Travelex Constantia prize-winner walks away with R5000

Travelex Constantia opened its doors on November 30, 2009, and has since steadily been growing its clientele.

In an effort to create awareness and draw even more new clients to our store, we used the promotional space given to us by Constantia Village Mall to run a competition.

The competition itself ran from 1 to 5 February, and the draw took place one week after the promotion started. Our overall winner, Mr Douglas, was in great spirits, after hearing that he had won the first prize of R5000.

Service is About Building Partnerships

Travelex is the world’s biggest foreign exchange company, serving a customer somewhere in the world every three seconds. Now this will include customers from South Africa for the very first time.

Paul Swainson, Travelex Director for Africa, says, “Travelex has been keen to enter the Southern African retail market for some time. We have been looking for the right partner with the right experience, and with FX Africa, we finally found it.”

He says that the South African market is unique in that it is a “powerhouse in terms of the rest of Africa”, and offers entry to markets with huge growth potential.

At the same time, visitors leaving South Africa are usually going on long-haul trips, and are therefore potentially good customers of retail foreign exchange. Swainson says that what impressed Travelex about FX Africa was that “they’re entrepreneurial, they have a lot of get up an go, and they are at the right time in the evolution of their business.”

Travelex was started by businessman Lloyd Dorfman with a single bureau in central London in 1976, and is now operating more than 700 branches on every continent. The company is still growing.

“The benefits to the customer of the partnership are a global consistency of approach,” says Swainson, and a personal touch. “Our staff are not just cashiers. We are aiming to build a rapport with our customers, to understand their needs and habits, and to provide some information about destinations. We are seeking to build long-term relationships with our clients.”

Swainson says Travelex has four “brand ambassadors” who embody the excellence of the company: tennis ace, John McEnroe, cricket players Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee, and rugby player Jonny Wilkinson.

“They embody integrity, striving to be the best, and a never-give-up attitude. That is what Travelex is all about.”

Becoming Travelex

The transformation of FX Africa into the Travelex Retail Foreign Exchange brand in South Africa is about so much more than just changing the sign above the door, says Darren Jenkins-Ferrett, Managing Director of FX Africa Foreign Exchange.

“It’s a complete mindset change from a traditional banking style operation into proper consumer retail. We will give the South African consumer a new experience in foreign exchange – one that is part retail theatre and part professional consultation. After all, money is a serious business.”

Jenkins-Ferrett believes that customers and staff alike will benefit from the transition as FX Africa raises its game to meet the exacting standards of Travelex and take advantage of their worldwide knowledge base. Since the South African Reserve Bank gave approval, in July, for FX Africa to become the retail business partner with Travelex, it has been a case of “all hands to the pump” as the management of FX Africa took on the mammoth task of launching this global brand into the local market.

Everything has had to be changed before the official launch on 22 August – shop signage, stationery, staff uniforms, training, systems and advertising. However, the most important change, is how the management and staff adapt the way they think about themselves – as part of a successful global family.

Jenkins-Ferrett muses: “I promised the Chairman of Travelex that we would live, breathe and eat the brand. It’s a promise I intend to keep and, in order to achieve that, all of us at FX Africa need to live out the Travelex core values.”

The partnership will become immediately visible through the store rebranding programme which will see FX Africa’s 22 locations in South Africa getting a complete makeover. Securing the Travelex retail brand for FX Africa was quite a coup for the FX Africa team and a departure from Travelex’s normal mode of operation, which is to open their own corporately owned offices in new territories.

“It means that FX Africa has a big responsibility towards upholding the reputation of the Travelex brand. Travelex have invested a lot of trust in us and we are keen to show Travelex that their faith is well founded,” he says.

Although a lot of work has already been done in preparation for the launch, the FX Africa team realise that the real hard work will only start afterwards. The aim is to be the number one retail foreign exchange operator in South Africa. “There are a lot of challenges ahead to achieve our goal, but when I look at the team we have here, I know that we’re equal to the task.”

Meet Lloyd Dorfman

Lloyd Dorfman is Founder and Chairman of the Travelex Group. Having briefly sampled the bar and investment banking, he started his own currency exchange business in 1976 from one small shop in central London.

Following the £440m acquisition of Thomas Cook’s Global & Financial Services business in March 2001, the Travelex Group has now become the world’s largest non-bank foreign exchange business.

In 2001 Lloyd Dorfman was the winner of the Consumer Business Category in the UK “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards sponsored by Ernst & Young, Citibank and The Times.

In 2002 he received the British American Chamber of Commerce’s UK Entrepreneurial Award, and the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Free Enterprise Award.

He is a Non-Executive Director of M & C Saatchi plc, a Governor of St Paul’s School, London, a Patron and Deputy Chairman of The Prince’s Trust Development Board, and an Honorary Fellow of St Peter’s College, Oxford.

Lloyd Dorfman was educated at St Paul’s School. He is married with three children and one grandson. He lives in London.

Smarter in Uniform

As Travelex’s Retail Foreign Exchange partner, FX Africa is undergoing a complete branding makeover.

For the customer this will be most visible in the newly branded stores and the smart uniforms that frontline staff will wear from end of October.

The uniform, which is the same as Travelex’s international uniform, is a stylish blue suit with a red and blue scarf or tie, which reflects the Travelex brand.

Human Resources Manager Debbie Juul says the frontline staff, which includes sales consultants, sales executives and receptionists, are “excited” about their new attire.

“The introduction of the uniform was so that the company could have a specific look that our customers and the public would recognise, as well as to make us look more professional,” she explains.

Show Your Card and Save

FX Africa is a partner of the AA Show Your Card and Save programme, which means that our customers now have special access to the many benefits of this exciting initiative.

The South African Automobile Association (AA) became a member of the global AA Show Your Card and Save programme, which has the participation of more than 150 000 merchants in the automobile, attractions, restaurant, accommodation and retail industries in 59 countries, in 2003.

AA members from all over the world are able to make a purchase at participating merchants by presenting their cards. A pre-negotiated discount is given immediately. Some of the partners in the programme include Travelex Worldwide Money, Hard Rock Café, P&O Ferries, Choice Hotel in Australia, Avis Car Rental in South Africa and Radisson, Mexico to name but a few. As a partner of the programme, FX Africa offers preferential rates to AA members purchasing forex from some of its outlets.

National Sales Marketing Manager, Gill O’Shaughnessy says, “If an [AA club member] tourist travels in to South Africa they would get a preferential rate of exchange when they convert their currency into rands at one of [our participating] bureaux.” South African members also receive preferential rates when purchasing forex to travel abroad. For more information and a list of participating merchants in the country visit www.aasa.co.za

Why I Carry the Cash Passport Card

I recently travelled to the UK, visiting Edinburgh, Sheffield (believe it or not!), London and every town in between. I hate the hassle of carrying traveller’s cheques for the following reasons:

• It makes my purse bulky and unwieldy;
• I have to keep my sales slip separate to my cheques in the event of loss (I never remember where I’ve hidden the sales slip);
• I have to figure out how to use the room safe to keep my excess cheques safe;
• I have to control my fear that the safe will never open again;
• I pay horrendous commission to the hotel to cash my cheques at the front desk, for the sake of convenience;
• I have to make a special effort to find a bureau de change and the location is often the city’s best kept secret;
• When I open my purse to pay by traveller’s cheque, everyone can see how much money I have in my purse;
• It’s a mission to re-sell my cheques upon my return and the buying rate always seems to be the worst in recent history.

I decided to take the Cash Passport instead. The Cash Passport is serviced by Visa Electron. My spending money was loaded in Pounds, I was given a pin number (secretly), and with my card, and some cash Pounds, off I went to the UK.

The card fits neatly into my purse, together with my other cards and I only had to remember a simple four-digit pin code.

There are Visa Electron cash machines all over, and drawing cash is the same as at home.

I used the customer service number to check on my balance, and the service was quick and efficient. I also used the card to pay for restaurants, entrance fees, buses and shopping with no problems. This meant I only had to carry a minimum of cash and I had the peace of mind that I could get more cash at any time.

Upon my return, I advised FX to transfer my balance into my bank account and voila!, my Pounds were converted to Rands at the current buying rate and transferred electronically to my bank account.

All in all, this was a very pleasant experience indeed and a method of carrying foreign money that I would certainly recommend. However, I would suggest this method only in areas where Visa Electron cards and cash machines are readily accepted and located. FX can advise on this.

Charmaine van Niekerk

Operations Director
Unipalm Travel Holdings,
Club Travel

Smart Travelling: Know Your Money Options

When it comes to overseas travel one of the most important things to consider is how to carry the money you will need while abroad. With crime on the rise all over the world, be it credit card scams, theft or exorbitant commissions to encash traveller’s cheques, FX Africa’s Managing Director, Darren Jenkins-Ferret, says it’s important to be informed about your options.

There are various ways one can carry foreign currency: cash, credit cards, traveller’s cheques and the new pre-paid currency card, such as the Cash Passport Card offered by FX Africa. Each of these ways has both disadvantages and advantages, Jenkins-Ferret points out.

Despite the fear of crime, he says there has been a rise in the number of people who opt to carry cash when travelling because it is more convenient. The disadvantage, of course, is that if you lose it, you are left with nothing: “No-one will insure cash,” he says.

For a while, credit cards were a good option for overseas travel, but with the increase of skimming and copying of credit cards, it is now much riskier to use them. Also, credit cards are susceptible to currency fluctuation rates and people may find themselves spending more than they planned if the Rand takes a nosedive while they’re abroad.

This is a major drawback to people travelling on a budget. Also if one loses a credit card while abroad, one has to bear the cost of the bank sending a replacement credit card while running the chance of the card being used by criminals. Receiving the replacement credit card could also mean a week-long wait or more, depending on which bank one banks with. However, it is still a relatively safe method of carrying your money abroad – the onus lies on you to make sure you keep it safe.

An old method of carrying money is in traveller’s cheques. This method has been tried and tested and fine-tuned to facilitate overseas travel. If one loses one’s traveller’s cheques they can be replaced relatively easily, often within 24 hours. They are also less susceptible to scams and the like.

However, Jenkins-Ferret says banks, especially European banks, are striving to be as paperless as they can. Because of this, traveller’s cheques are now quite quickly becoming obsolete, leaving travellers at the mercy of other institutions which have the means to encash traveller’s cheques. This threat to traveller’s cheques has already resulted in some foreign exchange suppliers dropping them from their services.

For example, American Express is no longer supplying traveller’s cheques in African currencies. Jenkins-Ferret also laments the high commissions travellers are often charged to encash traveller’s cheques. “Traveller’s cheques are a dying product. In a few years’ time, they’ll probably be too much work for people to bother with them.”

The Cash Passport Card is an internationally recognised product that has been adapted by many of South Africa’s foreign currency suppliers.

This card, which looks like a credit card, can be preloaded with foreign currency in the form of GBP, EUR or USD. The card is accepted by over a million Visa merchants worldwide.

You can use the card as a debit card or to withdraw money from ATMs.

What is really fabulous about this product is that it is not susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations as the currency is loaded at a fixed rate. There are no charges when swiped at vendors abroad, and it is valid for three years.

Even after the expiry date, the card can be renewed and reloaded. If the card is lost you are refunded and it carries free emergency assistance for wherever you are in the world.

In order to keep up with the demands of modern technology, the card can be reloaded anywhere via electronic transfer on the internet, ensuring that the user never runs out of money and because it is pre-paid, helps with budgeting.

For Jenkins-Ferret, this is possibly the best way to carry your money when travelling abroad. “The emergency assistance covers everything right down to if you’re in jail – you just call your supplier and they’ll help you get in touch with your embassy or consulate,” he says. Whatever form of money you do carry when travelling abroad, carry wisely.

Forex Omnibus Facility

MOST COMPANIES are unaware that their employees who travel extensively on business are able to separate their personal holiday travel allowance of R160 000 per calendar year from their business travel allowance.

Companies that have travellers who expect to exceed the annual overseas travel allowance allocation of R160 000 during a calendar year may apply via FX Africa to the SA Reserve Bank for an Omnibus facility.

This facility is granted for the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. Once granted, the traveller may exceed R160 000 on one trip or can make multiple trips up to the figure granted.

The company must apply in writing to FX Africa stating:

• briefly, the nature of the business and the reason for making use of this facility;
• an estimated number of business trips to be undertaken during the period;
• countries it is anticipated company representatives will be visiting; and
• a list of proposed travelling staff members, including full names and identity numbers.

Any surplus foreign exchange must be resold to FX Africa Foreign Exchange (Pty) Ltd on return. The SA Reserve Bank regulations must be strictly adhered to in all cases.

Clients who currently hold an Omnibus with FX Africa may wish to renew them and corporate companies wanting to establish this facility or who may require further information, are welcome to contact one of the FX Africa sales people on 0860 10 11 12.