Foreign Currency Exchange in Mahabalipuram

My journey for a successful place of business took me to the heart of Mahabalipuram city. In the midst of the hustling crowded area we could see many foreigners who often visited this place for the amazing cultural, archaeological relevance and most importantly the beaches. And one could always count on the need for foreign exchange shops within this tourist place. The lucrative environment for this business intimidated me to search for a foreign exchange shop. Prithvi Exchange-Mahabalipuram  shop is in the midst of Mahabalipuram Street. With one glance into the shop you will know that it is a place meant for exchanging currencies. The shop is an authorized dealer for “Prithvi Exchange” a division of Prithvi Softech Limited is licensed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an Authorized Dealer Category II. The shop offers a whole gamut of Foreign Exchange services like Money Changing, Money Transfer Services.

The owner of the shop “Sri Hari” is a resident of Mahabs. The opens the shop daily at 9:30 AM and closes at 7PM in the evening. On a typical day he gets about 20 to 30 customers among whom 90% are foreigners. The shop only buys foreign currency from customers and gives them the equivalent amount in Rupees. Only the main head office, present in Egmore is able to sell foreign currency in exchange of rupees.






                                                                                 
The shop provides exchange for:-
 Dollars
 Euro
 Great Britain Pound

The buying price is about 0.5 Paise less than the price for dollar and the selling price is 1 rupee more than the ongoing rate. The margins earned during this transactions is the deemed profit of the shop.  The exchange rates are varied every day depending on the exchange value in the market. The data is updated by the head office in the system. Normally the peak period in which the shop does most business is from November to March, during which is the peak tourist season. Tourists are normally required to present their passport for authentication. 

Further the shop also provides the facility for transferring money abroad, but has a policy of that one can only transfer money to his relatives. The shop charges 300-400 for each transaction and further imposes a tax of 0.1236% as per government regulations.

From my experience of talking to him and observing him I can say is that Sri Hari really seems to have his act together. He understands who the most important person for his success is, the customer. He understands where he gets his biggest competitive advantage from, the tourists and his ability to provide excellent service to them.