Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now more important than ever. We’re currently living in a low trust world where it seems everyone is just out for themselves and what they can take from life. But times are changing.

Before Covid-19, people were already asking for a different approach, wanting a world where business is more than just about making money. They had also started demanding transparency – just saying ‘we do what we can’ was no longer enough; they wanted specifics about supply chains, fair trade, good working conditions, environmental responsibility and so on. 

Of course, it’s true that some customers won’t care. However, a growing majority do care and these people, whether they are buying as a business or as a consumer, want to buy responsibly, and they want details to prove that they are doing so.

What counts as CSR?

CSR can come in many forms such as financial donations, resource donations (e.g. product, time, staff, etc.), offering pro-bono work for charities or the vulnerable in society, co-marketing to promote a charitable cause, and having specific, clear, publicly announced  ethics (e.g. LGBTQ-friendly, vegan, no investment in drugs or weapons, carbon zero, etc.)

Here are some examples of the different approaches to CSR. Take a look at see what could be applied to your business:

Give a financial donation for every transaction

A clear and easy way to practise CSR is to donate a percentage or a given sum to a charity or organisation with every transaction. For example, at Bidwedge, we are all mad about cats, so we partnered with Born Free. When changing your unwanted foreign currency back into Sterling, you can opt to donate the full amount to Born Free (via the Bidwedge platform) and we’ll donate 100% of our handling fee, or if you’d prefer to keep the cash yourself, we’ll still donate 50% of our handling fee. All the money donated goes directly to support Born Free’s big cat sanctuaries at Shamwari Private Game Reserve in South Africa: https://www.bornfree.org.uk/shamwari-big-cat-rescue-sanctuary.

Another example is UK insurance broker Club Insure, which announced earlier this year that it was aiming to raise £75,000 for Prostate Cancer UK by donating £5 for every new or renewed insurance policy. This followed a long-serving Director’s advanced diagnosis of the disease, which adds a personal touch to the partnership between the two organisations. Potentially this charitable relationship will tip the balance for people looking for insurance cover, who like the idea of their money doing something good while buying a service they need.

Donating in-line with your brand

There are also many organisations which donate something allied to their brand. This can give a fun and / or memorable message for the organisation. For example, Who Gives A Crap’s tagline “toilet paper that builds toilets” tells you what their business is and what their charitable contribution is, while showing itself as a fun brand, with the nudge towards toilet humour. And they do donate a very generous 50% of their profits to help build toilets in developing world countries where access to sanitation is limited.

Green Tomato Cars is another ethical brand, founded to provide an eco-friendly car service in London. They aim to do their bit towards improving air quality in London and were the first operators in London to use the Toyota Prius. Not only that, they offset their unavoidable emissions by supporting The Ugandan Improved Cookstoves project. This project subsidises the sale of fuel-efficient biomass and charcoal cookstoves across Uganda to improve cooking conditions and reduce indoor air pollution.

Donating product like-for-like

Rather than buy-one-get-one-free, the smart money might well be on give-one-away-for-every-one-bought. It certainly worked for Dashel, who gave away one of their stylish recycled cycle helmets to an NHS keyworker for each one bought online during lockdown. Not only did they give a real benefit to NHS workers choosing to cycle to work, rather than risk public transport, they showed themselves to be a truly ethical company and, in turn, found their helmets very much in demand.

Volunteering

If donating money is not right for you and / or you don’t have the margins to give away product, you can give your own time – and that of your team – to help out. Many large companies give employees a number of days paid time off to volunteer. As a small business this may not be so easy but even a couple of half days might make a difference and boost morale.

Alternatively, perhaps you have services that you can offer a smaller charity. Maybe you can offer to set up some social media activity or give an hour each week to advise on financial administration or software. Reach Volunteering is a platform that connects organisations that have skills they want to offer with organisations looking for help: https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/

Helping locally

For smaller businesses, it may seem that the size of donation you can afford is so small, it will just be an insignificant drop in the ocean for a major charity or project.  This isn’t true as absolutely every contribution, no matter how small, does make a difference. However, if you want to feel your company is making a significant difference, it may well make sense to keep your efforts local.

James Alexander Estate Agents in Thornton Heath, London, regularly contribute to local events to support community organisations. In fact, their local primary school has received over £15k in the last few years – a huge amount for a local school that will make a very big impact. They also sponsor two local church fetes, plus they have a charity push every year about something the team feels passionate about – this year they did a sleepout with Centrepoint and raised £2,300. This, alongside a lot of other work to support local organisations, means they are having a very real – and noticeable – impact locally.

Being ethical

Whether you are giving to charity or not, CSR requires you to be ethical in your business. This covers everything (and I do mean everything) and should be checked at every level of the business so you can be confident in your transparency.  It’s not enough to treat your employees well and ensure their working conditions are spot on, you need to check that ethos across all your suppliers and make sure none of them is exploiting foreign workers further down the supply chain.

These are just a few examples of successful CSR, which I hope will inspire you to take action within your own small business.

How to decide what your business can do

1. Choose something that resonates with you and/or your business
2. Don’t choose something just because it makes you look good. It won’t work. Customers (and staff) will see through it, and you will find it difficult to sustain if your heart’s not really in it.
3. If you have a big team, perhaps allow them to choose what they want to do and how they want to contribute. You’ll get better buy in that way and they are bound to enjoy it even more!
4. If necessary, start small. Something is always better than nothing. And once you’ve started you find it easier to expand your contribution.
5. And whatever you choose, make it public. Announce it on your social media, on your website, maybe even on your packaging. Just be sure to let people know,

Teaming up with a big name can give the business added kudos; supporting a local charity makes sense if your market is primarily local; getting involved with a smaller charity can work well if you’re looking to make a big difference or would like reciprocal exposure.

Don’t worry if you are starting small, it’s still a contribution. Find an approach to CSR that suits you, put a plan together and be proud of what you can contribute.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shon Alam is founder of Bidwedge. Bidwedge makes it easy to change your left-over cash currency back into Sterling – at great rates for even the smallest amounts. Just enter the amount, see the rate you’ll be paid, post the cash and watch the money appear in your bank account. It’s easy to do.

Website – www.bidwedge.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Bidwedgecom-109169113819592/

Twitter – @bidwedge – https://twitter.com/bidwedge

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bidwedge/

People are central to the success, so it is essential to have a learning and development plan for your team (s) in your small business.

Learning and development (L&D) forms a key part of developing your staff and carrying out performance management.  A L&D Plan is a strategic roadmap creating a picture of where the business wants to be in the future with Learning and Development to support the building of staff capability, capacity and commitment.

A Learning and Development plan should be designed to inspire, develop, and ultimately help your people grow in competence and confidence. Businesses and teams with the best players thrive and outperform the competition.  

To achieve a coherent, practical and effective Learning and Development plan here are the steps to follow:

One: Design Clear Career Pathways

To create clear career pathways, you will first need to identify the role profiles that exist within your business. The determine the purpose of the role, reporting lines and career progression routes.

For example, the purpose of a sales team is to generate sales, grow the business and retain existing customer relationships and within the sales teams there will be different job roles such as Sales Representative, Key Account Manager etc.

Career pathways should show how to achieve progression and promotion, for example, from Sales Representative to Sales Manager? The written pathway should include the skills are needed and how you obtain them e.g. by undertaking additional responsibilities under supervision and mentorship.

Two: Defined Roles and Responsibilities

Defining clear roles and responsibilities provides your business with the vital advantages necessary for continual growth. If people are clear about what they need to do, it makes it easier for them to do it, this enables increased internal control, improved process management and enhances operational performance.

To develop an effective Learning and Development plan, you should evaluate your existing roles and responsibilities defined in your job descriptions to ensure that they are reflective of what you need people to do. If not, the knowledge and behaviours criteria you set will not deliver the skills required to fulfil the role. The most efficient and effective way of achieving this is to set up a small working group with key operational people at different levels and across a variety of job roles.

Three: Clarify the Knowledge & Behaviours Required

It is important that the new job descriptions clearly define the knowledge requirement to successfully undertake the role. When defining the knowledge levels required for each role, remember that knowledge can be gained through experience or education. Not everyone is required to be experts in everything, but base line awareness is often desirable.

Whilst knowledge is vital, you must also identify the attitude and behaviours that will fit within your organisational culture and are aligned to your Vision, Mission and Values. Because how you do something is more likely to deliver good customer service that just what you do.

Asking your staff to be part of this process will ensure that all angles are covered. Together with a training gap analysis you will be able to highlight specific skill gaps within your business. From there, you can prioritise your employees’ training needs. When discussing this with your team, you should consider a variety of core skills including, for example:

• Values & Behaviours – Values are just behaviours you want people to live by, giving them direction on how to achieve your mission. They should be specific and descriptive in the way you want people to act or treat people
• Performance & Time Management – Efficiency and punctuality are critical to a successful business and people should know how to prioritise and make the most of their time
• Commercial Focus – Everyone in a business can affect your profitability, from general awareness of business costs and the use of company resources, to cost saving and revenue generation  
• Leadership & Management – Line managers or supervisors have a massive influence on the team dynamics and performance. It is important to understanding how to motivate and manage you staff, this is often overlooked when people are promoted from time served

Four: Decide on Training and Training Delivery

Training is the act of teaching people the required skills or behaviours. It can be delivered in a variety of ways including: Apprenticeships, Vocational Programmes or Mentoring, internal training, Continued Professional Development (CPD) modules.

A good Learning and Development plan gives people the opportunity to complete different types of training, not simply to assist in the competency of their role, but to inspire them to achieve their career goals, to broaden their knowledge and to widen their skills base. 

To select the right training, you will need use the job descriptions to identify the learning outcomes needed to fulfil the role. Finding a course that meets these needs, in the delivery method that best suits your business, can often be difficult and can require thinking outside the box.

Remember a recognised training course or a theoretical qualification may not deliver the competence levels you are looking for and often blended learning delivers the best results. Where you have a training need for a member of staff and you cannot find the course – approach your training provider and ask them if they can work with your business to design, deliver and complete a bespoke training.

Five: Build on Skills & Experience

Just because people attend a training course does not mean that they are competent in those skills. Skills are defined as the ability to do something well, and this is developed over time.

You should encourage your teams to put their knowledge into practice in order to develop their skills, whilst being observed, supported and mentored by their line manager.

Within the job profiles, you should determine the skills and experience levels required for each role.

Six: Monitor the L&D Journey

Knowing that 95% of your people have completed a required course, is not the only measure you should be focussed on.

Each person’s learning and development journey will be different, and it is important that you remain flexible and inclusive in your plans. APersonal Development Review (PDR)can provide a framework for employees to have open and regular conversations with their line manager about their performance, including reviewing their competency, personal development and career goal:

When you have a structured Learning and Development plan it means that you understand the training your small business needs to drive growth – the ongoing growth of the business and the personal development and growth of your staff.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanna Strahan is founder of C2C Training Group, which offers high quality assessment/competency-based courses in Health and Safety, leadership, business skills and personal development. Joanna brings 18 years industry experience to her training courses to ensure that learners are engaged and change is generated. C2C Training’s aim is to break industry norms and influence positive change to the way training is delivered.

Web: https://c2ctraining.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/c2c-training/

If you go to the gym for a workout you aren’t going be wearing layers of clothing that impede your movement. Instead you’ll wear stretchy exercise gear, or something lose which gives you room to move.

It is no different in business. You need to plan for growth and be agile and responsive to change. That way you will not outgrow your processes.

Let us start with defining what a process is.

A process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a task or goal. Processes can be as simple as how to answer the phone when a customer call or a detailed written procedure with a several hold points or approvals needed along the way.

Most companies will have a set business strategy or vision, this will show the direction of the company and the products or services it offers, it will also state what they want to achieve and who they will do business with. In order to achieve your vision, you will have a set of core processes that help you to deliver the company’s products or services.

From our experience there are three main mistakes which mean that companies outgrow their processes:

The mistakes

1. Not taking time at the start to set core processes

When starting a business, it can feel like a race to the finish line and because of that people get swept away with the excitement of getting started, but if you don’t spend time preparing and planning, you’ll come unstuck.

Imagine you are brewing a new beer.  If you don’t follow the 10 key stages of the brewing process, the end product won’t taste great and if you are lucky enough to create the perfect beer and you haven’t recorded how you got to it, you won’t be able to recreate it next time.

It is therefore essential, right from the start, to be clear what the process is, and to record it. This not only means you can repeat it, but others, as they come onboard and your team expands, can also repeat it.

Tweaking and revising your plan as you go is good practice – after all nothing stays static and you learn as you develop – but not having a plan, is you planning to fail.

• Putting clients’ needs above your own

Clients’ needs are important, but they come to you to deliver a service or a product. And they chose you specifically because they like your service or product the way you deliver it. Think about this before you start pandering to every request.

For example, an artisan bread maker has a vision of creating affordable artisan bread. The first few months go well, and sales are through the roof. Then requests start coming in for gluten and diary free, all organic, onion topped bread etc. Should you adapt your recipe to satisfy these requests? Do they fit with your original vision? What are you left with if you change the recipes of the breads that made you popular in the first place? Have you now created an expensive bread can’t be handmade?

Of course, it is important to listen to your customers, but you also need to consider your own needs and the vision of the business. Just trying to adapt what you do to suit everyone will almost certainly mean you end up with a process that no longer works and a product that suits no one.

However, there may be requests that make sense for you to incorporate in your products and services. Your customers’ feedback can be a great way to gauge how and when to expand the business. But before you do this, ensure the changes fit into your core process. Just bolting them on makes the process unwieldy and can mean that it is harder to replicate and ensure quality control.  

If you are creating a completely new product, then take the time to create a suitable process for that new product/service.

• Creating a tick box process to suit others

Several companies want or need accreditations or certifications, for example ISO9001, in order to compete in a market. To achieve this, they write a procedure that ticks the boxes for each requirement but is not created holistically and doesn’t align to the core process. The procedure ends up sitting outside the core process and is therefore often overlooked. People perceive it as a bolt on task – not something that is essential or needs proper care and attention, so it is neglected as are too busy doing their day job. Processes should be designed to reflect and align with the core processes so that all aspects and activities are considered to be part of job the person does.

The key to not outgrowing your processes is to focus on each individual process and find ways to fit the needs and wants of your clients and other interested parties into what you do best. To do this you will need to get both the performance measurement and the culture right. Never forget that people can make or break a process.

Solutions – steps to take

Culture

People develop habits and it not unusual to hear “We’ve been doing it this way for years”. But if you do not want to outgrow your processes you will need to create an agile and responsive culture.

This requires joined up thinking and collaborative working, being open to change and empowering your teams to be creative and to make change happen.

A good way to build this culture is to establish Process Working Groups. These groups will have the responsibility for setting the process, reviewing its successes and looking for improvements. The people in these groups should be selected, not only for their knowledge and understanding of the current process, but for their energy, their edge, their ability to enthuse others and their capacity to get the job done.

When starting a Process Working Group, it needs to be given a brief to work to. In order to create a clear brief, the following questions will need to be answered:

• Why do we need to change?
• What are we trying to achieve (increase compliance, time or cost efficiencies)?
• What are the risks to the business if this is not achieved?
• Do we need to include performance reviews, measures or objectives?
• What is the timescale to implement any changes required?

The working group should be focussed on the bigger picture and must be open to feedback. It needs to be objective when reviewing the success of the process. Remember things change, processes grow and evolve and sometimes things just don’t work out how you would have wanted them to. Do not see these as failures, instead view them as lessons to learn from and improve.

The working groups should also be involved in the initial implementation and will need to be a constant champion for the new process. Communicating the change and the reasons for it, is key. People should know why they are doing something, not just what they need to do.

Performance Review

For a number of people performance reviews and audits can be a stressful part of their job. The worry of someone going through what you do with a fine-tooth comb and finding any mistakes or the things you just haven’t had time to do, can be very stressful.

As a business owner or manager, if you want to keep your processes agile and responsive you will need to change this perception. You need to know that the work is being done and the processes are being followed, but equally you don’t want your team so stressed that they turn each process into a tick box just to be sure they can get through the performance review.

One way to help reduce the stress is to ensure the team understands that the review is also about the process itself – not just the person carrying it out.  This approach is more holistic and allows you to complete process-based auditing. This helps avoid the ‘tick box’ mentality.

These process audits should look at:

• The purpose of the process
• What business objective is it supporting?
• Is it managing the risk and exploiting the opportunities?
• Is it achieving its purpose? or
• Are there barriers, blockers or waste in the process?

Fundamentally, the process audit checks that the process is effective and efficient.

These types of audits must be an honest reflection of the process and should not be carried out by anyone who is part of the task/project or the process working group.

The feedback from these audits along with any other performance measures should be given to the Process Working Group for review. The auditor and the working group should agree any corrective actions needed and should identify any changes or improvements to the process.

Every company needs the responsiveness to ensure that their core processes develop with the business.  Take active steps to audit and upgrade your processes so they stay aligned as your company grows.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanna Strahan is founder of C2C Process Group and an expert in business improvements, management systems, achieving industry accreditations, auditing and inspections.  C2C Process Group offers expert support in the implementation of process and risk-based approaches, driving operational efficiencies, compliance monitoring and collaborative working as well as helping businesses ensure high standards of quality, safety, and sustainability. 

Web: https://c2cprocess.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/c2c-process

As an effective public speaker it’s important to keep developing and enhancing your skills. Through this process you’ll become the authentic, sincere speaker that audiences will value and want to hear time and time again.

To achieve this, whether you are speaking online or in person, you need connection, change and confidence. With this in mind what do you need to do when designing and delivering your presentations, talks or speeches?

Connection

If you can’t connect with your audience, you might as well be talking to yourself:

‘They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.’

— Carl W Buehner, General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1952–1961)

And if that connection feels inauthentic, people will be suspicious.

Think about how you connect with people socially. You probably smile, make good eye contact, talk in a friendly conversational style, etc; in short, come across as likeable. What you say is also important and the fastest way to create a connection is to talk about things which you care about and which are interesting to the other person, i.e. try to be relevant and focus on them. And it’s the same when we give a speech or presentation.

Picture yourself sitting in an audience. This applies whether the people are in the room with you, or sitting at their own computers at home having dialled in to listen to you. Your audience has set aside the time, maybe even spent money to attend. They are all wondering ‘What’s in it for me?’ As a speaker, it’s your job to answer that question. To do that, you need to ‘deep research’ your audience. It’s not just about their name and job title. Depending on whether you’re talking to a larger, conference-style audience or debriefing a project team via Zoom, key questions might cover the goals of the event, other speakers, audience profile, what they do/know/expect/how they talk and what do they most want from you.

‘The more you know about your audience, the stronger your ability to connect with them and influence their thinking and behaviour on their terms, i.e. answer their What’s in it for me question.’ — Lyn Roseaman, author of ‘Now You’re Talking!’

Doing your research and knowing your audience will also give you strong pointers about delivery – whether or not you need slides and how many, relevant stories you might include, appropriate levels of energy, vocal variety, body language and so on. Body language applies even if the audience only sees your head and shoulders on a screen.

Driving change

Speaking is a privilege, an opportunity to share your knowledge in a way that positively impacts others.

‘The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.’

— John F Kennedy, US President (1961–1963)

Having researched your audience, you will have a good idea of what information and message they will value.

When preparing a presentation, try starting at the end. What do you want your audience to think, feel or do differently after they’ve heard it? What is the one important message you need them to take away? Jot it down in fewer than ten words and keep it visible. Any content that doesn’t support your message doesn’t belong in this particular presentation.

Confidence

If you don’t feel confident in what you have to say, then why should your audience? When audiences sense you’re nervous, they will often be more concerned about your wellbeing than about what you’re saying. Confidence allows your listeners to relax and engage with what you have to say.

Confident speakers are frequent speakers, so take every opportunity to speak up, be it to a small group of colleagues, in a video meeting, on the phone, in a pitch or presentation. Get comfortable with speaking and use the opportunity to practise different techniques, e.g. voice projection, storytelling, opening a speech with impact, etc. Invite people to give you specific feedback on what they liked and any improvements they would welcome to improve their experience.

Remaining authentic

Whatever style you deem appropriate to connect with, and delight, your audience, remaining ‘true to you’ is crucial. If you try to conceal the real you behind some persona, your audience will know and wonder what you’re hiding.

So, how can you remain true to you?

1. What you and others care about

When you talk about something you care about, your personal passion for your subject shines through. It is yours and, assuming you’ve taken care to choose a topic that’s relevant to your audience, they will happily connect and engage with you. As far as possible, choose subjects that you care about. If this isn’t possible try to find angles that are important to you and matter to your listeners.

• Using your stories

Storytelling dates back to prehistoric times when people shared stories around the campfire. Not only was this part of ‘belonging’, but also a way of staying together and safe within the group. Storytelling connects us as human beings. Opening a speech with a well-crafted and relevant personal story will captivate an audience. And because it’s personal, it’s authentic and uniquely yours to tell. Stories not only create a sense of belonging, but they are also memorable and far more so than facts and figures. So, judiciously used stories and anecdotes that are relevant and presented in the appropriate speaking style for your audience are invaluable in making an impact.

• Your voice

Your voice is part of who you are. Your accent is part of your identity. Authenticity is not about trying to hide or change your voice. It’s about being proud of your voice and learning how to use it effectively so that you bring both ease of understanding and interest to your listeners. If you stumble over certain words, don’t use them, or practise tongue twisters to make them easier to say. Think about the pace, pitch and volume of your voice and how to project it so that your words are clear, interesting and meaningful. Use pauses for impact or, for instance, to give your audience time to reflect on what you’re saying.

• Your body language

If your words don’t match your facial expressions or hand gestures, audiences will believe what they see over what they hear:

‘When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another,
a practiced man relies on the language of the first.’

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist

You can finesse your body language for a presentation or speech. For instance, an excess of hand gestures and arm waving can become distracting; try dialling it down by letting your hands relax at your side from time to time. You want to use gestures and expressions that feel natural and reinforce your words and meaning. Be aware of your body language in everyday conversation and bring that authenticity to your speeches and presentations, scaling up or down for the size of your audience and the platform (scale it up for a large conference style, dial it down for a smaller video meeting).

• Authenticity – originality

Nowadays, we live in a world that values authenticity. We encourage transparency and openness. We want to hear each other’s stories and we embrace vulnerability. The bonus of being authentic is that you don’t have to work out how to be someone you’re not. Furthermore, it often feels as if there is so much information available to us that it’s difficult to come up with something new and interesting to say. Being authentic in everything you say and do helps you come across as original and unique.

Successful public speaking is driven by authenticity.  This will ensure that connection, change and confidence come to life when you start speaking to your audiences large and small.  Your skill and sincerity will shine through and your message will be remembered.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lyn Roseaman, DTM is a member of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation that has provided communication and leadership skills since 1924 through a worldwide network of clubs. There are more than 400 clubs and 10,000 members in the UK and Ireland. Members follow a structured educational programme to gain skills and confidence in public and impromptu speaking, chairing meetings and time management. 

Even in normal time there are many things you need to weigh up before travelling abroad.  At present the priority is ensuring you stay safe while travelling and maintain social distancing etc when meeting business contacts.  Of course, you also may be feeling ready for a vacation as well.

Something you may not have reviewed recently is the question of how best to take your money with you when travelling.

Here are the seven options I recommend you consider in your planning process:

Cash

It’s a good idea to take some local currency with you when you go abroad, so you can pay for things like taxis, public transport, food and drinks and tips. When exchanging your money, be sure to shop around and compare not only the exchange rate but any charges that may be applied.

Taking all – or a lot – of your holiday money in currency carries various risks, in particular the loss or theft of your cash. Travel insurance usually only covers you up to a certain amount, so do check your policy before you go to help you make an informed decision about how much cash to take.

Also, don’t keep all your cash in one place while you’re flying or out and about at your destination. Split it between different bags, wallets and pockets so if your bag does get lost or stolen, at least it’s only part of your money that’s gone. 

Travellers cheques

The ‘more mature’ traveller is likely to be very familiar with these little beauties, which have been in popular use since the late 80s. They offered a safer alternative to cash because each cheque has a unique number. So, much like any other cheque, if it is either lost or stolen, the issuer can cancel it and replace it, meaning the lost or stolen cheque cannot be used by anyone else and you don’t lose your money.

In principal, valid cheques can be used like cash, as each cheque is for a pre-paid amount in your currency of choice. You simply counter sign and handover just like cash to pay for your chosen product or service. Also, like cash, they are not linked to a bank account and do not contain any kind of personal information so there is no risk of identity theft.

The benefits are clear and they have done a great service for years but, to be honest, they’re becoming outmoded and many places no longer accept them.

Debit card

If you want to save the hassle of arranging your currency before you go on holiday, you can use your debit card abroad much as you can at home. However, you need to be very careful! Most debit cards will charge you a fee for using them abroad. The charges are typically around three per cent, but you can check in advance with your bank.

Taking a debit card is – at least – probably good as a back-up option in case you do go a bit over budget but make sure you tell your bank before you go so they don’t cancel your card, thinking you are a victim of fraud when they see unexpected foreign transactions.

A debit card has the advantage that, as the money comes direct from your bank account, you cannot spend more than you have, meaning you shouldn’t end up getting yourself into debt while you’re away. The disadvantage of it being linked direct to your bank is that if your card is stolen or hacked the money in your bank account is at risk, so you must be cautious at all times when using your card.

Bank apps

If you generally use Apple Pay or Google Pay on your phone to make transactions, you can use these abroad, much as you can a contactless debit card and the same charges will be applied. It is, arguably, more secure to pay this way than with a debit card as there are layers of security to get into your phone and then another layer to access the app.

Credit cards

Similarly, a credit card provides a convenient way to buy things abroad. Unlike a debit card, if you have a good credit limit, you can splash out a lot more, if you’re looking to really have an indulgent holiday. Of course, the downside is that you could run up a debt in the heat of the moment. Paying this back at the high rates of interest that credit card companies charge could make for a very expensive purchase.

Also, beware of the charges. It’s possible that the provider or bank may apply charges every time you use your card, meaning your next credit card bill may have a nasty sting its tail, possibly taking the shine off the good time you had!

Ask about charges before you travel and be very aware that if you make a cash withdrawal, you will probably be charged a fee and interest from the moment you withdraw it. So, if you’re going to be spending a lot of time in, say, rural locations where they only take cash, you will need to consider that carefully and probably arrange to get before you leave, rather than rely on getting it from your credit card.

An advantage of taking your credit card is that for purchases between £100 and £30,000 made on your credit card, you are protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, meaning you can claim for breach of contract and misrepresentation.

When paying with either a credit or debit card, do be aware of which currency you pay in. If you choose to pay in Sterling, rather than the local currency, charges – known as DCC or dynamic currency conversion charges – are added, meaning you could pay up to 10% more for what you are purchasing! If you choose to pay in local currency, it will almost certainly cost you less in currency conversion but the exchange rate will be applied on the day the exchange is made via the bank, not necessarily the day of purchase. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/paying-card-overseas-offered-currency-choice-should-always-do/).

Pre-paid cards

Pre-paid cards are becoming an increasingly popular option, largely due to how easy they are to use! A pre-paid travel card allows you to load cash onto it before you go abroad so you have you spending money ready when you arrive. They are accepted by most retailers, with the exception of petrol stations, plus there are no credit checks when you apply. Travel pre-paid cards are intended to cost less to use in other countries but check the fees from the card issuer and whether there are charges for using local ATMs.

Pre-paid cards are particularly useful if you’re travelling on a strict budget, as you can load the card before you go with the budget you intend to spend. But, if you really can’t help going over, you can top it up while you’re on your travels!

They also have the advantage over debit and credit cards in as much as you can’t go overdrawn or borrow money on them so you cannot incur fees, interest and charges in the same way.

That said, they may come with other fees, such as: a fee for purchase of the card, monthly or annual usage fees and fees for paying onto or using the card – or indeed fees for not using it. So do look into the card you are thinking of getting.

When doing your research, consider that there are three different types of cards:

Single currency, such and Euros or dollars – if you are going to a single destination; Multi-currency so you can load different currencies if you are visiting multiple destinations in one trip; and Sterling cards, where you can load it with Sterling and spend in many different currencies, with each transaction in a foreign currency likely to attract conversion fees.

Disruptor banks

There are now several banks known as disruptor banks. These are digital banks that aim to challenge the ‘big four’ (Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and NatWest).

Many of these offer some great benefits when travelling abroad.

For example, Revolut is especially aimed at people who travel a lot. In the same way as a pre-paid card, you can transfer money to it before you travel and use it without any hidden fees. Starling Bank allows you to make cash withdrawals abroad without adding fees, offers competitive exchange rates and doesn’t charge for things such as topping up your card. Monzo offers a way to pay in any currency with no fees and, again, no additional charges – unless youy go over your limit, in which case the charges can be hefty.

Also, as with most card purchases where you are using Sterling to pay for something in another currency, the actual conversion happens a couple of days later and not on the date of purchase.

These guys are definitely worth taking a look at, particularly if you do a lot of travel. However, do your research carefully and consider whether you want to replace your traditional bank account or, perhaps, have one of these as an extra account.

These are the main alternatives available and what you choose will depend on your individual circumstances, your destination, your style of travel and your

general attitude to money-management and how much budget you have at the point of travel.

However, I would recommend not relying on just one of these options. If your chosen option fails for any reason, you should have a back-up to ensure you are not stranded without money. It can be a lot of hassle and expense to get it sorted out, which is bound to put a dampener on the trip.

And when you get home, don’t forget to exchange any leftover currency using either buyback or a platform like Bidwedge, which offers a competitive sell-back rate, even for small amounts.

Hopefully, this guide helps you consider options you may not have looked a previously but ultimately you need to use the options that work best for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shon Alam is founder of Bidwedge. Bidwedge makes it easy to change your left-over cash currency back into Sterling – at great rates for even the smallest amounts. Just enter the amount, see the rate you’ll be paid, post the cash and watch the money appear in your bank account. It’s easy to do.

Website – www.bidwedge.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Bidwedgecom-109169113819592/

Twitter – @bidwedge – https://twitter.com/bidwedge

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bidwedge/