Euros

[tillyh345]

Hi When buying Euros from Post office do you need to take any ID such as Passport etc... TIA

[Prudie]

No just a valid way to pay for them.

[JMR27]

I think you would need ID if the currency had been pre-ordered and paid for.
If you have The Money Shop near you try them as they usually have a better rate. Whenever we've bought foreign currency from them we've never had to produce ID.

[pauln90]

From Post Office website

Please note: that if you pay by credit or debit card you may be charged a cash advance fee by your card issuer. Please remember that if you purchase travel money using a credit or debit card, you will need to bring a valid passport or photocard driving licence when collecting your order.

[JMR27]

Pay by cash rather than debit/credit card so that you're not charged by your bank/visa.

[Jules001]

If you are paying by credit card or debit card, then you will need either your passport or a photo driving licence when you collect them.

[Prudie]

Well I go to my local main post office at least twice a year and just walk in ask for say 200 euros stick my debit card in the machine and that's it.

[dzug2]

Whether you need ID or not depends in part on how large the transaction is

If it's more than a set figure (£500, £1000??) you definitely will. For small sums it's unlikely.

It would be the same anywhere else - though the trigger fgure may vary

[tillyh345]

Thank you my ab friends x

[whiskeysheri]

Hi, Tilly. I work there. Yep, unless you're paying with cash, you need photo ID.

[boxtops]

Our PO wants to see ID if you pay by card - if you take the money from the hole in the wall outside then walk in with the cash, they don't. It's daft, it's not consistent.

However - tilly, why buy Euros in advance? we hardly ever take cash on holiday now, I'm too concerned about losing it - we just take it out of the hole in the wall when we get there.

[whiskeysheri]

You can withdraw cash in the Post Office, boxtops. Not many know that.

Do you know about the Travel Money Card? We sell loads. You put your foreigh currency on it before you go (but you can top it up in store and online); you get a slightly better rate; a pin number, so it's safer than carrying the cash and more convenient than changing up Travellers Cheques. If you need to draw money out at any time there's only ever a 2euro fee, no matter how much you have. Maybe worth looking into?

[boxtops]

Yes whiskey - we've got an ATM outside and the facility on the counter, I use that a lot. I've seen the PO money card, but I have a Nationwide account and the rate for withdrawing cash overseas is still only 1%, better than most of the major banks.

[vodkancoke]

Hey Whisks xxx

Tilly I always use the Travel Money Card whiskey has mentioned. It is so much easier than carried wads of cash on you. You can either use it like a debit card in shops or withdraw from the hole in the wall when you are abroad.

[whiskeysheri]

Hey, sweets! :) xxx

[Prudie]

Well I'm not dreaming and I've never shown ID. Why should you?

[whiskeysheri]

Prudie, I work for the Post Office and sell foreign currency, We are not allowed to sell it without seeing photo ID if you paying with anything other than cash. We can't even put it through the system otherwise. It's all to do with Government legislation and money laundering.

[whiskeysheri]

However, because you can draw cash out at the Post Office, they may be doing a cash withdrawal on the same transaction and doing it that way for you.

[bushbaby_de]

Prudie - when you buy at the post office, their debit card machines work like cash points and give you cash back - so you're taking the money out but the cashier just leaves it in the till and gives you the Euros instead - so you're 'getting round the rules' that way I suspect.

[whiskeysheri]

That's the one, bushbaby. :)

[Prudie]

I saw that whiskeysherri I can only tell you that only 6 weeks ago in the Dorchester PO I went to the bureau of exchange counter said I would like 200 euros. I was smiled at told how much sterling that would be put my debit card in the machine on the counter and was given the euros. Same as I did last year and the year before at least twice. Maybe its a Dorset thing.