UKC

Yesterday, I went to buy some euros at the post office. After thanking Dave, Boris and Michael for making the maths of conversion so much easier by reducing the value of the pound to that of the euro. I was asked to show my passport to buy the currency using my card.

I could have placed my card in the card reader and inputted my pin but no, because I didn't have my passport I had to walk outside and use my card and pin in a cash machine. Then the nice lady would deem to change my money.

What a ridiculous state of affairs. No reason why was offered. I am utterly baffled

In reply to 3leggeddog:

I'm surprised they would let you buy it in cash, due to money laundering?

In reply to marsbar:

Those were my thoughts, cash is much more likely to be dirty.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

go to tescos/asda..pretty much anywhere else..rate of exchange is sh*te at moment but the post offices rate is dire!!!

In reply to 3leggeddog:

It's been that way for ages. No idea why.

In reply to astley007:

Yeah, I knew that but needs must.

I can take my own responsibility for the comparably poor rate at the PO. It is the passport thing I find most confusing/annoying.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

The country is awash with identity fraud committing criminals, counterfeiters, drug dealers and money laundering from nefarious activities, hence I.D. for everything. Oddly this request for I.D. at the most seemingly innocous transactions correlates with the rise in immigration since early 2000. The indigenous folk stare at each other in disbelief, mostly blissfully unaware of the need for security protections on anything that cant be nailed down or shut and is immediately leveraged for easy cash.

D

In reply to 3leggeddog:
I've been caught out before and for years generally just take cash in. I can only think it is that cash is as secure funds as they can get whereas credit/debit cards could be stolen, or you could dispute transaction later, etc, so they need passport backup to be able to confirm identity and trace you if necessary.

Have also needed a passport once even when using cash though! Who knows what the real reason is.

In reply to Dauphin:

I agree, that's why I thought it odd they wouldn't ask for a passport for a cash transaction.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Last couple of times we've been in the UK we've always found the "cash Converter" type pawn shops offer the best exchange rates.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Damn those backwards Eurozone countries and their complete lack of ATMs.

LD

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Its not just the PO. I have had the same at M&S. Same deal - use the cash machine at the side if you don't have ID. So not a quirky Post Office thing.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

I needed to buy a postal order for some reason a couple of years ago ( cant remember why, up to that point I didnt even know you could still get them). The guy on the counter said I couldnt use my debit card to buy one, it had to be cash. He couldnt explain why other than repeating "its cash for cash" like some sort of mantra, so I guess he didnt know. very odd.

In reply to 3leggeddog:




I can see a certain logic in it. If you swap cash for cash then they know that you have paid for it. If you had a stolen or cloned card you would have walked away with a nice handful of cash before they spotted the fraud.

In reply to pebbles:

Could it be that the card issuer charges a fee? When you buy something with your debit card the seller pays the fee out of their profit, but if it's a transaction that makes no profit then it's costing them money to accept payment by card. (I'm guessing really, but it would be basically the same thing as many businesses having a 'minimum spend' on debit card transactions.)

In reply to deepsoup:

But they will accept cards if you have your passport according to the OP.

I've bought Euros over the counter at a Post Office last month with a debit card and wasn't asked for any other ID.

In reply to deepsoup:

no idea. the guy plainly didnt know, he was just reciting " its cash for cash" because thats all he knew.

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

deepsoup was referring to the postal order transaction, not the foreign currency transaction.

As it happens, though, the purchaser pays a fee when buying a postal order (minimum 50p, maximum £12.50) so I'd be surprised if the merchant's card transaction fees were the reason for refusing a debit card in payment.

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/postal-orders

I'm also a little surprised that pebbles seems to expect a counter clerk to understand the rationale behind all the rules within which they have to work. I doubt they sell many postal orders these days so it's a pretty unusual transaction to have to know all the ins and outs of just in case a customer wants to question the rules - especially since the counter clerk can't do anything to change them.

In reply to Martin W:

And also just guessing, so very likely to be wrong. ;O)

In reply to marsbar:


If your money laundering consists of changing a few k here and there no ones gonna give a shit, too inefficient. I imagine you'll raise a few more eyebrows if you tried to change 100k.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/?_ga=1.77859345.442714459.14672759...

Got my last lot of Euros from Debenhams - always pay cash for them to avoid any card fees. Use the correct card abroad and always pay in local currency.