You’re preparing for a vacation in a foreign country, and you don’t want to deal with the exchange rates at the airport? More than that, you don’t want to waste time and gas collecting the currency at the office with favorable rates? Or, let’s say you are considering becoming a forex trader, but don’t like the idea of driving around collecting cash.
You’ve probably heard of home delivery of exchanged currency. Well, you’re not the only one wondering if this thing is safe. We have investigated this practice to help you understand it better.
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Traditional Services
Until a couple of years ago, it wasn’t easy getting a foreign currency delivered to your door. Traditional services such as banks would only hand you the cash in person. Plus, their markup fees are always high, since this is not their primary activity.
Your local bank is usually not in possession of exotic currencies, so you’d have to wait a couple of days until they have it delivered to a local branch. Exchange offices do offer better exchange rates than the banks, but you’d still have to go there in person since they don’t offer home delivery.
Even if you do find a traditional exchange service that will ship your currency, it’s hard to properly ensure your package. Buying insurance on your own is expensive, while shipping companies only insure up to $100 in value. Newer online exchange services are more flexible and may offer full-value insurance.
Airport kiosks, again, have high markups, because they know they are your last option. Besides, they only deal with major currencies, so don’t count on them if you’re visiting an exotic country. We don’t recommend exchanging money abroad, because it can take a lot of your precious vacation time to find a reasonable exchange rate.
Benefits of Home Delivery
There are many benefits to exchanging money online with home delivery. For one, you don’t have to spend your time and your gas looking for an office with good exchange rates. You just have to spend a little time browsing from the comfort of your home or workplace. After you have placed an order, all you have to do is wait for the cash to arrive at your door.
Since we’re all well accustomed to our debit and credit cards, people tend to get nervous when they have to carry the cash around. This is especially true if you have to transfer large amounts of cash. There is a reason for this – you can never rule out the possibility of getting mugged or losing the bag. Home delivery will spare you from this stress.
You might still have to pay for a delivery, but you should keep in mind that you would also have to pay for the gas you spend driving to the right exchange office, and there are not a lot of them. Not to mention the free time you have to invest in such a quest.
The best part is that even this fee can be avoided. Some online exchange services provide free shipping if you order a certain amount of cash and will offer full-value insurance at no additional cost. Now, you can’t even compare that with the money, time, and stress required when transferring large amounts of cash by yourself.
As mentioned before, the obvious advantage of ordering cash online is avoiding high markups made by traditional exchange services. Finally, if your travel plans change, or you change your mind for any reason, some of the providers will offer to buy the money back at the same rate, so you won’t lose a penny.
Is It Legitimate?
Home delivery of online exchanged currencies is by now a common practice, so it’s pretty obvious it’s legitimate. However, like with any other online business, you should conduct a little research before ordering.
When you find a website that looks decent, check their contact info. You should also make sure they are transparent about their physical address. If they are, look up their address to check if it’s real.
Another thing you can do is google the company to check for any negative experiences. If they are running a scam, it will be pretty clear after a few scrolls. Otherwise, you will be positive you’re dealing with a legitimate business.
Safety
What you’re probably worried about the most is the matter of safety. So, is home delivery of exchanged currency safe? To put it briefly, yes. We will now elaborate on why we think so.
There is a certain procedure when ordering home delivery of exchanged cash. You will be required to provide your legitimation, after which you will be contacted to confirm your order and your identity. After your order is processed, you will receive the confirmation along with the tracking info of your package.
Your money will be delivered by professionals trained to handle cash transfers. You don’t have to worry about them losing the money or getting robbed because that’s highly unlikely. Even if something like that happens, a legitimate currency exchange company will cover any losses.
There is no risk of your money getting delivered to the wrong address. These companies require your signature on the receipt. You will be notified of the expected delivery time, so you can organize your schedule and wait for them at home. If you’re not home at the time, your package will return to the delivery depot and wait for your signature.
Home Delivery In a Nutshell
We live in a time of deliveries, and we’re getting used to getting everything at our front door. This new way of life also comes with new regulations that will guarantee your safety. The coronavirus pandemic is just accelerating this process.
There is no reason why the cash should be excluded from this process. With just a reasonable amount of precaution on your side, home delivery of exchanged currency is totally safe. If you were having doubts about this, we say you should go for it.
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