Matt, how do I deposit the money into my bank? and do i have to have a bank account for each currency?

Problem might be the % taken from the site, and the % taken off when exchanging via the method of payment could make the cost of exchanging more than that of a travel agency, bank or post office.

GodsLight:

Firstly thanks for your comment.

You would have one account that would be represented in different currencies, so you could trade in the currency of your choice. Trading in the currency would not be an issue. You could even make money just transferring money around!

When it comes to cashing out however, yes you would need some form of bank account in the country you wish to cash out to; whether that be yours or some one elses bank account or a credit card. Setting up a payment with ExchangeFair can be an online bank transfer affair or credit card payment. You could even use an ExchangeFair virtual credit card number which pays for the goods or services you require (e.g like http://www.money-aro...-the-world.com/)

Paypal already allow you to transfer to different currencies. The difference being with exchange fair is that a) the fair decides the rate and b) you can perform transfers to banks other than your own.

Also with Paypal you need two accounts to transfer money from a UK paypal account to a European bank account and also 2 email addresses. This is because I cannot set up two separate country bank accounts or any other payment methods other than paypal! Which sucks.

In addition, in order to transfer large amounts of money around I have to use HiFX.com. They give good rates for large amounts, but transfer takes ages. Plus although the rates are good, they still take at least 0.02 points off the rate of exchange to do medium transfers; which can mean 200 to 300 pounds difference for the amount you receive.

Does that answer your questions?

another question... dose Paypal charge so much for a reason? you want to beet them on cost, but is there a reason they charge so much?

Currency exchange is a zero-sum game. If one side is getting a better rate than that offered by big banks, then the other side is getting a worse rate and would be better off elsewhere. If there is any difference between the rates on this exchange and rates elsewhere, arbitrage will exploit them and eventually market forces will even them out.

Hi GodsLight,

Paypal charge so much because they can. My bank does because they can as well. Remember, the exchange rate is set by the market and the companies decide what profit they are going to achieve so they set the rates. The money is still worth what the market says it is, and no more. The overheads for actually converting currency (online) are virtually zero.

Micco:

Thanks for your comments too. Yes I understand and this is the point of all competition. However, if people do not have this choice then banks and finance companies can take advantage of the consumer. Its time we took that advantage from them!

Cheers

Matt

paypal would work with it !

They have this all ready online!

hmmm

use plastic money....
Tommy

Robertman,

Where do they have this online?

Remember: this is not currency provided by a bank or by a corporate entity, but it would be you and me swapping currency of the type we needed... I dont think I've ever seen this sort of thing before. Please ellaborate!

Vanhees:

Plastic money (i assume you mean visa etc) charges big fees for this sort of thing. The exchange fair idea would be lower fees (hopefully) and wouldnt charge interest on you balance either.
:)

matt

The main problem would be money laundering. Bank keep track of every thing.

I tried to buy Euro Then exchange it for Ozy dollars then back to CDN... I couldn't do it.
The banks only let you go one way... and it's to control currencies.

Good Idea but the law will make it impractical.

]V[oogy