April 18, 2016: There could be a hidden cost of travel abroad – and it’s not what many of us would expect.  According to research from Xpress Money Services, up to £390million in unchanged foreign currencies remains tucked in jars and drawers around the country, over 12 months after returning home.

Amongst those who have travelled abroad, the average UK home contains up to five different forms of currency with the average amount per household sitting at around £47.  High exchange rates and the perceived hassle of getting out to a bank or Post Office are the most common reasons given for holding onto cash.

About 78% of those with foreign currency say that it has been sitting there for longer than 12 months with almost 10% believing that they still had notes and coins from over five years ago.

Over 82% of those polled admit to buying items at the airport for the sole purpose of using up foreign currency.

Sudhesh Giriyan, Chief Operating Officer at Xpress Money said, “In order to use up holiday cash, many people we spoke to tend to spend on products they don’t really want, or they simply leave the foreign currency to sit at home, becoming anything but current. In the past, we’ve been lumbered with large amounts in foreign currencies that we don’t need because we can’t be bothered to go and get it exchanged.  It seems that people will do almost anything to avoid the hassle of dealing with currency exchange.  The fact is, it’s no longer necessary to travel with these huge sums as getting the right amount of cash, when and where you want it is easier than ever.”

This month, Xpress Money launched a new money transfer service which is currently exclusive to the UK.  The XOPO app allows users to send money to a possible 160 destination countries by selecting contacts from popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.  Those abroad can use this service to send a request for money back to friends and family in the UK.  The sender does not need to input the benficiary’s bank details as these are stored away from social channels in a secure network.

Sudhesh Giriyan added: “Additionally, any left over currency can be sent using an Xpress Money service which can be collected in Pounds once a traveler is back in the UK. Eg: If a customer is visiting Dubai and has local currency left at the end of his trip, he/she can visit an Xpress Money location and remit that money back to the UK and collect it Pounds once he/she is back. This will definitely reduce the wastage of foreign reserves that tends to lie around somewhere after every vacation”.

According to the Office of National Statistics, UK residents make around 48,337,000 trips abroad a year by air travel alone, spending a total of £30,509,000,000 overseas. The average individual spends around £631 per trip and will stay abroad for ten nights per trip.

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April 6, 2016: A new app has given a fresh meaning to the idea of posting “rich content” online by allowing users to transfer money using social channels.  Where “rich content” once meant images or video, the XOPO app enables users to send money directly to friends and family on popular social networks.

The service is available for Android and iOS devices for use across multiple channels including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Wechat as well as traditional text messages.

The UK is the first market in the world from which users can send money internationally, across popular social networks.  As a launch offer, currently there is no charge on money transfers of up to £3,000.  From 16^th April, a starting fee of £0.95 will be introduced which will vary depending on the destination, corridor, method and transfer size.

Users can also send digital content – photos, emoticons, videos, messages, along with the money transfer — making it perfect for any transfer type, particularly special occasions.

Social integration of money transfer will enable family and friends to transfer money to anyone from anywhere and at any time of the day, creating a global money transfer service that eclipses the versatility of banks.

Sudhesh Giriyan, Chief Operating Officer at Xpress Money said, “XOPO will transform the global money transfer market, making money transfer as straightforward as a status update or a tweet.  This is particularly valuable in those situations where you may need to send money to a friend or loved one at short notice or on the move.”

The service gives greater flexibility to the users – no longer does the sender need the receiver’s bank account details – they just need to be connected over a social channel of choice to transfer the funds. Additionally, the receiver can also directly send a request for money through the app to the sender.

XOPO does not send money using the Facebook network, it only allows you to pick a contact from Facebook or other social channels of your choice. The money transfer actually happens through Xpress Money’s secure payment channels using a tokenised link.  In short, there is no actual physical money being transferred on XOPO and there is no financial or personal information being shared on the system.

Giriyan added: “We understand that some consumers may have reservations about a financial service linked to social channels.  We’ve designed XOPO keeping in mind the security aspect.”

Within months, the XOPO service will expand to include other forms of value, such as international airtime transfers and domestic money transfers.

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