Did Interchange and Money Exchange breach the law and mislead their customers? It will be demonstrated by proceedings of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. The Office questions the presentation of currency buy and sell rates

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated proceedings against Interchange and Money Exchange. Actions have been taken on the basis of a notification from the National Bank of Poland. The notification also included complaints from consumers, including foreign tourists, mislead as to exchange rates.

These currency exchange offices operate in several major cities in Poland, including, in particular, in locations frequented by tourists, such as airports, train stations and tourist destinations (including those popular with international tourists). According to the data acquired by the Competition Authority, the exchange offices forming part of the Interchange network may use misleading practices which involve the particular manner in which currency exchange rates are presented. The practice in question involves the use of an information board containing the list of currency buy/sell rates in which the columns are arranged in a reverse order, with the column on the left showing the buy rate and the column on the right showing the sell rate, whereas the opposite would normally be expected. This arrangement of columns led some customers to mistakenly believe that the sell rate was, in fact, the buy rate; as a result, they exchanged money without knowing the actual exchange rate. Furthermore, the exchange rate is set at a level that is significantly below the rates listed by the National Bank of Poland and by other exchange offices, with the difference amounting to as much as 30%.

From information gathered by the Office it appears that Interchange and Money Exchange mislead customers by the exchange rate presentation method. Complaints from consumers, including foreign tourists, confirm that many of them were unaware of the actual exchange rate of their transactions. They took the buy rate for the currency sale rate and consequently received much less money that if they would sell their money in other bureaux de change, for instance they sold EUR 500 and lost about PLN 500. Examples of consumers’ complaints:

• The buy rate was not clearly or legibly stated. Euros were exchanged at a scandalously low rate, only PLN 3.03 instead of the day’s exchange rate of PLN 4.14.
• I sold EUR 50 for PLN 156.00. I was very astonished despite the fact that I’m not very much into currency exchange rates, but I follow the news on a regular basis and I have not heard of the euro costing so little.
• Instead of exchanging one Swedish krona for approximately 45 groszes – which is the actual value – they would exchange it for 33 groszes. The exchange rate was displayed on the board, although the order of the columns was reversed, which I suspect to have been an intentional practice designed so that the customers would mistake the sell rate for the buy rate.

Proceedings against entrepreneurs may end with issuing a decision that prohibits a practice that violates the rights of weaker market actors and imposes a fine of up to 10% of turnover in the year preceding the year when the fine was imposed. In the decisions he/she issues, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection can also set out methods for eliminating the continuing effects of an unlawful practice.

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