A new experience in acquiring travel currency

Travelex KIOSK at Heathrow. CREDIT: TRAVELEX

As Heathrow’s Retail Director, I’m delighted that Travelex have chosen us to trial their new KIOSK product. Our relationship dates back to 1986, when the first Travelex bureau at Heathrow opened in Terminal 4 – in a world of foreign currency exchange that was very different from today.

Heathrow’s status as the UK’s hub airport, our footfall, and breadth in customer demographics offers a strong platform to introduce a wide range of customers to the KIOSK. Heathrow and Travelex also have a common commitment to developing innovative solutions using new technologies. ‘Digital’ sits as a key pillar of our own Heathrow Retail Strategy, helping us to deliver our vision of providing our customers with the best airport service in the world into the future.

This latest initiative follows the piloting of the retail foreign currency exchange industry’s first ATM click-and-collect service at Heathrow Terminal 5. The pilot was a big success, which subsequently saw the service extended both across Heathrow’s three other operating terminals and into Manchester and Birmingham Airports. The success of this pilot was a key factor for Travelex when considering where to trial another new product.

Travelex ATM’s at Heathrow. CREDIT: TRAVELEX

Investing in digital solutions

Travelex have been investing considerably in their digital proposition at Heathrow, focused across two key areas. Firstly, investment in digital products, such as their pre-paid Travelex Money Card. And secondly, investment in and expansion of digital self-service propositions for customers physically purchasing cash at a bureau.

This latter investment in digital self-serve for cash may seem surprising in an increasingly digital-first and cashless society such as the UK, but cash remains hugely popular in the travel money space. Indeed, recent research shows that 80% of British travellers use cash when heading abroad, almost double the amount that use a credit or debit card¹.

With this in mind, it’s important that we can continue to provide Heathrow’s customers with cash in an accessible and efficient way. The new digital KIOSK in Heathrow’s Terminal 2 complements and further enhances Travelex’s wider service proposition for Heathrow customers requiring cash – with options of home delivery, ATM click-and-collect and traditional bureau walk-up services also available.   

Customers using the KIOSK can currently choose from an initial range of five currencies that reflect the main currency profiles in Terminal 2 (Euro, Swiss Franc, or US, Canadian or Australian Dollars). The prime landside location of the KIOSK provides clear visibility to our customers, as well as offering plenty of space for one-to-one service to be delivered by Travelex’s in-store colleagues.

Travelex KIOSK at Heathrow. CREDIT: TRAVELEX

A fully automated transaction process

This is a new experience in acquiring currency: the KIOSK has a full touch-screen interface, and the transaction process is fully automated, meaning no human interaction is required – although dedicated Travelex sales consultants will always be on hand to assist with any queries and support customers with their transactions if required. The experience of the automated currency KIOSK affords customers considerable convenience, as well as helping us to deliver against their increasing expectations around digital service solutions in an increasingly digital world. We know that, as technology develops, customers want different ways to interact and acquire their travel money – and this trial will enable us to better understand the appetite for a new way to procure travel cash.

One of the additional key advantages of the KIOSK is that the transactions are POS (point of sale) transactions, rather than ATM transactions. This means that the daily cash withdrawal limits applied to many cardholder accounts will not apply, thereby enabling customers to order more currency than permitted at a traditional ATM.

We are really pleased that Travelex have seen strong customer engagement with the KIOSK product to date, and they will continue to gather valuable feedback with each KIOSK transaction. A full evaluation of the pilot will take place in Q4 2023, which will then determine the direction Travelex take with this new digital solution. Any expanded roll out will naturally include an evaluation of Heathrow customers’ experiences, so that Travelex can continue to work in partnership with us to improve and adapt the product as required.

References

1. Travelex /RFI, 2023 UK Travel Money Study, July 2023