Foreign exchange transactions: benefit from ups and downs in foreign currencies as a private individual too

Melanie Müller likes to plan things in advance, especially when it comes to her passion: she loves wine, and always buys wine for herself and her friends from winegrowers in France, Italy and Germany who she’s come across on previous trips and met in person. As she  regularly pays for things in euros, she purchased euros at an attractive rate some time ago. She wants to settle the bill for the goods she has just received today, and can now do so with the money from her foreign currency account that she bought at an attractive rate.

The advantages of foreign exchange transactions

Melanie Müller does the same thing in her private life as companies do as part of their business: she buys and sells foreign currencies to hedge against currency risks and benefit from ups and downs in foreign currency values. If the rates had gone down, she would have had the option of selling the euros again. Purchasing and selling foreign currencies at a certain rate without setting the date in advance, otherwise known as a spot transaction, is the simplest example of foreign exchange transactions. To do so, you need to have a foreign currency account in the relevant currency. 

Who can benefit from foreign exchange transactions

It is not only companies in Switzerland that are becoming increasingly international. Private individuals are also entering into more and more business relationships abroad – thereby exposing themselves to currency fluctuations. This means that spot transactions are becoming more interesting for private individuals. They represent an interesting opportunity for anyone who pays for goods or services abroad by invoice on a regular basis, whether in store or online. They then settle the invoice amount directly from the relevant foreign currency account without currency risks. 

At PostFinance, the following nine foreign currencies can be exchanged:

• AUD (Australian dollar)
• CAD (Canadian dollar)
• DKK (Danish krone)
• EUR (Euro)
• GBP (Pound sterling)
• JPY (Japanese yen)
• NOK (Norwegian krone)
• SEK (Swedish krona)
• USD (United States dollar)

How to purchase and sell currencies

The principle is simple: you “feed” a foreign currency account with cheap money so that you can pay bills directly in the foreign currency when the time comes or withdraw cash directly from your private account in euros. The important thing is to carefully monitor the foreign currency market and to trade at the right time. The main reasons for the appreciation and depreciation of currencies are the economic development of a country and its monetary and interest rate policies. Once you have made your decision, you can purchase currency over the phone (tel.:  +41 58 667 07 00) or, for amounts between CHF 1 and CHF 250,000, directly in e-finance.

Keep up with the best exchange rates with the foreign currency tool

If customers choose the e-finance route, they will be guided by our simple and accessible foreign currency tool when purchasing and selling foreign currency. Holders of a foreign currency account will find the tool in the e-finance tile “Purchase/sell foreign exchange”. Users enter the amount they wish to trade here and the tool guides them all the way through the process. A particularly practical feature, whether you are trading small or large amounts, is a new service which displays several exchange rates for different foreign currencies. In this way, you can conveniently compare the real-time exchange rates for each foreign currency and the costs, and choose the right offer. And exclusively at PostFinance, customers trading larger amounts are automatically informed if there are more advantageous exchange rates for trading higher amounts.