Spotlight On: Post office scraps currency fee

The deal

Anyone using a Post Office Credit Card to buy foreign currency from the Post Office will not now be charged the standard 2.5 per cent cash advance fee.

The good points

The saving is applied whether you buy currency in branch or online. For anyone buying €250 on their plastic, for instance, the saving could be £6.45. There's also no foreign exchange fee if you use a Post Office Credit Card overseas.

The bad points

If you order currency online, payment with a MasterCard credit card will incur a 1.5 per cent handling fee of the order value, minimum £4.00. If you don't pay the amount off in full by your payment date you'll be charged interest at the higher cash withdrawal rate, which at the Post Office is 27.9 per cent.

Conclusion

This is a good idea for anyone planning to use their credit card to get currency. However if you use cash or a debit card there'll be no cash advance fee and no risk of getting a high interest charge if you don't pay off your balance in full.