rate was ok, nothing exceptional, however the sell back rate was very expensive, returning 445 euros would cost £75.00! Whereas the exchange next door only cost £30.00.”

How Debenhams Travel Money works

Collecting Money You’ve Ordered Online From a Debenhams Bureau de Change

You will need to bring a form of photo ID to a Debenhams Travel Money store. Acceptable photo IDs include passports or full driving licenses. In some instances, you may need a proof of address, e.g. a bank statement or utility bill, dated within the last 3 months. 

Getting a Debenhams Travel Money Currency Card

To set up your Debenhams Travel Money card you will need to visit a Debenhams Travel Money store with:

• A photo ID, such as a passport or driver’s licence
• One proof of address, such as a bank statement or utility bill, dated within the last 3 months
• A form of payment

Western Union

Here’s how to send money through the Western Union service:

1. Register an account or, if you already have one, log into your account.
2. Choose the country you would like to send money to, as well as the transfer amount and the pay-out method (e.g. cash pick-up, bank transfer, etc.).
3. Enter your beneficiary’s name and other information such as their bank account details (if you are sending to their bank account) and telephone number (if you are sending to their mobile wallet). If you’ve already sent money to them before, you can simply select an existing receiver.
4. Payment options depend on the country you are sending money from and to. You can always pay with your debit or credit card. 
5. You'll get a confirmation by email with your unique tracking number (MTCN). If you’re sending money for cash pick-up, your recipient will need to provide the MTCN tracking number to collect the money.