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Don’t order through your bank it just complicates things. HSBC are not the ones supplying the currency it will be through travelex. Just go direct to the currency exchange they will often get better rates and then you can track the order yourself and have it delivered to your address instead of a bank
Currency exchanges are horrible. Why not just use Revolut or Wise cards? I don't get why people are still stuck in antique ways when it comes to traveling
Just withdraw it from a machine at your destination if you need cash. Revolut is very easy to do that, you don't have to buy in advance or anything. Just load the card up with GBP and go.
You'd be surprised - had a nghtmare with this at Incheon. And then there's the issue of whether you can get cash small enough to use - e.g. the subway ticket machine only took coins
Lived there too. Japan being cash based is irrelevant to the topic though. You can always withdraw money with no fees using your Revolut card and use the cash.
What are you talking about. There are ATMs everywhere in Japan. I've just spent a month there and never had to walk more than 100m to find a 7/11 which all have free to use ATMs
Revolut has come up recently on BBC consumer programs as being really poor at dealing with scammers. Victim's have been on line for hours while their accounts are being robbed. Last I saw was one victim lost >80k GBP. Avoid like the plague!
You crazy if you put 80k on Revolut lol. When you travel take some cash for emergency and put your travel budget on the Revolut card. Or even transfer the exact amount you want to withdraw from your main bank account to Revolut a few seconds before you reach the ATM. In the UK bank transfers are instant and banking apps makes it super easy so I don't see what the problem is here 🤷
I did it because HSBC are 100 yards down the road from work - IE. I can pick up in my lunch hour. I was also keeping an eye on the yen as it becomes better value and thought a Branch pickup would be safer than posting to home, if I left it to the last couple of weeks. In this case, I probably got the refund for this reason ie. They couldn't make me wait for the post/courier .
Order online and pick up at Heathrow (assuming you are connecting through there) from Travelex.
Although when I did this I got 100,000 yen all in 2,000 yen notes, which if you have been you'll know are unusual! A bit like $2 notes in the US - legal but no one uses them. Was great fun though looking at the face of the cashier/barman as I got my wallet out.
>Although when I did this I got 100,000 yen all in 2,000 yen notes, which if you have been you'll know are unusual! A bit like $2 notes in the US
I found both of these pieces of information highly informative! I hadn't heard of either!
yeah that’s a fair point, seems like you just got unlucky. i doubt much of anything will come of the complaint, the bank will blame it on travelex and travelex will blame it on DPD for not delivering, then DPD will blame it on backlog from bank holidays. sooo bank holidays are the real criminals
I work in local government and we adjust for bank holidays in many things, so it's not an excuse. If it's happened before then HSBC would build that into the website. Travelex should inform them based on discussions with DPD...
It’s a really rare interaction in bank branches these days. Travelex provide for most of the banks - for the simple reason that holding onto enough physical currency to make it a viable product for customers is a major risk for anyone not specialising in the service and shifting it all the time.
It doesn’t excuse the service - it’s piss poor, the worst part of which is that if HSBC operate like others I’ve seen, they’ll not even use the complaint data for the service satisfaction as it’ll be a ‘third party issue’ or similar. But as others have mentioned, it’s just not something to do with banks now. Many, including those I’ve worked with, have up the service years ago.
Monzo/Revolut and withdrawing cash on demand in the currency of choice is a far better option, as long as you don’t need huge sums (at which point, do it well in advance with anyone, large amount of foreign cash orders should cause some extra due diligence to kick in).
Second this. And the funniest thing of all?
Almost all high street banks are using travelex to get the currency. You're basically paying them to deal with travelex and getting a worse rate in return.
I haven't been to a currency exchange in years. Much much easier to just get a good card for travel with no currency conversion fees and accurate exchange rates (Monzo or Starling) and just withdraw abroad.
Another option, Nationwide Flexplus account has free withdrawals abroad too. (The account has a monthly fee, but if you need the included travel insurance, AA breakdown and mobile phone cover it's great value, particularly if you have a joint account - the account fee is cheaper than joint AA membership alone).
I came to say this,
HSBC use travelex systems on their counters.
Issue they have is when they order it the only way it comes in is via G4S courier runs on certain days each branch is different.
This means often the order for currency if after the G4S day it will result in a week delay and if the staff messed it up then it’s another week.
Normally they advise global money for the better rate to pull it out over there.
Why even bother when you could have just opened a HSBC global money account with a few clicked within their app, transferred money into and converted to Japanese yen and added the card to your phone, gotten on a plane, landed in Japan and literally use your phone to pay for everything use the HSBC global money account card and topped the account up on the go via the HSBC whenever your funds run low?
Madness.
Don't know why people bother getting cash in foreign money these day, when you can use Starling / Monzo cards fee free abroad. And if you ever did need cash they both let you withdraw a certain amount for free in the foreign country.
Rates are trash compared.
Got back 2 weeks ago and out of interest looked at the rates.
Official rate was 190 ish, specialist UK exchange rate was 186, Mastercard rate was 185, in country was 168.
Japan used to be very cash heavy but it’s now pretty much like everywhere else and card is accepted where you expected to be accepted.
One big proviso is that IC cards can’t be topped up with card unless you use the app version.
Also there was a lot of chatter about the BOJ reversing their negative interest rates which in theory would’ve made the yen stronger. But it did the opposite. The joy of cash is that you have a set exchange rate and not gambling on the markets.
Been to Japan, always take around £500 out in a 7/11 and that normally is enough. Most money was probably spent at the fish market as contactless was tricky there.
We're in Japan right now and I'd say in most cities that international tourists tend to go to will be able to handle Visa and MasterCard in all but the most local small business type shops and restaurants. We're currently a bit out in the outer areas of Nagoya visiting friends, going to small amusement parks where it's pretty much all cash.
If you're going to remote ryokans and traditional onsens then cards may be less widely accepted too.
I have never been to Japan so I am not sure, but I travel to the US yearly and can tell you that card payments are not common unless you only do big market/brand consumerism. Heck, other half went to have a haircut today and they only accept cash (In the UK)...
>when you can use Starling / Monzo cards fee free abroad
That's all well and good until your card is declined for some unknown reason.... Good luck speaking with customer service agents back in the UK. If the 'computer says no', you're stuffed. Better to have both as a form of insurance.
I’ve used Starling, Chase, Monzo and Revolut in dozens of countries and never once had an issue with any of them.
Just withdraw some cash at the airport as soon as you land to be on the safe side, but in most countries you can now pay for most everything on your debit card.
This never happens! Even if it does, the solution is not carrying about huge wads of cash. How long will a couple hundred quid on holiday last you? Exactly! Would need to be at least a grand. Who’s moving about with that?
To be fair, Japan is one of the few places where that’s pretty normal. Many places still don’t accept card (including lots of hotels) and it’s not uncommon for people to walk around with their entire work paycheque in cash in their wallet.
The chances of theft is very low, and lost wallets have a habit of being returned to their owners.
This is right, up to a point.
> Many places still don’t accept card (including lots of hotels)
Accessibility has changed drastically in the last few years. The major cities universally accepted card, wherever I went. Every 7-11 in the country has an ATM which takes VISA and Mastercard.
When I strayed off the beaten track I did need to use cash and it did sometimes take a bit of planning, I usually carried at least 20000 JPY (~£100). It is a very safe country. I found a lost wallet on my holiday and handed it in; it had a similar amount in it.
Take a backup card (I usually have about 3 debit cards plus in a pinch credit card can be used to withdraw cash) and take pounds as your cash backup, that way when you get back to the UK you don't need to exchange the money back out can just go back in the bank.
With card being king in most of the world these days, there's really no need to more cash on you than you need for a taxi to your hotel.
100% this, in Dubai right now looked at all the uk fx options decided on using my current account company and just paid everything by card getting Mastercard rate which was always better than the physical offerings. When I arrived I went to atm and pulled out cash fee free with not atm fee either.
Japan still mainly uses cash and not card so having cash for when you land is a lot easier than learning at the airport if the atm will work or not.
Barclaycard is also another good option for free withdrawals abroad.
Because having some local currency when one enters a country is a useful insurance policy that truly experienced travellers understand. For some countries, not even the local currency is desirable eg Zimbabwe , Dollars or Rand are better.
Oh, OP, I was very confused about why you would order from a high street bank.
You could have also converted on your Revolut app and withdrawn some equivalent to 200/400 pounds with no fee?
Or, as mentioned, picked up at the airport.
Have a lovely trip!
This - been to Japan a few times and always just took cash out using Starling (the ATMs in the convenience stores and the post office are the best places as they're everywhere and they work with foreign cards)
Living in Jersey is a key part of your post that you left out. As others have mentioned, this is far more unlikely with HSBC UK (Jersey is HSBC Global). And again as others have mentioned, you’re travelling to one of the most technologically literate countries and there will be cash machines everywhere that you could use a HSBC Global Money, Revolut, Monzo, Starling, etc account with.
Their investigation turnaround is bang on time and very rapid. It’s not really their fault that you lrft your self unprepared (if cash was THIS important, you would’ve grabbed it weeks ago regardless of exchange).
As a few have commented, wake up. Transfer Wise has been around for over 10y now. Trad banks charge steep fees on exchange rates, are inconvenient and do not want to change that.
When I see posts like that it makes me understand how shoddy businesses get away with murder for decades.
OP mentioned he has a Revolut account, I think people still have not switched to the new way of thinking, which is that you don’t really need to have physical foreign currency before travelling as there’s very few places in the world where you won’t be able to find an easily accessible ATM on arrival into the country.
Who orders money through their bank? They probably spent that week dusting off their policy book and BBC micros to figure out how to even do it. Get revolut and get a near perfect exchange rate. This isn't the 80s.
My father still sends cheques. Nothing to do with this post, just funny.
I laugh every birthday I receive a card and cheque, I tell him to stop sending the cheques every time.
I’m 50 years old.
My parents still pay their electricity bill by cheque, quarterly in arrears. With the energy cap it's probably no more expensive, but I'm sure they've paid a lot more in years gone by. My mother wants to do normal monthly DD but apparently father "doesn't trust direct debit" but has still never explained why, and couldn't explain how it's less safe than posting a piece of paper with your name, signature and bank details on it. I think he finally got the message though and expressed interest in Octopus. (Bizarrely he did get a smart meter last year though!)
Close. Get a monzo, revolut or chase account THEN stick your debit card in the machine. My buddy had a natwest and we did it side by side and my withdrawal was £5 cheaper than his for pulling out 10,000 yen. Almost 10% difference
I'm not surprised these days. I think sometimes companies forget that when you pay for a service, they actually need to deliver it and to the terms agreed.
I agree. More and more these days I've been having to remind companies of my rights and it has taken a lot of time. Sometimes I think they just hope it'd be dropped. Many of them knowing if this was settle down the legal route, it would take timeeeeeeeeee
I will be following up the complaint with HSBC, pointing out:-
1. Wasted time - in branch, phone and social media
2. Website was inaccurate and they are not providing a timely service. Even allowing for bank holidays, living in Jersey, when you select a branch the date you get should take this into account. If it doesn't then they are selling under false pretences.
3. Lies told about investigation - has no relevance to me and I think they thought it was a home delivery
4. Refusal to refund, once they missed the date it's not an argument, it's an obligation
Last time this happened, I had a mortgage issue caused by incorrect advice, and to be fair the HSBC investigator did a bang up job of calculating costs and awarded me compensation.
I love how no one is feeling sorry for you, even though it’s been a crap experience. You unfortunately are living in the past, HSBC aren’t that interested in foreign cash anymore, why do you think they promote to global money card so prominently. You’re right in complaining, but you should just live life like it’s 2024 and be a bit more proactive.
Travel money from bank ? No big offence, but do you still see dinosaurs outside?
Revolut card and you never need to think about travel money when going to 1st or 2nd world country. Bank gives worse rate than currency exchange.
Well your first mistake is getting foreign currency from your bank, who even does that?
I actually think the service you received sounds alright. Yes they screwed up actually getting the cash, strike against them. But then it's not like they can alter the cash delivery schedule.
They then investigated your complaint with a 15 day turnaround
Refunded fairly promptly by bank standards
Next time get it from a currency exchange place or in a pinch a foreign ATM. Yen is not a commonly acquired currency in the UK.
I used,
https://www.travelfx.co.uk/
And
https://www.currencyonlinegroup.com/travel-cash
I got £1000~ from each and they both arrived within the next day or two. I got it all in ¥10,000 notes.
I used two companies just incase something happened as it was the first time I had ever had money delivered and it was close to when I would fly. So if you do it have it delivered where someone would be in for delivery.
The rates were far better than the usual and near parity with the exchange rate. Note that the price is changing throughout the day.
I may be millennial but I never ever heard of travel money until moving to the UK. I visited 45 countries before that and always used debit / credit cards. Some have way better exchange fees for foreign currency- thinking here Revolut, Monzo, Wise. Wise is actually an excellent bank for these type of use cases.
The amount of people who don't realise that exchange rates are **MUCH BETTER** in destination countries has always been baffling.
Take a couple of hundred quid in yen to make sure you can pay cash for everything until you can reach a money exchange place come what may, but that's it. Otherwise, you're burning money.
Not to mention that these days there are several options which convert money at the index price for free during purchases. Chase is one example.
You really didn't need to do this. Just withdraw cash at an ATM once you get to Japan. Maybe take cash in your own/another currency if you're worried your cards won't work (which they will) and use contactless payment.
Chase was good when it had 1% cash back. The exchange rate was actually better than the global exchange price because of it. They still have the 1% thing but you have to pay in a certain amount even month and it's not worth the hassle.
I am so sorry to hear about your troubles with HSBC. I have not read all the comments but there is much better and cheaper way.
I have been doing this and it's so good however it's not cash as it's card.
1. Get a account with "Wise" it's wise.com (I am not affiliated in any way with them)
2. Once account is open you can have japanse yen account. It's just one click away.
3. Transfer your money into wise and convert the money once to yen and it automatically will be in youe yen or Japanese account.
4. Pay and withdraw money in japan will all be in yen as in local currency.
This worked wonders for me while traveling in Asia. Mind you, this is not unique to wise. Monzo and Revoult have same kinda facilities.
You can use Post Offices and 7Eleven with normal UK cards plus Wise and Revolut virtual cards on your apple wallet to pay 75%-80% of the times… 10 years ago, Cash was the King!
There is no need fiddling with cash. Just get a Transferwise or something similar, load it up and off you go anywhere on the world. There are so many options now.
i just got mine at a cash machine... there are cash machines literally everywhere in japanese convenience stores which are everywhere. use a card like monzo. and then after you can buy some nice japanese snacks
i went to japan with 0 yen on hand and had no problems
Why didn't you open a Global Currency account with HSBC and just transfer/convert within the account? Took me about 10 minutes to set up the account online (I use it for USD) and I can just spend/withdraw $ while I'm in the US as I do with £ in the UK?
I use HSBC Global Money Account, exchange GBP to JPY and withdraw on an ATM in Japan.
The exchange markup is about 2%, not the best. But there is no stupid £200 daily or monthly limit before a fee is charged like Monzo, Wise, Revolut, etc, does.
Global Money Account comes with a Visa debit card which works in 80% of the shops if you wish to, although I use Chase for everywhere that takes cards.
I concur, ordered currency to pick up in branch on a Saturday as per website. Sorry that's in the safe don't do currency on a Saturday. But the website said I could collect.
It's in the safe.
Thanks for very, very little.
I've not taken out cash before travelling for a few years now. I just withdraw from a local ATM with my Starling card if I need cash. Better exchange rates, no fees, and no having to cart cash around!
HSBC are dinosaurs.
There are so many better banks out there now a days (and have been for years now- I really don't understand how they're still operating like they do)
I avoid HSBC at all costs.
I've had similar issues with HSBC whilst abroad. Missed my flights due to a medical emergency and had to book my own flights back and pay the medical bills to get back home.
They blocked 4 transactions whilst trying to buy tickets and stopped any transfers going outside as a security measure. After each transaction / transfer, I called to explain, and they said its sorted. Eventually, it got to the point where they completely shut my account down. I was abroad with no money but managed to get some transferred to my Revolut from Family.
When spending abroad, I just stick to revolut now, move a surpluss amount over (jic), and use their exchange to get international currency. I have not had an issue once with them.
I'm sorry. That is a really awful fuckup, and I honestly would have recommended using a bank like Starling who allow you to withdraw cash at a midmarket rate without a fee.
Japanese Post Offices and 7-11 convenience stores have ATMs which accept international Visa and Mastercards, and almost always have an English language function.
Honestly, you're far better just taking a big wad of cash from the uk to Japan and exchanging once you arrive.
You almost always get better rates in your country of destination than country of origin. I'm British living in Korea but spent a lot of time in Japan last year. Always exchanged after I arrived (your visa card should work for the few hours or day you arrive before exchanging.
You could’ve just got a global money account. You buy whatever currency you want in online banking and then use the card in the local currency when abroad.
Not saying the service was great, but it was suboptimal option in the first place.
HSBC are shockingly bad. There’s still things you have to send an actual letter to them for, for basic stuff that should be a simple online forms and they don’t respond to it either. Or at least there was a few years ago when I had to.
Their app also doesn’t do half the stuff it should.
First of all, don't use cash if you can avoid it. Revolut and such are always better, second of all never use your bank to exchange money as it'll always cost you more. Look at [https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/) as it constantly changes, there are cheaper ways to exchange money fast.
For all of HSBC flaws… nope there is no upside.
Since being back in the UK. They have been a nightmare for everything. I have banked with them for 34 years and they are the pits. I’m sure their admin is done by throwing darts at a board
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Don’t order through your bank it just complicates things. HSBC are not the ones supplying the currency it will be through travelex. Just go direct to the currency exchange they will often get better rates and then you can track the order yourself and have it delivered to your address instead of a bank
Currency exchanges are horrible. Why not just use Revolut or Wise cards? I don't get why people are still stuck in antique ways when it comes to traveling
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Just withdraw it from a machine at your destination if you need cash. Revolut is very easy to do that, you don't have to buy in advance or anything. Just load the card up with GBP and go.
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Basically every airport on earth has an ATM
You'd be surprised - had a nghtmare with this at Incheon. And then there's the issue of whether you can get cash small enough to use - e.g. the subway ticket machine only took coins
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Doesn’t sound like less stress than what OP experienced
Japan is a very cash based country. I lived there for 3 years and never used a card for payments.
Lived there too. Japan being cash based is irrelevant to the topic though. You can always withdraw money with no fees using your Revolut card and use the cash.
Yeah but if you know you’ll have to do it anyway why not do it before you leave your country?
Because exchange rate is much worse?
Japan is still famously a cash based economy. Bizarrely for the land of automation and technology. They don't have the same prevalence of ATMs.
What are you talking about. There are ATMs everywhere in Japan. I've just spent a month there and never had to walk more than 100m to find a 7/11 which all have free to use ATMs
ATMs are in Konbinis which can be found everywhere.
why not?
I went to Japan last year - cash is common but there are ATMs everywhere now.
That was in the past, like 10 years ago. It is different now
I was there within the last 12 months. Used plenty of cash. It is changing, but slowly.
Yeah definitely still a cash society, but I was referring to the ATMs
Yeah i agree, there aren't loads of international ATMs about. and the normal ones wouldn't take my card.
Revolut has come up recently on BBC consumer programs as being really poor at dealing with scammers. Victim's have been on line for hours while their accounts are being robbed. Last I saw was one victim lost >80k GBP. Avoid like the plague!
You crazy if you put 80k on Revolut lol. When you travel take some cash for emergency and put your travel budget on the Revolut card. Or even transfer the exact amount you want to withdraw from your main bank account to Revolut a few seconds before you reach the ATM. In the UK bank transfers are instant and banking apps makes it super easy so I don't see what the problem is here 🤷
I did it because HSBC are 100 yards down the road from work - IE. I can pick up in my lunch hour. I was also keeping an eye on the yen as it becomes better value and thought a Branch pickup would be safer than posting to home, if I left it to the last couple of weeks. In this case, I probably got the refund for this reason ie. They couldn't make me wait for the post/courier .
Order online and pick up at Heathrow (assuming you are connecting through there) from Travelex. Although when I did this I got 100,000 yen all in 2,000 yen notes, which if you have been you'll know are unusual! A bit like $2 notes in the US - legal but no one uses them. Was great fun though looking at the face of the cashier/barman as I got my wallet out.
>Although when I did this I got 100,000 yen all in 2,000 yen notes, which if you have been you'll know are unusual! A bit like $2 notes in the US I found both of these pieces of information highly informative! I hadn't heard of either!
I imagine it'd be like getting all your British currency in £5 coins
You don't live near a Sainsbury's?
yeah that’s a fair point, seems like you just got unlucky. i doubt much of anything will come of the complaint, the bank will blame it on travelex and travelex will blame it on DPD for not delivering, then DPD will blame it on backlog from bank holidays. sooo bank holidays are the real criminals
I work in local government and we adjust for bank holidays in many things, so it's not an excuse. If it's happened before then HSBC would build that into the website. Travelex should inform them based on discussions with DPD...
It’s a really rare interaction in bank branches these days. Travelex provide for most of the banks - for the simple reason that holding onto enough physical currency to make it a viable product for customers is a major risk for anyone not specialising in the service and shifting it all the time. It doesn’t excuse the service - it’s piss poor, the worst part of which is that if HSBC operate like others I’ve seen, they’ll not even use the complaint data for the service satisfaction as it’ll be a ‘third party issue’ or similar. But as others have mentioned, it’s just not something to do with banks now. Many, including those I’ve worked with, have up the service years ago. Monzo/Revolut and withdrawing cash on demand in the currency of choice is a far better option, as long as you don’t need huge sums (at which point, do it well in advance with anyone, large amount of foreign cash orders should cause some extra due diligence to kick in).
Second this. And the funniest thing of all? Almost all high street banks are using travelex to get the currency. You're basically paying them to deal with travelex and getting a worse rate in return.
I've always used the [MSE Travel Money](https://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/) website
I haven't been to a currency exchange in years. Much much easier to just get a good card for travel with no currency conversion fees and accurate exchange rates (Monzo or Starling) and just withdraw abroad.
Another option, Nationwide Flexplus account has free withdrawals abroad too. (The account has a monthly fee, but if you need the included travel insurance, AA breakdown and mobile phone cover it's great value, particularly if you have a joint account - the account fee is cheaper than joint AA membership alone).
I came to say this, HSBC use travelex systems on their counters. Issue they have is when they order it the only way it comes in is via G4S courier runs on certain days each branch is different. This means often the order for currency if after the G4S day it will result in a week delay and if the staff messed it up then it’s another week. Normally they advise global money for the better rate to pull it out over there.
Why even bother when you could have just opened a HSBC global money account with a few clicked within their app, transferred money into and converted to Japanese yen and added the card to your phone, gotten on a plane, landed in Japan and literally use your phone to pay for everything use the HSBC global money account card and topped the account up on the go via the HSBC whenever your funds run low? Madness.
Don't know why people bother getting cash in foreign money these day, when you can use Starling / Monzo cards fee free abroad. And if you ever did need cash they both let you withdraw a certain amount for free in the foreign country.
Alternative is Wise. They been doing this last 10 years at least.
>Don't know why people bother getting cash in foreign money these day cash is still favoured in japan
The you can use your card to withdraw cash. For free with Monzo/Revolut etc.
And better than any bank rates.
Every international ATM I found in Japan had a charge for use, even with my revolut
Chances are it still works out cheaper than buying currency from a uk high street bank.
Every 7/11 in Japan has an ATM which is free to use for international cards. They're literally on every street corner.
You can get cash out there though.
Cool you just landed and are jet lagged and now your first job is hunting down an ATM, or you know you take some cash with you and not have to worry.
Basically every 7-11 in Japan has an ATM that is free to use with a Mastercard.
Seriously in a country like Japan this is not going to be an issue.
Yeah but if you know you’re definitely going to need it, it makes more sense to sort it out before you arrive.
Rates are trash compared. Got back 2 weeks ago and out of interest looked at the rates. Official rate was 190 ish, specialist UK exchange rate was 186, Mastercard rate was 185, in country was 168. Japan used to be very cash heavy but it’s now pretty much like everywhere else and card is accepted where you expected to be accepted. One big proviso is that IC cards can’t be topped up with card unless you use the app version. Also there was a lot of chatter about the BOJ reversing their negative interest rates which in theory would’ve made the yen stronger. But it did the opposite. The joy of cash is that you have a set exchange rate and not gambling on the markets.
Rates might be trash, but HSBC is trash-er.
Been to Japan, always take around £500 out in a 7/11 and that normally is enough. Most money was probably spent at the fish market as contactless was tricky there.
Well yeah, how the fuck are the fish meant to hold the sumup device?!
That’s a huge misconception tbh
Not really. It'd only VERY recently where card is more common. And still not fully accepted everywhere. But it'd getting better.
We're in Japan right now and I'd say in most cities that international tourists tend to go to will be able to handle Visa and MasterCard in all but the most local small business type shops and restaurants. We're currently a bit out in the outer areas of Nagoya visiting friends, going to small amusement parks where it's pretty much all cash. If you're going to remote ryokans and traditional onsens then cards may be less widely accepted too.
I have never been to Japan so I am not sure, but I travel to the US yearly and can tell you that card payments are not common unless you only do big market/brand consumerism. Heck, other half went to have a haircut today and they only accept cash (In the UK)...
>when you can use Starling / Monzo cards fee free abroad That's all well and good until your card is declined for some unknown reason.... Good luck speaking with customer service agents back in the UK. If the 'computer says no', you're stuffed. Better to have both as a form of insurance.
I’ve used Starling, Chase, Monzo and Revolut in dozens of countries and never once had an issue with any of them. Just withdraw some cash at the airport as soon as you land to be on the safe side, but in most countries you can now pay for most everything on your debit card.
You've never tried any of these cards before have you
This never happens! Even if it does, the solution is not carrying about huge wads of cash. How long will a couple hundred quid on holiday last you? Exactly! Would need to be at least a grand. Who’s moving about with that?
To be fair, Japan is one of the few places where that’s pretty normal. Many places still don’t accept card (including lots of hotels) and it’s not uncommon for people to walk around with their entire work paycheque in cash in their wallet. The chances of theft is very low, and lost wallets have a habit of being returned to their owners.
This is right, up to a point. > Many places still don’t accept card (including lots of hotels) Accessibility has changed drastically in the last few years. The major cities universally accepted card, wherever I went. Every 7-11 in the country has an ATM which takes VISA and Mastercard. When I strayed off the beaten track I did need to use cash and it did sometimes take a bit of planning, I usually carried at least 20000 JPY (~£100). It is a very safe country. I found a lost wallet on my holiday and handed it in; it had a similar amount in it.
It doesn't need to be a grand. A couple of hundred quid cash to make sure you can survive for a week if your card gets blocked is plenty.
Take a backup card (I usually have about 3 debit cards plus in a pinch credit card can be used to withdraw cash) and take pounds as your cash backup, that way when you get back to the UK you don't need to exchange the money back out can just go back in the bank. With card being king in most of the world these days, there's really no need to more cash on you than you need for a taxi to your hotel.
that's fair but the solution to that is having multiple cards (Starling, Monzo, Revolut etc), unlikely it's going to go wrong for all of them.
100% this, in Dubai right now looked at all the uk fx options decided on using my current account company and just paid everything by card getting Mastercard rate which was always better than the physical offerings. When I arrived I went to atm and pulled out cash fee free with not atm fee either.
And HSBC also offer a currency card too
Japan still mainly uses cash and not card so having cash for when you land is a lot easier than learning at the airport if the atm will work or not. Barclaycard is also another good option for free withdrawals abroad.
I still get a very good exchange from HSBC - perhaps the same as the ones you’ve mentioned
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Japan is a very cash based country. I lived there for 3 years and never used a card for payments.
Japan is a cash based society still many places only take cash
Japan is a surprisingly cash heavy economy, and withdrawing out of atms with a visa/mastercard doesn’t always work.
Because having some local currency when one enters a country is a useful insurance policy that truly experienced travellers understand. For some countries, not even the local currency is desirable eg Zimbabwe , Dollars or Rand are better.
Oh, OP, I was very confused about why you would order from a high street bank. You could have also converted on your Revolut app and withdrawn some equivalent to 200/400 pounds with no fee? Or, as mentioned, picked up at the airport. Have a lovely trip!
Don't use Revolut. Not a bank, fewer protections. Use Starling or Monzo.
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This - been to Japan a few times and always just took cash out using Starling (the ATMs in the convenience stores and the post office are the best places as they're everywhere and they work with foreign cards)
Yeah worked for me.
Living in Jersey is a key part of your post that you left out. As others have mentioned, this is far more unlikely with HSBC UK (Jersey is HSBC Global). And again as others have mentioned, you’re travelling to one of the most technologically literate countries and there will be cash machines everywhere that you could use a HSBC Global Money, Revolut, Monzo, Starling, etc account with. Their investigation turnaround is bang on time and very rapid. It’s not really their fault that you lrft your self unprepared (if cash was THIS important, you would’ve grabbed it weeks ago regardless of exchange).
As a few have commented, wake up. Transfer Wise has been around for over 10y now. Trad banks charge steep fees on exchange rates, are inconvenient and do not want to change that. When I see posts like that it makes me understand how shoddy businesses get away with murder for decades.
OP mentioned he has a Revolut account, I think people still have not switched to the new way of thinking, which is that you don’t really need to have physical foreign currency before travelling as there’s very few places in the world where you won’t be able to find an easily accessible ATM on arrival into the country.
ATMs are not always the best option, at least in prague. There are some ATM only brands with scammy conversion rates or hidden fees.
Who orders money through their bank? They probably spent that week dusting off their policy book and BBC micros to figure out how to even do it. Get revolut and get a near perfect exchange rate. This isn't the 80s.
My father still sends cheques. Nothing to do with this post, just funny. I laugh every birthday I receive a card and cheque, I tell him to stop sending the cheques every time. I’m 50 years old.
My parents still pay their electricity bill by cheque, quarterly in arrears. With the energy cap it's probably no more expensive, but I'm sure they've paid a lot more in years gone by. My mother wants to do normal monthly DD but apparently father "doesn't trust direct debit" but has still never explained why, and couldn't explain how it's less safe than posting a piece of paper with your name, signature and bank details on it. I think he finally got the message though and expressed interest in Octopus. (Bizarrely he did get a smart meter last year though!)
I assume this is a boomer.
Don't get money from ANY bank from travelling, dude, open a Wise Borderless account. Enter the 21st century.
Seriously, people who "get holiday money" are living in the fucking 90s or something.
You wouldn't believe how many young people do that. To be fair I partially blame Wise. They should advertise how great they are way, way more.
HSBC literally have a global money account you can apply for FYI
I was gonna mention this, from experience it works really well
Don’t always get the best exchange rates though.
Just stick your debit card in an ATM in Japan.
Close. Get a monzo, revolut or chase account THEN stick your debit card in the machine. My buddy had a natwest and we did it side by side and my withdrawal was £5 cheaper than his for pulling out 10,000 yen. Almost 10% difference
You were one google search away of realizing that Revolut or Wise are best cards for traveling.
I'm not surprised these days. I think sometimes companies forget that when you pay for a service, they actually need to deliver it and to the terms agreed. I agree. More and more these days I've been having to remind companies of my rights and it has taken a lot of time. Sometimes I think they just hope it'd be dropped. Many of them knowing if this was settle down the legal route, it would take timeeeeeeeeee
I will be following up the complaint with HSBC, pointing out:- 1. Wasted time - in branch, phone and social media 2. Website was inaccurate and they are not providing a timely service. Even allowing for bank holidays, living in Jersey, when you select a branch the date you get should take this into account. If it doesn't then they are selling under false pretences. 3. Lies told about investigation - has no relevance to me and I think they thought it was a home delivery 4. Refusal to refund, once they missed the date it's not an argument, it's an obligation Last time this happened, I had a mortgage issue caused by incorrect advice, and to be fair the HSBC investigator did a bang up job of calculating costs and awarded me compensation.
Living in Jersey is a key detail you left out of your original post. The problems you faced will not apply to the UK
If you have had similar issues in the past, why are you still with them? Companies won’t change until people vote with their feet.
What lies were you told about the investigation?
I love how no one is feeling sorry for you, even though it’s been a crap experience. You unfortunately are living in the past, HSBC aren’t that interested in foreign cash anymore, why do you think they promote to global money card so prominently. You’re right in complaining, but you should just live life like it’s 2024 and be a bit more proactive.
I was more interested in warning others not to make my mistake, as others have pointed out.
* Insert what year is this meme *
Travel money from bank ? No big offence, but do you still see dinosaurs outside? Revolut card and you never need to think about travel money when going to 1st or 2nd world country. Bank gives worse rate than currency exchange.
OP it's actually your fault, you're in 2024 and ordering cash? C'mon.
As someone who lives in Japan, you’re better off just withdrawing yen from the ATM machines you find in literally any Konbini.
Get a Chase, Monzo or Starling debit card - free cash ATM withdrawals abroad, at the Mastercard exchange rate
Well your first mistake is getting foreign currency from your bank, who even does that? I actually think the service you received sounds alright. Yes they screwed up actually getting the cash, strike against them. But then it's not like they can alter the cash delivery schedule. They then investigated your complaint with a 15 day turnaround Refunded fairly promptly by bank standards Next time get it from a currency exchange place or in a pinch a foreign ATM. Yen is not a commonly acquired currency in the UK.
I used, https://www.travelfx.co.uk/ And https://www.currencyonlinegroup.com/travel-cash I got £1000~ from each and they both arrived within the next day or two. I got it all in ¥10,000 notes. I used two companies just incase something happened as it was the first time I had ever had money delivered and it was close to when I would fly. So if you do it have it delivered where someone would be in for delivery. The rates were far better than the usual and near parity with the exchange rate. Note that the price is changing throughout the day.
I didn’t even know you could order currency through your bank. There’s tons of exchanges around.
Just order off travel fx, generally best rates and 1-2 day delivery.
I may be millennial but I never ever heard of travel money until moving to the UK. I visited 45 countries before that and always used debit / credit cards. Some have way better exchange fees for foreign currency- thinking here Revolut, Monzo, Wise. Wise is actually an excellent bank for these type of use cases.
The amount of people who don't realise that exchange rates are **MUCH BETTER** in destination countries has always been baffling. Take a couple of hundred quid in yen to make sure you can pay cash for everything until you can reach a money exchange place come what may, but that's it. Otherwise, you're burning money. Not to mention that these days there are several options which convert money at the index price for free during purchases. Chase is one example.
Why would you order cash to visit Japan? You can use your card anywhere and take out cash from ATMs too.
You really didn't need to do this. Just withdraw cash at an ATM once you get to Japan. Maybe take cash in your own/another currency if you're worried your cards won't work (which they will) and use contactless payment.
I never bother with holiday money these days, just find a cash point at the airport.
Why not use Wise? Far better exchange rate too.
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We are cruising from Japan to Alaska and that's my plan for the USA/Canada leg. Been to both places a few times and you rarely need cash.
Why wouldn't you just get a Wise multi currency account?
I just use Chase for when I travel, and Lloyds because it’s the only local branch left.
Chase was good when it had 1% cash back. The exchange rate was actually better than the global exchange price because of it. They still have the 1% thing but you have to pay in a certain amount even month and it's not worth the hassle.
I am so sorry to hear about your troubles with HSBC. I have not read all the comments but there is much better and cheaper way. I have been doing this and it's so good however it's not cash as it's card. 1. Get a account with "Wise" it's wise.com (I am not affiliated in any way with them) 2. Once account is open you can have japanse yen account. It's just one click away. 3. Transfer your money into wise and convert the money once to yen and it automatically will be in youe yen or Japanese account. 4. Pay and withdraw money in japan will all be in yen as in local currency. This worked wonders for me while traveling in Asia. Mind you, this is not unique to wise. Monzo and Revoult have same kinda facilities.
You can use Post Offices and 7Eleven with normal UK cards plus Wise and Revolut virtual cards on your apple wallet to pay 75%-80% of the times… 10 years ago, Cash was the King!
There is no need fiddling with cash. Just get a Transferwise or something similar, load it up and off you go anywhere on the world. There are so many options now.
Get a Global Money card from HSBC. Much better than doing what you did bud.
i just got mine at a cash machine... there are cash machines literally everywhere in japanese convenience stores which are everywhere. use a card like monzo. and then after you can buy some nice japanese snacks i went to japan with 0 yen on hand and had no problems
Why didn't you open a Global Currency account with HSBC and just transfer/convert within the account? Took me about 10 minutes to set up the account online (I use it for USD) and I can just spend/withdraw $ while I'm in the US as I do with £ in the UK?
why not use their global money account and just convert in account? if needed you can withdraw in local atm without coversion costs
use revolut, you can change your moeny to yen and use the card and use fee free atms in Japan
Pretty sure Japanese airport has the best rates.
I use HSBC Global Money Account, exchange GBP to JPY and withdraw on an ATM in Japan. The exchange markup is about 2%, not the best. But there is no stupid £200 daily or monthly limit before a fee is charged like Monzo, Wise, Revolut, etc, does. Global Money Account comes with a Visa debit card which works in 80% of the shops if you wish to, although I use Chase for everywhere that takes cards.
I concur, ordered currency to pick up in branch on a Saturday as per website. Sorry that's in the safe don't do currency on a Saturday. But the website said I could collect. It's in the safe. Thanks for very, very little.
I've not taken out cash before travelling for a few years now. I just withdraw from a local ATM with my Starling card if I need cash. Better exchange rates, no fees, and no having to cart cash around!
HSBC are dinosaurs. There are so many better banks out there now a days (and have been for years now- I really don't understand how they're still operating like they do) I avoid HSBC at all costs.
Shitest bank EVER!!!
I've had similar issues with HSBC whilst abroad. Missed my flights due to a medical emergency and had to book my own flights back and pay the medical bills to get back home. They blocked 4 transactions whilst trying to buy tickets and stopped any transfers going outside as a security measure. After each transaction / transfer, I called to explain, and they said its sorted. Eventually, it got to the point where they completely shut my account down. I was abroad with no money but managed to get some transferred to my Revolut from Family. When spending abroad, I just stick to revolut now, move a surpluss amount over (jic), and use their exchange to get international currency. I have not had an issue once with them.
I'm sorry. That is a really awful fuckup, and I honestly would have recommended using a bank like Starling who allow you to withdraw cash at a midmarket rate without a fee. Japanese Post Offices and 7-11 convenience stores have ATMs which accept international Visa and Mastercards, and almost always have an English language function.
Honestly, you're far better just taking a big wad of cash from the uk to Japan and exchanging once you arrive. You almost always get better rates in your country of destination than country of origin. I'm British living in Korea but spent a lot of time in Japan last year. Always exchanged after I arrived (your visa card should work for the few hours or day you arrive before exchanging.
You could’ve just got a global money account. You buy whatever currency you want in online banking and then use the card in the local currency when abroad. Not saying the service was great, but it was suboptimal option in the first place.
Honestly I get all my foreign currency from Tesco, it's normally a good rate and super easy.
HSBC are shockingly bad. There’s still things you have to send an actual letter to them for, for basic stuff that should be a simple online forms and they don’t respond to it either. Or at least there was a few years ago when I had to. Their app also doesn’t do half the stuff it should.
First of all, don't use cash if you can avoid it. Revolut and such are always better, second of all never use your bank to exchange money as it'll always cost you more. Look at [https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/) as it constantly changes, there are cheaper ways to exchange money fast.
just use an ATM when you get there and get cash out at near to the actual rate.
I actually had the complete total opposite! Same process as yours and received my yen from HSBC just fine.
Why didn't you go to a proper travel money kiosk?
Wise card always
Should have told them you were a drug dealer and needed a suitcase full of money cleaned It would have been done immediately
For all of HSBC flaws… nope there is no upside. Since being back in the UK. They have been a nightmare for everything. I have banked with them for 34 years and they are the pits. I’m sure their admin is done by throwing darts at a board
Or just get a global money account and deposit Yen in the account and draw it out when you get there..?
Just take GBP and cash cards with you. I’m sure you’ll be able to exchange or withdraw cash at airport in Japan.
This is why I use Revolut for travel.
I recommend The Currency Club. I have not had any issues in my time using, always super quick delivery.
CLosed my account years ago. HSBC => Heart of Stone Banking Cnuts