Money Changer

[Brahman]

In my part of the world, we call the person whose business is to exchange the money of one country for that of another country a "money changer" or even "money exchanger". It is to this person that we go when we need to exchange our currency for foreign currency.

Recently, when I went to Sydney, these people (whom we call 'money changer') are just called "Money Exchange". I have looked up all three expressions in British dictionaries, but none has a listing for any of these. In fact, there is another, which is "foreign exchange", and I guess this is not the same as the above. And my friend, who is in the business, gave me a complicated explanation as to what the latter means, but I could not understand.

May I know which of the above is the correct term to refer to the man who exchanges my currency for that of the country I am travelling to?

[Joe]

All of these terms can be used but the most common in BrE would be foreign exchange, which refers to:

• 1. the currency (money) of another country
  2. an institution (person, business) that deals in such currency

This term is also used in AmE, I believe.

[Tukanja]

I thought that at the foreign currency exchange office works the foreign currency exchange clerk.
But Brahman might have thought about money exchangers, those that work in the city streets (mostly the shopping malls of the town) by way of asking the people do they need to exchange any foreign currency to other currency and who (which?) are usually seen in the city centres of so called both undeveloped and in transition countries.