First Rate Exchange Services

White label foreign currency for UK partners

First Rate Exchange Services Ltd supplies foreign exchange services to other companies, which then resell them to their own customers under their own brand. The company describes its model as fully or partially outsourced: partners add currency and travel money products to their offer, aiming to increase income and customer loyalty. First Rate presents itself as the UK's leading supplier of white label foreign currency to the financial services, travel & tourism and retail sectors, and as a global top-five wholesaler.

Its own summary of reach states that one in four outbound travellers leaving the UK with foreign currency is supplied by First Rate, a figure the company uses to illustrate the scale of its partner network rather than a direct retail presence.

Currency and prepaid card products

The product range is built around two lines that partners can brand as their own:

• Foreign currency: more than 60 types of currency, offered in both digital and retail environments.
• Prepaid travel money cards: cards pre-loaded with multiple currencies and Mastercard-branded, which the company says are accepted at 36 million locations worldwide.

First Rate states that it supports partners at every step of the process, from the products themselves to the surrounding service.

Ownership and regulatory standing

First Rate is a joint venture between Bank of Ireland and the Post Office, registered in England and Wales. It operates as a Money Service Business under HMRC supervision (MSB licence number MLR-XLML00000110014) and is an Authorised Electronic Money Institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reference number 900412). For data protection purposes it is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner's Office (number Z6622513).

History and the Post Office relationship

The company began supplying foreign exchange services to the Post Office in 1994 and has since built a multi-billion pound wholesale business providing tailor-made travel money solutions to the finance, travel and retail sectors. It credits itself with instigating innovations including 0% commission, which it says transformed the foreign exchange market and helped the Post Office become the UK's largest retail outlet for foreign currency. The Post Office and Bank of Ireland Group joint venture was formed in 2002.

Post Office case work

Published material on the site documents work with the Post Office across several areas: evolving the Post Office Travel Money Card from branch counter to digital wallet, scaling travel money sales across Post Office branches as the UK's largest retail network, and supporting the development of an online travel money service. The company also publishes a Travel Money Market Report, with an October 2025 edition covering UK consumer behaviour.

Recognition

First Rate reports that its prepaid product received the Best Pre-Paid Product award at the Card and Payments Awards 2025.