Travelex customers denied access to funds – what are their options?

Have you been affected by the Travelex hacking incident? If your money is stuck in limbo, here’s what you can do.

Even if you haven’t gone directly to Travelex for currency exchange, you may still be affected. There aren’t too many companies in Travelex’s market, which means your bank might be reliant on them for its currency exchange.

All businesses should have contingency or ‘crisis management’ plans for their customers in these situations. If you’ve ordered currency from your bank, you should expect them to refund your money so you can go elsewhere. Your bank shouldn’t try and pass responsibility on to Travelex.

Anyone stuck without access to their funds has an absolutely justifiable complaint. The question is, what more should be done to prevent this in future?

For people who have bought direct, options are limited. If you’ve paid upfront using a credit or debit card, you can ask your card provider to ‘charge back’ the money. This is an industry scheme (i.e. good business practice but not the law) that lets you recall funds if you’ve been misled or if there’s a problem with a business you’ve paid money to.

Some refunds are instantaneous, though some card providers can ask you to sign a form before the refund happens (which can result in delays).

We’ve seen countless cases of businesses (some huge) falling victim to cyber-attacks and fraud. It’s up to these businesses to do all they can to ensure their systems are updated and fraud-proof as much as is possible. And, ultimately, to have a plan to compensate if their customer’s data or funds have been compromised as a result.