Remember the old days when you had to go to the bank, passport in hand, to convert your sterling into foreign currency? Those days are now long gone and there is no shortage of places where you can secure your money for a trip abroad. But with so many choices where is the best place to exchange your currency? Is it the bank, travel agent or local finance company?

If you need to quickly change your pounds into Euros, Dollars, or whatever foreign currency of your choosing, then your options may be limited . Depending on the amount of foreign cash you need you may have to order in advance, particularly with the post office or bank. The waiting time may only be short, often as little as 24 hours, but that is not good if you require your foreign currency immediately. One way round this is to visit your local finance company. There are many of these in the local high street.

Not only can they change your money for you instantly, but some also charge absolutely no commission for the transaction.

As well as not keeping you waiting for your foreign currency, many local finance company will offer excellent rates of exchange as they check the rates daily, and crucially for those going abroad on a limited budget, often do not have a minimum order value. As well as being able to fitting your foreign cash requirements, local finance companies can also can provide travellers checks for the voyager seeking protection against loss or theft.

If you need to acquire foreign currency immediately and are not certain where your local seeded company is situated, just look in your local Yellow Pages, or check on the internet.

With most people now carrying charged, credit or pre-paid cards, many vacation makers and travellers choose to draw away their foreign currency overseas by using the local cash machines.

While this method may seem convenient and mean that people do not have to travel with wallets, money belts and purses stuffed with cash, it is expensive. The charges by bank and credit teased providers on cash drawn away of cash machines abroad are richly, and you may also suffer a poor rate of exchange. And even if you do prefer using your tease abroad, you will need at least some cook foreign cash to meet your immediate needs.

So should you use your bank, travel agent, or local finance company to change your currency? The decision will depend on your needs, but if you require foreign cash immediately, your local finance company is your best option.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York plans to present in 2009 a Federal legislation that will put some standards on gift cards. The legislation, to be named the “Fair Gift Card Act”, will require a five year minimum life span on gift cards and also eliminate some fees. Schumer plans to have the bill passed in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season. Sen. Schumer should be commended for standing up for consumers and I hope there is broad support in Congress for this legislation.

However, I do not think the proposed legislation goes far plenty. First, the federal government is late to the party when it comes to limiting endowing card fees and expiration. A majority of states now have laws restricting fees, expiration dates and disclosure policies on gift cards. While a federal received will help in these areas, the two most important gift card issues that the federal government can help relieve are merchant bankruptcies and their impact on gift cards, and regulating fees and expiration on bank issued endowed cards (which are not regulated by the states but through the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).

The recent surge in retailer bankruptcies and the negative impact they have had on consumers requires federal legislation to protect consumers. For example, customers of The Sharper Image and Bombay Company, both of which went ruined within the last year, were left with gift cards they could not redeem, with customers of the Sharper Image on the hook for over 20 million dollars in unredeemable gift cards. Customers of Bombay Company were only able to get 25 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy proceedings for their gift cards. The situation is even worse with small and local retailers, who continue to sell endow cards up until they declare bankruptcy, leaving their gift card holders with little to no option to redeem their gift cards. State law has not been effective here. What is required is federal law that forces merchants to set aside money to redeem endow cards during bankruptcy.

Another area federal legislation will help is with bank issued endowed cards, otherwise called “unbarred-loop” cards. These are gift cards that carry Visa, American Express, Discover, or MasterCard logo and can be used anywhere the card issuer is accepted. These teased are notorious for charging exorbitant fees for the convenience and flexibility they provide. Some of the fees include Initial Handling or Issuing Fee, Dormancy Fee, Renewal or Replacement Fee, Transaction or Statement Copy fee (charged for requested a copy of gift card transactions or a copy of your gift card statement, typically ), Foreign Currency Conversion Fee (charged for using your gift card to make purchases outside the United States, typically 3% of the purchase value in U.S. Dollars), Check issuance fee (charge when you inquired the bank to send you a watch for the kneel of the gift card balance, typically ), and Transaction fee / Balance inquiry fee (charged for point of sale (POS) balance inquiry).

This clearly is gift card fees run amok and should be reined in. While bank issued gift cards provide more flexibility than retailer cards (closed-loop cards), the convenience they provide does not justify the outrageous fees they charge, some of which are not apparent to buyers. Some have argued that retailers can spent not to charge fees on their gift cards since consumers typically spend more than the endow card value, thereby boasting sales, which compensates for the fees. Banks on the other hand only have two opportunities to make money on gift tease – through the card processing fees and upfront fees charged for buying the card. If that is the case, then why the need to charge all these additional fees, like Dormancy Fee, Renewal or Replacement Fee, and Check issuance fee? Congress should backpedal in and protect the consumer from these over the top charges. If the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is not up to the job, then Congress has a duty to act.