– Department store is the first high street retailer outside of the Post Office to offer an International Payments service
– Transfer rates offer competitive alternative to high-street banks and building societies
– The only international payments service to offer refunds on charges levied by the receiving banks
John Lewis has today launched an international payment service aimed at offering a competitive alternative to the leading high-street banks and building societies.
The department store will become the first high street retailer outside of the Post Office to offer such a provision and believes that its competitive rates, quality customer service and transparency of charges will give people that essential peace of mind when making bank-to-bank international transfers.
At present, UK high street banks can charge fees of between £10 and £40 regardless of the amount transferred and an exchange rate of up to four per cent. John Lewis, which will offer competitive exchange rates through international payments specialists HiFX, will charge a transfer fee of just £9 for transactions under £3,000 (no transfer fees for amounts above this). There will also be no maximum on the amount that can be transferred.
In addition, John Lewis International Payments will refund any foreign bank receiving fees incurred by customers. This commitment makes the John Lewis service unique in the market and could save customers even more money when transferring funds abroad.
Mike Jackson, Director of Financial Services at John Lewis, said: “More people than ever before are adopting an international lifestyle. Whether they are buying a house, studying or choosing to get married overseas, there is an increasing need to make payments abroad. In the past this has been costly and hard to access, we want to change that.
“Some financial institutions, when receiving an international transaction from the UK, will charge the customer an additional fee for allowing this to happen. While we cannot abolish these charges, which are set by individual banks worldwide, we promise to reimburse any foreign bank receiving fees that our customers do incur.
“This launch is the next natural step in the evolution to offer our customers a full service to help them and their families manage their finances overseas. We started by offering travel insurance, then foreign exchange and now international payments.”
John Lewis International Payments will be offering international payments online and over the telephone and can be used within the European Economic Area (EEA), 31 countries in total, with plans over time to build this into a worldwide offering.
People can find out more about the new service by visiting www.johnlewis.com/internationalpayments or by calling 0330 123 3396.
