A Reputation for Service Excellence

Over the years, the business has gained a solid reputation for secure, convenient and cost-effective foreign exchange services, as demonstrated by their loyal client base.  Now in their 10th year, 1st Contact Forex facilitates more than 100,000 transactions a year, with 40,000 registered clients. These include migrants transferring money home, paying off debt and purchasing property; expats repatriating funds; individuals investing overseas; and SMEs importing and exporting goods.

Gemme Cloete of 1st Contact Forex believes the reason for their popularity is because they truly take the client into consideration.

“1st Contact Forex started as a solution-focused company and this ethos is still evident in everything we do,” says Gemma. “We really want to make our clients’ lives easier by finding the most affordable and most convenient solutions. We are also able to secure excellent exchange rates and when people compare, they realise just how much they can save.”

Product with Real Benefits

1st contact Forex offers products that truly benefit the client, including highly competitive exchange rates that beat the banks; a secure online portal, online, telephone and sms support and a transparent exchange rates and fees.

Their travel money card is also steadily growing in popularity, and allows those going to the USA, Europe or South Africa to transfer money online and then use the card as a local debit card – saving money and avoiding the need to carry large amounts of cash.

A recent addition to the many solutions they offer is the Debit Card transfer facility. This service lets clients transfer from the Euro-zone to anywhere in the world, using their debit card online, negating the need for a credit card or visit to a bank or agency.

1st Contact Forex has their head office in London, with offices in Melbourne, Australia and Cape Town, South Africa. To find out more about their foreign exchange and money transfer services, visit www.1stcontactforex.com or call +44(0) 808 141 2335 (Free from within UK).

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The following exchange rates are based on “interbank” rates. If you want to transfer money to South Africa, Australia or New Zealand, then please register/login or call us for a live dealing rate.

Make use of a Rate Notifier to send you alerts when the AUD, ZAR or NZD reaches levels you are looking for.

Rand Firm Despite Strike Season

Local markets have been largely hit by the current wave of strikes in South Africa, 200 000 municipal workers are now demanding a 18% or R2000 salary increase, whichever is higher.

With regards to the impact the strikes have on investors, Warrick Butler, a trader at Standard bank said:
“People don’t look at that as the cause to disinvest or invest; they look at the overall picture. At the moment the country — despite the small woes that we have — has a lot rosier picture than a lot of the developed markets,”
Solutions for the Euro debt crisis are looking bleak.

French and German leaders, Merkel and Sarkozy, did not impress investors with their attempt to calm Euro debt concerns, thus causing the Euro markets to plunge. The chief executive of ADVFN, Clem Chambers, said: “The market gave Merkel and Sarkozy their chance to stop the Euro crisis,” he said, “Today it is responding to their inaction.”

Leaders in Europe are under severe pressure to make a decision revolving the debt crisis in Europe. Carl Weinberg, one of High Frequency Economics economist’s said: “There is no solution to the Euroland’s sovereign debt crisis in sight,” he said “Markets will continue to be fundamentally unstable and volatile as long as we can think.”

Investors demand for the Rand remained strong this week. R3, 3 billion rand’s worth of investment was sold on Thursday.

According to Reuters Africa a bond trader in Johannesburg said, “Our debt matrices are obviously better than some of the European countries and the other emerging market countries. Our yields are about 570 points over the U.S. treasuries curve and that is also providing investors with a good return,”

ZAR/JPY: 10.580
USD/ZAR: 7.1790
GBP/ZAR: 11.823
EUR/ZAR: 10.308

Exchange rates as of 06:44, 22 August 2011

Composed by Inge Grobbelaar

Aussie Strength Affects Steel Industry

The Australian dollar strengthened by more than half a cent to the Dollar, after the sentiment of the market started looking very positive for a change.

Tim Waterer, CMC Markets foreign dealer said that it was a fairly positive start for the Australian dollar, with equity markets in Asia showing some reliance, and not following the negative lead from Wall Street on Friday.

“There is a situation in the market at the moment that perhaps the recent sell-off is not justified by the fundamentals. That would bring some of the bargain hunters into play.’’

The Aussie also advanced against the yen, despite speculation that the Federal Reserve Bank is considering further steps to improve the US economy, supporting demand for riskier assets.

BlueScope Steel, one of Australia’s largest steelmakers has shut down half of its steel-making capacity, ceased exports, and scrapped as many as 1000 jobs. This, along with the high Australian dollar, has put a lot of pressure on trade-exposed industries.

The announcement by BlueScope came one week after OneSteel, one of its competitors announced that 400 job positions were to be axed, with more to follow in coming weeks. Both steel makers are blaming the strong dollar, as well as weak demand for the cuts. HSBC’s chief economist, Paul Bloxham said that this is the nature of structural shift that is happening in the Australian economy at the moment.  

‘‘The high level of commodity prices is boosting the exchange rate lately meaning we are getting the structural shift. With commodity prices at the high levels they are, it motivates labor and capital to shift towards the mining industry.’’

GBP/AUD: 1.5804
AUD/EUR: 1.3807
AUD/USD: 1.0429
AUD/JPY: 80.01

Exchange Rates as of 09:58, 22 August 2011

Composed by Francois de Wet

Kiwi Stirred as Jackson Hole Approaches

The Kiwi began trading last week Monday the 15th August 2011 around the 1.958 mark to the British Pound and 1.203 to the US Dollar. The Kiwi closed slightly weaker on Friday the 19th August 2011 at 2.011 to the British Pound and 1.194 to the US Dollar.

The New Zealand Dollar is looking shaky ahead of the Jackson Hole summit. Fears are rising in anticipation of any unexpected news being released this week by the Fed Chairperson, Mr. Ben Bernanke, as he goes into the Jackson Hole summit to deliver his speech on the current state of affairs in the market.

This can be seen by investors’ flight from riskier currencies such as the New Zealand and Aussie Dollars to stronger, more stable commodities such as gold.The global equity market seems to be gearing up for another volatile week ahead. Markets are looking ahead to the Jackson Hole summit where the worlds top Economists and policy makers will come together to discuss possible future issues and emerging trends within the global markets.

Investors are expecting the Fed to use this opportunity to evaluate every policy tool at hand that could be used to help the US recover from the recent market events.The week ahead could be an eventful one as investors continue to fly to quality and get short on currencies that are considered “risky”.

Economists say that the lack of liquidity in the Kiwi market will only make matters worse as the public start selling off their New Zealand Dollars.

NZD / GBP: 2.013
NZD / EUR: 1.749
NZD / USD: 1.194
JPY / NZD: 63.07

Exchange rates as of 09:30, 22nd August 2011

Composed by Paul Gerber

:: Note: The above exchange rates are based on “interbank” rates. If you want to transfer money to South Africa then please register/login or call us for a live dealing rate.

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Which can save you up to AUD 65 per 1000 you transfer?

If you guessed that the banks are the cheapest way to transfer money from the UK to Australia or South Africa (or anywhere else for that matter) you’d be wrong.

A comparison by 1st Contact Forex has shown that a transfer of £1000 from the UK to Australia would save you as much as AUD 65 – you save on the better exchange rate, the much cheaper transfer fee and the receiving fee, which is AUD 10 through the banks and FREE through 1st Contact Forex.

If you were sending money home to South Africa and transferring £1000, you would save a whopping R562, while transferring the same amount to India through 1st Contact Forex would amount to a saving of INR 2666.97!

“There’s still quite a misconception among most people that the banks are the cheapest, fastest way to send money,” says Gemma Cloete of 1st Contact Forex. “This is simply not true. And, while most banks take between 3 and 7 days to transfer the money, 1st Contact Forex does so within 1-3 days.”

To compare the fees and exchange rates, or to do your money transfer simply and at the best exchange rates, visit www.1stcontactforex.com. 1st Contact take pride in their exceptional service, as well as the fact that they offer the most transparent transfer service in the market – the rate you see when you buy your foreign exchange is the rate you get.

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It is estimated that £300 million per year is lost to these monopolies. The anomaly occurs because a huge number of consumers of Foreign exchange and remittance services are not aware that there are better options in the market. These consumers shoulder the burdens of the façade monopoly which the banks hold; High fee’s, hidden costs, poor rates of exchange, lack of transparency on exchange rates, poor service, and slow turnaround times from staff who aren’t really interested. In fact, dealing with the banks is a travesty of 21^st century customer service.

Enter the independent Foreign exchange and Remittance providers. These small to medium sized companies specialize in completely and utterly beating the banks on value for money and solid customer service with a smile. They also simplify the money transfer process into something which the layman can understand and execute easily. These companies offer exchange and remittance services at a fraction of the fee’s (if any), zero hidden costs, very competitive and guaranteed rates of exchange, complete transparency, excellent and friendly service from people who want to hear from their clients, and fast secure online systems which ensure cleared funds in any globally nominated account as fast 1 working day. If only the consumers knew about these better options.

Ironically consumers have direct and easy access to these services. Most independent companies run online, and offer their full service as an online package. Therefore if a person has access to the web via a PC, internet café or mobile phone; it is very easy to capitalize on the benefits these providers create, from anywhere on the globe. Welcome to the 21^st century.

2 such companies are 1^st Contact and the Sable Group. Both companies offer a range of accounting, wealth, legal, visas, tax and payroll services, along with their much honed expertise on foreign exchange and international remittance services.

It’s a no-brainer.

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Choose your dates wisely

To find the cheapest prices you need to travel at the right time – avoid the middle of the summer season and rather go at the beginning or end of summer. Also, book early to find discounted rates.

Get a lift to the airport

Leaving your car at the airport can cost you up to £45 per day. Either pre-book or best yet, get a lift to the airport and cut out that expense altogether.

Book your car in advance

By booking car hire before you travel, you will probably save a substantial amount of money. Spend some time to find the very best deals.

Self-cater

By choosing the self catering route, you will save a lot on food! Scour the internet for great deals and rent a villa or apartment. Shop at local markets and buy local food and wine instead of imported products. This will leave you more money for shopping and activities!

Get a Euro Travel Money Card

Make the most of your spending money with the 1st Contact Euro Travel Card. This card was designed specifically to be used in Europe and it will not only put more money in your pocket, it will also save you plenty of hassles. It’s essentially a MasterCard Debit Card, pre-loaded with Euro, which allows you to essentially pay like a local and save on high bank charges and commissions.

Unlike many other foreign exchange products, the 1st Contact Travel Money Card charges no

commission, and there are no charges for swiping the card in restaurants or shops in Spain. The only charges are for the card, a small fee for ATM withdrawals and a small card replacement fee, should you lose it while on holiday.

Save up before your holiday

One of the great benefits of the Card is that you can load money onto it before your holiday. And because it can only be used in Europe, you won’t be tempted to spend your travel money

before you leave. You can load money as much as you like, easily and quickly, and at totally transparent, low exchange rates!

For more information or to order and load your 1st Contact Travel Money Card, visit www.1stcontactforex.com, or call 0808 141 1685.

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1. The most popular dog’s name in Poland is “Burek” which is actually the Polish word for a brown-grey colour.
2. In Poland, people peel bananas from the blossom end and not the stem end.
3. Poland shares its borders with no less than seven countries! These are Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
4. Poland has had many capital cities in its time. These have included Gniezno, Poznan, Krakow and Warsaw. Lublin has been the capital twice – after both World Wars.
5. Geographically, Poland is not actually in Eastern Europe – it is in fact in the very centre of Europe.
6. In Poland, one’s “Name Day” – imieniny – is considered a far more important occasion than one’s birthday.
7. Poland’s national symbol is the white-tailed Eagle.
8. The name “Poland” originates from the name of the tribe “Polanie”. This tribe used to inhabit the western part what is now considered Poland an the word actually meant “people living in open fields”.
9. The most “World’s Strongest Man” winners are from Poland.
10. People of Polish descent have won 17 noble prizes, including 4 for Peace and 5 for literature.
11. One third of Poland is covered with forest, 50% of the land is dedicated to farming, there are a total of 9300 lakes, 23 National Parks and only one desert.
12. Rysy in the Tatra Mountains is the highest point in Poland, at a height of 2,499m – otherwise Poland is a mostly flat country.
13. Most Poles are Roman Catholics.
14. Roman Catholicism is so popular that Poland actually has a TV channel dedicated to the Pope.
15. In 1989 Poland held its first free elections in more than 40 years.
16. Bigos is probably the most popular traditional dish and is essentially a stew made from Polish sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, different types of meat, sausage, prunes, dried mushrooms, onions and spices. The stew is cooked for a few days and served with potatoes and bread.
17. Marzanna is a Polish tradition where people weave straw dolls, and then use ribbons to decorate them. These dolls represent winter, so when the snow starts to melt, the Marzanna dolls are thrown into a river, symbolizing the ‘killing’ the winter.
18. The Polish are generally well educated, with 90% of Poles having completed at least a secondary education.
19. The Polish born astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus is considered to be the very first person to propose that the earth was in fact not the centre of the universe.
20. In Poland, pizza bases do not have tomato or Napolitana sauce on. Tomato sauce is served separately and put on top of the pizza, and very often it is basically ketchup!

Did you know that 1st Contact offers a cheap and convenient money transfer service between the UK and Poland? Only £1 per transfer and every 5^th transfer free! To find out more, visit www.1stcontactforex.com.

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The move is part of 1st Contact’s ongoing quest to bring savings to all their clients, across all divisions and business units.

“Transfers to Europe have been on the increase and we wanted to find a way to save our Forex clients money”, says Gemma Cloete of 1st Contact Forex.  “So we have been looking at various ways to streamline our Euro transfer process, cut down on our costs and thereby cut down on our fees.  We have been working very hard to cut our transfer costs – before, each euro transfer was processed individually whereas now we are able to batch the payments together, which allows for a huge saving on our side. And as always, when we save, we like to pass that saving on to our clients.”

1^st Contact processes over 100 000 transactions each year and has over 40 000 clients world wide. They can transfer to almost any European account, including to Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Transfers to Switzerland and Sweden are possible; however these are done in Swedish Krona and Swiss Franks, and are therefore still £15. But as 1^st Contact is always finding new ways to bring savings to their clients, there might be changes to these fees in the future too.

Additional benefits include:

• You are able to transfer securely online yourself
• You can use your UK debit card and secure the exchange rate
• The service is entirely transparent; the rate you see is the rate you get
• 1st Contact offers excellent exchange rates
• 1st Contact Forex is fully compliant by Regulating Bodies
• If you use your debit card before 12:00 GMT (on working days), your money will be sent that same day.
• Once 1st Contact has received the money, it will clear in the recipient’s account within 1 – 3 working days.
• 1st Contact is able to send to almost any country that has a recipient account in US Dollars or Euros.

To enjoy a substantial saving on Euro transfer fees, visit www.1stcontactforex.com or call +44 (0) 808 141 2335 to speak to a foreign exchange consultant.

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Is Cash Still King?

The cash option often seems to come out tops as it is convenient to use and is accepted everywhere. (Provided you’re carrying the correct currency of course). However, it’s also the easiest to lose or have stolen.

Cash is definitely worthwhile if you are getting a good exchange rate; it’s something you can shop around for and one might argue that whatever format you decide to use to carry the bulk of your travel cash, you should give serious thought to carrying a small emergency cash reserve as well – perhaps hidden away on your person.

Carrying cash is undoubtedly a risk but with some careful thought and proper precautions it needn’t be totally disregarded as an option.

Pros: Convenient; can be cost-effective; widely accepted
Cons: Very Risky

Travellers’ Cheques: Still a Viable Option?

You can’t really pick up a restaurant bill with a travellers’ cheque, nor can you use it to pay your cab driver.

You will need to convert your cheques to cash periodically during your travels and it’s worth remembering that you will be charged commissions each time you make an exchange. Also, once you’ve converted a cheque to useable cash you’ve got the very same situation you would have had with cash in the first place, except it might have cost you a bit more to get there.

On the plus side, while there is a fair amount of risk carrying travellers’ cheques, if you are organised and photocopy your cheques or make a note of the cheque number (as long as you don’t lose that too) you can travel with relative peace of mind.

Pros: Safer than cash
Cons: Inconvenient, can be expensive

Travel Money Cards: The Power of Pre-paid Plastic

A relative newcomer to the travel money market, prepaid travel money cards offer major advantages over their predecessors in terms of cost-saving and convenience for travellers.

Pre-loaded with your destination’s currency, it works exactly like a local debit card. So no more bother with having exchange travellers’ cheques or the dangers of carrying around large wads of cash.

With a reputable provider, you should have around-the-clock support services. This means you can cancel the card and possibly get refunded on your losses if you were to lose your card while travelling.

You can also load your card with your choice of currency when rates are most favourable and since you are using it as an ATM card there are no big commissions to worry about. This makes a travel money card a rather cost-effective option.

Pros: Safe, convenient, cost-effective
Cons: less convenient than cash

__________

1st Contact Forex offers both conventional travel cash and a pre-paid travel money card. Either option will allow you take advantage of our great rates.

Why use the 1st Contact Travel Money Card?

The 1st Contact Travel Money Card is a MasterCard debit card, but because it’s pre-loaded with your destination’s currency – at great exchange rates – you can pay like a local and save money for more important things, like savouring the local cuisine or enjoying the sights.

• Excellent exchange rates, guaranteed
• No fees for paying at shops or restaurants while abroad
• No commission charges on transactions
• Standard low charge for ATM withdrawals

To get your Travel Money Card or view our great exchange rates, visit www.1stcontactforex.com or call 0808 141 2309 to find out more.

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How does it work?

The 1^st Contact Euro Travel Money Card is essentially a MasterCard Debit Card pre-loaded with Euro, so you’ll be paying like a local and saving on high bank charges and commissions, leaving you more cash to spend on your travels!

A money-saving fee structure

Unlike many other foreign exchange products, the 1^st Contact Travel Money Card charges no commission, and there are no charges for swiping the card in restaurants or shops in Europe. In fact, the only charges are for the purchase of the card (€ 12.50), a small fee for ATM withdrawals and a small card replacement fee, should you lose your card.

Save up before your holiday

One of the great benefits of the Card is that you can load money onto it in the weeks leading up to your holiday, and because it can only be used in Europe, you won’t be tempted to spend your travel money before you leave!

Easily manage your money

You have the option of managing your Travel Money Card via our secure online system or via SMS. Load funds, transfer money or check your balances any time, day or night, as often as you like.

Excellent, transparent Exchange Rates

With 1^st Contact Forex, the rate you see online when you load your money is the exact rate you’ll get, so there’ll be no nasty surprises when you check your balances. And because of the buying power of 1^st Contact Forex, you are also guaranteed one of the best exchange rates available, meaning an even greater saving!

Rand and Dollar Card options available

If you’re planning to visit South Africa or the United States, we also offer Travel Money Card for these destinations, with all the benefits of the Euro Card!

For more information or to order your 1^st Contact Travel Money Card, visit www.1stcontactforex.com, or call  0808 141 1685

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