List of UK currency exchanges that are not secure by default

By Stephen Kellett
15 December, 2017

This is one of several posts of the topic of security of websites. Inspired by my initial post on the security of UK banks.

The reason for splitting this data into multiple posts is to make it more manageable. So that data on one institution is not mixed with

data on another type of institution.

The following key is used for the secure status:

Yes The site is secure, loaded via https
Invalid The site loads via https, but the security certificate is invalid and thus the site is
insecure.
Partial The site loads via https, but loads some parts of the page without https. The site is
insecure.
No The site is loaded via http, not via https.
Fixed The site is loaded via https, but at the time of first writing it was loaded via
http.
?? We could not find a website to evaluate.

We tested 67 currency exchanges. We found 11 currency exchanges that did not have a secure home page (not https or did have https with an invalid security certificate). That is 16% of UK currency exchanges have security vulnerabilities

Some of the websites shown below no longer have active links. For those websites we have listed the URL but removed the non-working link.

Currency Exchange Secure Home Page
#1 Currency Yes https://www.no1currency.com/
Ace-FX Yes https://www.ace-fx.com/
American Express Yes https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/foreign-exchange/foreign-exchange-services.html
Asda Travel Money Yes https://money.asda.com/travel-money/
Barclays Bureau de change Yes https://www.barclays.co.uk/travel/foreign-currency-exchange/
Barrhead Travel Yes https://www.barrheadtravel.co.uk/foreign-exchange
Best Exchange No http://www.bestexchange.co.uk/
Best Foreign Exchange Yes https://www.bestforeignexchange.com/
BFC Exchange Yes https://www.bfcexchange.co.uk/
Central FX No http://www.centralfx.co.uk/
City Forex Yes https://www.cityforex.co.uk/
Change Group Yes https://www.changegroup.co.uk/
Compare Holiday Money Yes https://www.compareholidaymoney.com/
Covent Garden FX Yes https://www.coventgardenfx.com/
Currencies for you Yes https://www.currencies4you.com/
Currency converter Yes https://www.currencyconverter.co.uk/
Currency matters Yes http://www.currencymatters.co.uk/
Currency solutions Yes https://www.currencysolutions.co.uk/
Currency UK Yes https://www.currencyuk.co.uk/
Euro Change Yes https://www.eurochange.co.uk/
Danske Bank Yes https://danskebank.co.uk/personal/help/currency-converter/currency-converter
Debenhams No http://finance.debenhams.com/travel-money/
Elavon Yes https://www.elavon.co.uk/dcc.html
Exchange Rates Yes https://www.exchangerates.org.uk/
First Choice Yes https://www.firstchoice.co.uk/holiday/info/foreign-exchange
First Rate Yes https://www.firstrate.co.uk/
Fourex No http://www.fourex.co.uk/
Global Exchange Yes https://www.globalexchange.co.uk/
GCEN Yes https://gcen.co.uk/
Money Yes https://www.money.co.uk/travel-money.htm
H & T Group Yes https://www.handt.co.uk/travel-money
Halifax Travel Money Yes https://www.halifax.co.uk/travel/travel-money/
Hargreaves Lansdowne No http://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/currency-service/latest-currency-report/currency-converter-exchange-rates
HiFX Yes https://www.hifx.co.uk
HSBC Expat Yes https://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2/hsbc-expat/foreign-exchange-currency
HSBC Travel Money Yes https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/travel-money
ICICI Bank No http://www.icicibank.co.uk/personal/travel-money.page
Internation Currency Exchange Yes https://www.iceplc.com/
Kanoo Foreign Exchange Yes http://www.kanoocurrency.co.uk/
KBR Foreign Exchange Yes https://www.kbrfx.com/
M & S Currency Exchange Yes https://bank.marksandspencer.com/travel/travel-money/currency-exchange-rates/
Money Corp Yes https://www.moneycorp.com/uk/
Money Saving Expert Yes https://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/
Natwest International No http://www.natwestinternational.com/nw/personal-banking/travel-and-international/g48/travel-money/currency-converter.ashx
Northwest Money Exchange No http://www.northwestmoneyexchange.com/
Post Office Money Yes https://www.postoffice.co.uk/foreign-currency
RBS Yes https://www.rbs.co.uk/personal/travel/g1/money/exchange-rates.ashx
Reuters Yes https://uk.reuters.com/business/currencies
Ruislip Currency No http://www.ruislipcurrency.co.uk/
Saga Travel Money Yes https://www.saga.co.uk/insurance/travel-money.aspx
Sainsbury’s Bank Travel Money Yes https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/travel/ins_travelmoney_tmo_skip
Santander Travel Money Yes https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/ordering-travel-money
Senil Cash & Go Yes https://www.senli.co.uk/
Smart Currency Business Yes https://www.smartcurrencybusiness.com/
Smart Currency Exchange Yes https://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/
Sterling Yes https://www.sterlingfx.co.uk/
Tesco Travel Money No http://www.tescobank.com/travel-money/
The Currency Club Yes https://www.thecurrencyclub.co.uk/
The Money Shop Yes https://www.themoneyshop.com/travel-money/
Thomas Cook Yes https://www.thomascook.com/travel-money/foreign-currency/
Thomas Money Exchange Yes https://www.thomasexchangeglobal.co.uk/
TorFX Yes https://www.torfx.com/
Travelex Yes https://www.travelex.co.uk/
WeSwap Yes https://www.weswap.com/en/
World First Yes https://www.worldfirst.com/uk/foreign-exchange/
UAE Exchange Yes https://www.uaeexchange.com/gbr/
XE No http://www.xe.com/

Disclaimer

I shouldn’t need to point this out, but i will, all the same, just to be clear.

The data provided on this page should taken at face value. If you’re not sure about something, please verify it yourself. Nothing reported here should be regarded as a criticism or an endorsement or recommendation of an organisations security effectiveness. I am simply passing comment on whether the home page (whatever that may be) is provided as https on not. Other security concerns are a separate matter.

If your organisation is listed here and is not marked as secure, your best course of action is to fix that, not to complain that someone is reporting a fact anyone with a web browser can discover. The security status of your home page is public information, albeit information that many people don’t understand.

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