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Introducing 'The (Gemma) Collins English Dictionary'

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Brits lose Ā£16,797 in hidden fees on foreign currency over their lifetime.

And that's just not fair, is it?

New research by Consumer Intelligence for Wise reveals the Post Office is amongst the worst culprits on the high street for ripping off travellers, hiding up to 10% mark-up in the exchange rate, despite the majority of Brits trusting them to offer the best rates.

The mystery shopping revealed one Post Office branch in Manchester was offering customers ā‚¬1.01 to the pound for a walk-in rate, compared to the real ā€˜mid-market rateā€™ at the time of ā‚¬1.11. This mark-up lost holiday-makers ā‚¬25 for every Ā£250 exchanged.

Wise has teamed up with the straight-talking 'Queen of Essex', Gemma Collins, to finally put an end to the exchange rate rip off.

ProviderThey sayYou loseIn branch exchange rateThey give youYou should get

ASDA

0% commission

ā‚¬41.50

1.07200

ā‚¬1,072

ā‚¬1,113.50

Sainsburys

0% commission

ā‚¬56.10

1.05830

ā‚¬1,058.30

ā‚¬1,114.40

Tesco

0% commission

ā‚¬49.70

1.06550

ā‚¬1,065.50

ā‚¬1,115.20

Marks and Spencer

Competitive rates

ā‚¬47.55

1.06730

ā‚¬1,067.30

ā‚¬1,114.85

Post Office

0% commission

ā‚¬54.90

1.06000

ā‚¬1,060

ā‚¬1,114.90

ā€œIā€™ve taken it upon myself to help the nation, so you can live that jet-set lifestyle for lessā€

Gemma Collins, 'Queen of Essex'

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Gemmaā€™s top travel money tips:

Never exchange at the airport.

When youā€™re heading off on holiday, always avoid getting your holiday money at the airport bureau de change. Youā€™ll pay the price for convenience! Average airport rates are 14% less than the mid-market rate, while some are up to 24% lower. This means that if you exchanged Ā£500 at the airport, you could lose up to Ā£108.

Mid-market rate equals great.

Always compare the exchange rate youā€™re getting with the real rate you see on Google my loves. This will give you the true mid-market exchange rate, even small differences can add up and you want to save that for your holiday wine and dining!

Watch out for sneaky DCC.

Say youā€™re getting cash out at an ATM in Spain and it says press ā€˜yes for GBPā€™ and ā€˜no for EURā€™, you might think ā€˜noā€™ is the wrong choice, right? Well, always remember to select the local currency option to avoid extra fees!

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