The strength of the Australian dollar over the past couple of years has made foreign exchange a more mainstream part of retail and small business banking. Banks report that their customers are inquiring more about using FX services for business transactions, travel, overseas purchasing and investment.Foreign-owned banks are leading the way in upgrading foreign exchange services in the hope of attracting affluent customers. These challenger banks see sophisticated FX offerings as a differentiator from the big local banks.They all claim to transact on much lower margins than the Big Four, although they are coy about giving details.HSBC Australia has launched a 24-hour foreign exchange trading service with live pricing. The service, Get Rate, is for retail and small business customers. Investec started offering at-call and term deposits accounts in four currencies in October. Citibank has upgraded its transaction account and now offers customers free overseas funds transfers, free overseas ATM withdrawals and free overseas point of sale transactions.HSBC is claiming that its 24-hour live pricing service is a first in the retail and SME markets. Available via mobile and online banking platforms, Get Rate offers access to 19 currencies.HSBC's head of savings and investments, Michael Danby, said: "There is more interest in FX as an investment class."Investors don't want to have to stop trading at the end of local banking hours."We also have customers using the service as part of their travel planning, overseas shopping, family remittance and business trading."Investec's Foreign Currency Deposit Account is designed as an investment product and has limited transaction capability.Investec quotes rates for daily access, as well as 30, 60, 90 and 180 day terms, in US dollars, British pounds, yen and euros.Ivan Katz, a financial markets executive at Investec, said that, apart from investors, the account was used by migrants and expatriates, whose affairs might involve payments in multiple currencies.Katz said Investec has plans to develop the product. "The next phase of our foreign currency business will be to allow our clients to trade forward. We are working on that now."Katz said customers liked having their foreign currency holdings in a "straightforward" bank account. "We have an online system that allows them to check their accounts and arrange transfers. We do internal transfers at no charge.""We are doing business with this account every day," said Katz.Danby said: "Customers like the fact that it is the same type of account as their Australian dollar account, with the same online access. You can use it to send foreign currency wherever you like."