19 Dec 2023
You will find it to be fascinating to travel to Ireland from Gambia for jobs to earn a living. Well, why you travel to Ireland in the first place is because of the flailing Gambian economy, restricting your employment opportunities, which leads to poverty. Therefore, you earn a living in Ireland and send money to Gambia online from Ireland to offer financial support back to your family.
Remember that for your financial success and prosperity, something for which you undertake the challenge of expatriation depends on one thing.
Do you know what that one critically important point is?
Well, that is the level of your financial literacy.
This blog aims to shed light on financial literacy and one of the key components of your online money transfers, which is the currency exchange rates.
Apart from the fees, currency exchange rates have the potential to sway your financial transactions either way. Let’s start the journey by understanding financial literacy first.
Financial literacy is about seeking the required financial knowledge to understand your finances and to know the basic techniques for managing your finances effectively. These techniques include budgeting, investing, and personal financial management.
Financial literacy also implies that you understand certain financial concepts, such as the time value of money, debt management, financial planning, and compound interests.
It does not take much to understand these concepts because of their being simple. But their implication can help you a long way in achieving financial soundness.
Let’s face one hard reality.
Your stay as a Gambian migrant in Ireland will not last an entire life. Right? You work there and send financial aid in every money transfer from Ireland to Gambia for as long as you are there, working and earning. Right? So, what happens when you return?
Therefore, it is through financial literacy and practicing it that you can attain financial viability and have the required financial backup to fall back on once you return.
What do you think causes people with limited resources to lead a life away from debts and acute financial crunches, even the rich face at times?
Well, you must have always maintained that it is your financial acumen that helps you financially. And your financial acumen comes from financial literacy. Several research papers have proved that those with higher levels of financial literacy are better positioned to spend less and get more!
Because financial literacy allows you to take stock of your current financial position in the light of which you can manage your finances more effectively and achieve financial prosperity.
In your cross-border money transfers, you cannot emphasize the importance of your financial literacy enough because it helps you understand the financial factors at play, including currency exchange rates and fees.
Let’s understand one of the key components of an online money transfer, which is the currency exchange rates.
A currency exchange rate is the rate at which you sell or purchase one unit of a currency for another. In simple words, a currency exchange rate is the price of one unit, or many thereof, of a specific currency.
For example, if you send money online to Gambia from Ireland today (Saturday, October 28, 2023), you will have to pay Gambian Dalasi (GMD) 102.15 to purchase Irish Pound (IEP) 01. If you reverse the transaction, which means that if you buy one Gambian Dalasi (GMD), you will have to pay Irish Pound (IEP) 0.01 only to complete the transaction.
It means that the selling and buying rates of different currencies are asymmetrical. They are never uniformed.
Currency exchange rates are determined between different currencies by the GDP, unemployment rate, economic activity, and market interest rates.
Another important point to remember about currency exchange rates is that they keep fluctuating with each tick of the clock. So, the rates you find at a point in time today will be different from the rates tomorrow or later or earlier the same day.
Understanding the role of currency exchange rates in your international money transfers is important because these rates deeply impact your transactions.
Let’s understand the main types of currency exchange rates.
Two main types of currency exchange rates are prevalent in the world. Your online money transfers are based on the following two currency exchange rate types.
These exchange rates are fixed for a certain time, which is normally one day or 24 hours. Certain financial institutions, including banks, essentially offer these fixed or static currency exchange rates regardless of the current rates in the international market.
These rates, as the name suggests, are flexible, which means that they keep fluctuating and are directly linked with the international market. Some of the financial institutions, including remittance transfer companies such as ACE Money Transfer, offer these rates to you in your every Ireland to Gambia money transfer.
As mentioned earlier, the key component of your online money transfers, apart from the fees, is the currency exchange rates. Take a look below at how they impact your transactions.
Getting market-competitive exchange rates helps you add more to the amount you intend to send back to the beneficiary. Of course, if you get the best and market-competitive rates, the recipient receives a larger amount than otherwise.
Your online money transfers are a regular practice, and they incur costs. Right? But this cost, which comes in the form of fees, is sufficiently compensated for if you get market-competitive currency exchange rates.
ACE Money Transfer allows you to request the firm for the latest and most recent rates, which, if you find suitable, you can proceed with the transaction; otherwise, you can wait for them to spike in your favor!
Some of the firms offer you better currency exchange rates in addition to charging a low fee. Both of these features add to the amount being sent back. And let’s not forget what you are working in Ireland for – to financially support your family back in the Gambia. Therefore, the more money you can send back, the better.
These are some of the positive impacts competitive currency exchange rates have on your online money transfers back to Gambia from Ireland.
If you send money to Gambia from Ireland with ACE Money Transfer, you will not only get live and market-competitive currency exchange rates bearing the positive impacts on your transactions explained above with speed, safety, and much more from just one stop, but you will also have a chance to transfer funds by paying low fees or fee-free if you are doing so for the first time!
Financial Literacy 101 refers to the understanding of your financial situation, taking stock of your finances in the true sense, and managing your money accordingly. It also means to learn about some of the financial techniques like budgeting, personal financial management, and so on.
Financial literacy is important to you because it helps you understand your current financial position and make plans for financial soundness. People with higher levels of financial literacy are better positioned to spend less and get and achieve more.
Currency exchange rates are the rates at which you purchase or sell one unit of a currency, or many units thereof, for another currency. A buying currency exchange rate is essentially different from the selling rate of the same currency.
Currency exchange rates are mainly of two types. One type of s is called the fixed or static rates, which are fixed for at least one day, and the other type is the flexible or fluctuating rates, which are life and linked with the fluctuating international market.
Currency exchange rates impact your online money transfers in more ways than one. They add to the amount you intend to send back to your family; if they coincide with w or waived fees, your amount increases, and they also compensate for the fee you pay for every transaction.
