The letter says that there is currently “widespread practice of firms showing currency conversion services as have ‘zero fees’ or ‘0% commission’”, but claims this is “highly misleading when a much larger charge is embedded in the exchange rate, ranging from 2.5% – 3.7% over the mid-market rate for a transfer to EUR or USD with a UK high-street bank”.
It adds that this charge is “never communicated to the customer” and has led to consumers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK losing “a total of £5.6 billion in mostly hidden FX fees in 2022 alone”. In addition, it says the current rules also mean that “UK customers are not able to accurately calculate the total cost of their transaction or compare costs”.
