Charges have been scrapped for clients either buying currency before travelling, or using a credit or debit card card abroad where the charges can be very high.

This move follows pressure from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which in turn comes out of a Super complaint from watchdog Consumer Focus.

There are 5 main banks at the centre of this agreement and there are many non banks offering competetive rates also, so don't assume that all is now OK. There may be no or a reduced commission but be careful of the rate itself. Check before you buy with a site like www.xe.com [1] that will give the going Interbank rate.

While you might not get this rate, your amounts being considerably lower than those traded at bank level, it would not hurt to know what the actual market is at the time you make your purchase.