Brits hoard £1 billion of foreign currency

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

An incredible amount of money in foreign currency is sitting around in the nation's houses according to new research from Marks and Spencer Travel Money.

The statistics reveal that an average of £16 in foreign currency returns per holidaymaker each year that is not converted back into usable currency.

When you multiply this by the number of British holidaymakers there are each year, the staggering total of unchanged foreign currency totals an incredible £1 billion.

"This year, 14 million travellers brought home at least £50 from their trip abroad," said M&S Money commercial director David Mackay.

"If they changed it back rather than forgetting about it, they could put the money towards a deposit on their next holiday or a short break."

He added: "Holding on to euros is understandable, but the 42 per cent who holiday outside the euro zone would be better off changing it back to sterling."

The research revealed that 76 per cent of travellers return from holiday with foreign currency that they forget or do not bother to change back into sterling.

According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), the USA is the most popular non-euro using holiday destination for 2005.