Pound Sterling to Japanese Yen exchange rates aren't all the same. The total cost you are charged by your bank or foreign exchange provider consists of a margin from the interbank mid-rate plus fees.
To calculate your own GBP/JPY amounts use our
Convert GBP to JPY quick calculator.
Comparing Foreign Exchange Providers
The total cost you are charged by your foreign exchange provider consists of the margin from the mid-rate offered plus any fixed or percentage fees.
These margins and fees vary significantly for International Money Transfers, Travel Money and prepaid multi-currency Travel Card transactions.
The Exchange rate you are offered can also vary significantly depending on the transaction type (transfer, cash or card), currency pair and amount. The below table shows an example of total costs charged by FX specialists and banks for GBP/JPY International Money Transfers. Costs are calculated against the current interbank mid-rate.
Example of the margins and possible savings when you order travel money online with a currency specialist rather than in-person from banks and currency kiosks.
When determining the best time to make a foreign exchange transaction, in this case the GBP vs JPY, you should pay attention to the recent market trends for both currencies.
Pound Sterling (GBP)
With the Bank of England holding interest rates steady amid signs of a recovery in the health of the UK economy following the general election, the pound is showing strength against most currencies early in 2020.
In the post UK election euphoria the pound rose to over 1.33 USD and 1.20 EUR but has since dropped back over the uncertainty of what sort of trade deal the UK can realistically negotiate with Europe over the next 11 months.
GBP has given up all of those election result gains as Mr Johnson pledged to outlaw any extension to the UK’s post-Brexit transition period at the end of next year. It appears the Brexit volatility in the pound is set to continue for the foreseable future.
NAB told Bloomberg TV that it sees a recovery in Asian currencies in the 2nd half of the year if the coronavirus comes under control.
Earlier in the year the threat of proxy war between the US and Iran in Ira helped bring on gains in the Japanese yen and US dollar plus currencies pegged to the greenback such as the Hong Kong dollar.
Last year, HSBC warned against thinking that yen-supporting safe-haven flows would soon stop, implying that the yen could have more upside potential in the near term. The bank highlighted the “desolation and destruction” (an exaggeration) present in many major economies and currencies. “You can never get too high,” the bank’s chief analyst said.
All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate).
The transaction margin you end up being charged can be considerably reduced by around a few percent (of total amount being exchanged) for
travel money and possibly over 5% to 6% when sending money.
The exact potential savings depends on the currencies being exchanged and the amount you are transferring and if you are willing to shop around.
This is a difficult question and the answer really depends on many factors. The best way to consider an exchange rate's relative value is to look at the rate's history.
The following table looks at the change in the GBP to JPY exchange rate to the present day for periods going back upto 10 years.
*For period to 01-Apr 21UTC when GBP/JPY was 132.8618
When is the best time to exchange GBP to JPY?
Getting a good market rate is all about timing to help with this you can use BER Smart Alerts to make the most of currency movements.
Rather than requiring you to set a target rate, our rate alerts work differently. We check for daily high/lows and changes (up/down) over a range of periods up to 90 days rather than requiring you to set target rates.
United Kingdom (GBP)
Japan (JPY)
Guernsey (GBP)
Isle of Man (GBP)
Jersey (GBP)
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GBP)