Fexco Group Study Reveals Majority of Irish Tourists Prefer Cash Over Digital Payments When Abroad

A new study by Fexco Group, revealed a persistent preference among Irish consumers for physical cash exchange when travelling outside the Eurozone.

Fexco’s Retail Foreign Exchange (RFX) division has been in operation since 1981 and year on year, Fexco caters to the travel money and money transfer needs of more than two million customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland annually.

The nationwide research, from Bounce Insights, surveyed 516 people to provide nuanced insights into the behaviours of Irish consumers:

• A significant 39% always exchange Euros for foreign currency when journeying outside the Eurozone.
• Another 32% choose to do so depending on their specific travel destination.
• North America, South America, and Africa emerge as the top three regions where Irish travellers are most likely to exchange cash.

This is also reflected in Fexco’s own internal data which revealed that the top currencies requested by customers are the US Dollar, and UK Sterling, followed very closely by the Australian Dollar (AUD).

The reasons to opt for cash range from concerns about potential card issues in foreign lands to an intuition that cash might be the preferred transaction mode in certain countries. A sense of security associated with carrying cash also emerged as a strong influencer.

Simon Phillips, Managing Director at Fexco Retail FX said: “It is interesting to examine how consumer trends have changed in the post-COVID era. Despite a major rise in people accessing digital banking solutions and the decreasing use of cash in Ireland, the research demonstrates that people feel more at ease being able to access foreign currency when travelling abroad. This mirrors what we see in our own business with our customers still very keen to access cash beforehand.

“Customers can avail of excellent exchange rates with no commission fees for a wide variety of currencies through our credit union currency exchange service, either in-store or via doorstep delivery,”

Fexco’s RFX Division remains highly successful in this industry operating an extensive high-street travel money network across the UK and Ireland, where it also provides foreign currency services to the Credit Union movement in-store and online via fexcocurrency.com. Its success is due to the strength of its RFX network, operations and customer-focused approach.

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