Thomas Cook goes online with foreign exchange service

Travel group, Thomas Cook, has launched an Internet-based foreign exchange service. Industry observers claim it will bolster its efforts to compete with the banks.

UK business customers can use the service to pay their international suppliers by entering the amount and destination for transactions on a Web site. Brokers will pick up the orders and complete the transaction in under two hours, according to Thomas Cook.

A spokeswoman said the service is quicker, cheaper and the first to use the Internet as the initial point of ordering. "We won't compete at the higher end of the business market with this service, but we will win hands down against the banking industry servicing small and medium enterprise needs," she said.

Jonathan Steel, analyst at The Bathwick Group, said: "Thomas Cook has a credible history of Internet projects. It's a good online brand and could compete well against banks in foreign exchange area."

A spokeswoman for Western Union, which provides similar payment services for consumers, said: "Banks are always falling down on their exchange services, so if Thomas Cook can do better for business customers they have a good competitive advantage."

The service is currently only available to US and UK business customers, but Thomas Cook confirmed it will roll it out in Italy and Belgium soon.