Just ask Brett Meyers, owner of CurrencyFair and former banker. The five-year-old business is set to boom as it exposes large banks for imposing hefty fees for exchange rates. This is a textbook example of the fact that bigger is not always better in the business world.

In the United States and the European Union, most banks charge about 3% when exchanging currency. If that wasn’t bad enough, some of the biggest banks in Australia charge a shocking 5% or more. Mr Meyers is out to show consumers that these exchange rates are a rip-off by saving them money with his company’s fair exchange rates. The company estimates that it has saved customers approximately $140 million in exchange fees, since launching in 2010.

Consumers, learn a lesson from this. Not all megabanks, superstores, and chain restaurants are going to get you a better deal. It is often better to go with a local business that knows its trade well and can provide you, not only a better product or service, but often a less expensive one.

This flies in the face of many “shop local” campaigns that encourage those in the community to pay a little extra to shop at locally owned businesses. In reality, local business owners are sometimes in the best position to charge the right price for something that a larger corporation expects you to pay a premium for.