Bureau de change
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A bureau de change is an organisation or facility which allows customers to exchange one currency for another. Although French in origin, the term is widely used throughout Europe, so that visitors can easily identify such facilities when abroad. It is also common to find a sign saying "Exchange".
[edit] Usage
Bureaux de change are often located inside banks or travel agents, as well as in international airports, train stations, etc. They make profit, and compete, by manipulating two variables: the exchange rate they use to calculate transactions, and an explicit commission for their service.
The exchange rates charged at public bureaux are generally related to the rates available to the banks themselves, adjusted to make a profit. A bureau will often display a board listing separate "We buy" and "We sell" rates for each currency they deal in; this allows them to "sell" a currency (e.g. a UK bureau converting sterling to euros) at a lower rate than they "buy" it (e.g. converting the euros back to sterling).
As an example, if the internationally traded rate on a particular day was 1.50 euros per pound, making £100 worth €150; a bureau de change might "sell" euros at a rate of 1.40 (so that £100 gets the customer only €140) and "buy" at 1.60 (so that it takes €160 to get £100); the difference makes the profit for the bureau. Their round-turn profit on these trades would be €160 - €140 = €20, or 13.33%.
Commission is generally charged as a percentage of the amount to be exchanged, subject to a minimum fee for small transactions. Some bureaux advertise themselves as commission-free, and then make up the lost profit through the exchange rates they offer. As an additional complexity, some bureaux offer special deals on either commission or exchange for customers returning from holiday with leftover foreign currency bought at that bureau. Bureaux de change sometimes buy or sell coins of foreign currencies at a higher profit margin, due to the higher cost of storage and shipping compared with banknotes.
In general, changing money at a bureau de change before travelling is more expensive than withdrawing it using a foreign cash dispenser (through a system such as Cirrus Network) or paying directly with a debit or credit card,[citation needed] although this varies depending on the bank/card issuer, and the type of account held.
In 2002 many bureaux de change reported substantial reductions in profit due to the replacement of many European currencies with the Euro.
[edit] In popular culture
The notable 1994 news parody The Day Today featured a spoof soap opera called The Bureau, set in a "high class" bureau de change and run by soap-opera stereotypes (the arrogant boss, the gay man, etc.). In the programme, the soap supposedly replaced the BBC Nine O'Clock News, and then failed to attract large audiences leading to it being sent on tour on the back of a lorry. This was a reference to the failed BBC soap opera Eldorado.
The folk-spoof group "Flight of the Conchords" makes an oblique reference to bureau de change in the song "Foux Da Fa Fa", in which one of the band members sings the line "Bonjour mon petit bureau de change" to one of the women in the park.
[edit] See also
