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[MSE Dan]

As part of the

Foreign Currency: Sending Money Abroad guide.

We discuss using the SendMoneyHome.org website as a way of finding web-based providers to send small amounts of money overseas. If you've read the article and have any feedback, hints or tips, please click reply and let us know.

[sendmoneyhome]

Hi, my name is Huw Jenkins and I am a Director of www.sendmoneyhome.org. It was very interesteing to read Moneysavingexpert.com's assessment of the service we offer and also the advice on how to get the best out of our service in its current format. We are very aware that the site does not scrape data itself and that this is currently done manually, not just by money transfer companies but also by the sendmoneyhome.org team. However, you will be happy to hear that very shortly we will be introducing new software and technologies that will be automating the collection of exchange rates, and fees charged, on a real-time basis.

We are constantly striving to offer visitors to our site the most comprehensive and accurate advice on the best way to send money overseas. As such, any findings and feedback, shared by the users of this forum will help us to improve the service we offer.

[nzseries1]

Thanks for the new sending money overseas article, Martin, I've been looking forward to it so when my money comes out of Kaupthing Edge's fixed term deposit, I can send it back to my home country New Zealand where the interest rates are much higher.

I've had a quick look at SendMoneyHome.org.

Originally Posted by sendmoneyhome

Hi, my name is Huw Jenkins and I am a Director of www.sendmoneyhome.org.

Huw Jenkins - wasn't he the CEO of UBS Investment Bank?

I had a look around this sendmoneyhome site and it seems like a useful service, however if it weren't for MSE's recommendation, I'm not sure I would look twice because it didn't take me long to find spelling errors throughout the site: "particluar", "enabe". Also an abnormally large number of links open new windows, which I'm adverse to. If I wanted a new window when I clicked a link, I would have right clicked, and selected "Open in new window" - please don't force a new window upon me.

[aless02]

Hmmmm, it's okay, but it seems to be missing some major transfer companies. I personally use XE.com monthly to transfer money back home, after it being recommended highly by other expats, and that's not even mentioned on the website! I did like the useful comparison tool on the website, though.

[flashspread]

I submitted a query about sending money from England to Peru. The results were virtually useless - every single one updated over 30 days ago, meaning the exchange rates were incorrect by a factor of over 10%! Only 4 alternatives were offered, the rest showing 'No Rate Available'. The whole exercise is just a brain-dump of ideas for transferring money - you could just do a search on a search engine and get similar results.

[loo]

I searched to send £100 in australian dollars to my son. 1st result on Sendmoney home was "Tranz Money". Exchange rate great, after 5 mins discovered you couldns't send less than £1,000. Next 3 results were "Moneybookers" - the SMH site said you could transfer via bank accounts and cards but you can't - it's all done via email addresses and nowhere on the Moneybookers site could I get a current currency quote or total including fee quote, & they didn't answer the phone. Back to MSE for my currency info, felt like I had wasted time on companies that don't give clear info.

Loo :-)

[Isishodolo]

I recently signed up to Currencies Direct as it came top of the recommended list on Sendmoneyhome.org i.e. best exchange rate and listed as not charging a transfer fee. No fees were mentioned on the paperwork received from them; only when I was on the telephone requesting a transfer was I told there is a £15 fee for any amount under £5000. It's not that unreasonable since they did offer a fair exchange rate and they do have to make some money on the deal. However, it was not made clear until that point that there is a standard fee and Sendmoneyhome.org may wish to include that information in future.

[dc]

If you have a Halifax (or presumably B.o.S) internet banking account, you can now do foreign transfers directly from your account.

They recently have added an International Transfer and foreign currency Draft facilities direct from your account, almost at the click of a button.

The HBOS fee is a very competetive £9.50 per transaction, (£10 cheaper than in-branch or by telephone banking).

You can get illustrations of cost/rates for changing, just put in currency and amount from/to and they give you the rate of exchange and total cost to proceed. The rate of exchange given lasts for 20 mins.

I set it up to transfer $s from my Halifax account to my son in Chicago, and suprisingly the money arrived the same day. But was $32 short.

Took a bit of chasing, as it is a fairly new service Halifax CS only knew about the bit of the transaction relevant to their Dept.
i.e. Internet banking in Leeds, Forex is done by BOS in Glasgow, and then there is Telephone banking ?
Seems I would have been told if I had used other than the internet.

Eventually the $32 was found to be an intermediary's charge ( Bank of New York Melon) and seems to be a fixed fee.

0 to <$100 free
$100 to <$500 fee $18
$500 to <$10k $32
£10k to <$20k is $38
$20k up fee $40


The HBOS exchange rate was 3 to 4 cents below the official mid rates offered by Xe Voltrex etc.

P.S.My son's bank also charged him $15

Hope this helps, it may be a little bit more expensive than the brokers but it is fast and reliable. and no registering with the need for passport scans etc.
regards dc

Forgot to add they have 36 different currencies you can use.

[reefdiver]

I used the Sendmoneyhome website as listed on this website and found that Smart Currency Exchange offered the best rate to transfer 4000GBP into Australian dollars as I've just moved over here.

As soon as I registered with Smart Currency Exchange, they were super-efficient in sending me emails and telephoning me straight away to confirm setting up my account. The staff were friendly and helpful and assured me that the transfer could take place within 2-3 working days. I was reassured even further when my account was set up within 24 hours with no mistakes or hassle. I immediately received the straightforward paperwork required to outline my onward transfer and the details of my Australian bank account for the deposit.

Following this lead, I immediately transferred the money into their UK account for processing.

Then nothing.

Once the money had cleared out of my UK bank account I heard absolutely nothing by way of confirmation (either email or telephone). Seemingly, once they have your money, they have no interest in keeping in touch or continuing the expediency of the transfer.

A full week passed before my nerves got the better of me and I had to make an international phonecall in the middle of the night to chase up progress. I was told that my money had not yet cleared into their UK account (suspicious) but that the transfer should be complete within 2/3days.

3 days later, still nothing. Except for two jovial marketing messages offering to up-sell me more services in the confident assumption that I was enjoying a wealthy glow from the service provided so far. Needless to say, this prompted a strongly worded email from me in response. Surprisingly, this resulted in an immediate pacifying phonecall by my client relationship manager (who had no information and merely apologised, promising to call me straight back). The phonecall never came.

So a sleepless night followed and I did have an email in the morning. Although this was a standard service message (that I could have done with receiving a week earlier) stating that the transfer was underway and should clear my Australian account within 2/3 days (familiar?). It also advised chasing my Australian bank if the funds didn't show up as "we often find that banks aren't as quick and effficient as Smart Currency Exchange". Had I have had a sense of humour by that point, I would have laughed.

My money did eventually come through - two weeks after it left my UK bank account. This is considerably longer than the 2/3 working days I was quoted. I feel that I lost out on a not insignificant amount of interest and also incurred large costs from being forced to survive on expensive credit cards during the process. No compensation was offered for this, nor for the anxiety I suffered throughout the process.

I was very disappointed with my experience with Smart Currency Exchange and would not recommend them to anyone. Unless the transfer is not urgent and you are prepared to wait for an unspecified amount of time until they have finished playing around with your money.

[987654]

I signed up to undertake a regular monthly tf to Spain to pay house costs.

I was 'taken in' by their promise of better rates and no fee, but you don't actually get anything from them each month advising you of their rates (obviously you can work it our when you know how much arrives in currency).

With the falling Euro rate I became more interested in rates and have done a comparable tf from my cuurent account with First Direct, paying a £9 tf fee.

Based on my £1200 transfer, I received 30 Euros more from my First Direct transfer so even allowing for the fee they offer better value. It arrived in my Spanish account the next day although they advertise it as a 4 day service.

[MSE Dan]

Hi folks,

The SendMoneyHome people now inform us that their site has relaunched with 'near rela-time' exchange rates.

If anyone is using it to compare, please let us know what you think.

Dan

[stuart79]

I am looking to send $1200 from my account in the US to my account in the UK. I used SendMoneyHome to find the best rates and setup an account with CurrenciesDirect. The only issue was CurrenciesDirect require me to wire the money to them from the US, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid as it is costly. Then I went back to SendMoneyHome and found xoom.com which offers good rates, but not as good as CurrenciesDirect, but as I registered as a US resident with a US bank account they only charge $4.99 fee, otherwise it is $60. With their exchange rate, I would basically lose £20, so the total fee is about £23.

[AshleyECFX]

Hello, As you can tell from my name, I work for a foreign currency exchange company, this isn’t for the intention of advertising, but to give genuine inside information. I am going to give you a transparent Insight into the industry, which is a very competitive industry indeed.

I am actually writing a post because it does seem so many people are confused with how, where AND when individuals (and companies) can actually get the unbeatable rates, security, and avoiding fees and charges. Im am talking about transfers from account - account, for example £ account - $ account, Regular small international transfers up to large purchases

Transfer Fee - Banks and some brokers charge same day, TT (telegraphic transfers), CHAPS, unless a BACS payment - 2-3 days free of charge. Banks will charge £15 - £50 a time with 2-3 day international transfers, whilst Brokers can charge £10 TT. However some brokers do not charge the client the fees, they will take it out of their profit, no matter how small the transfer. You can find by you using online or telephone banking, funds will move in a matter of minutes up to 3 hrs via Fast Payment system from UK bank - UK bank, subject to the bank providing FPS and is free of charge. Finding out your daily limit and each transfer limit will benefit you.

Commission - In my personal opinion, in these days charging commission is over charging because banks and brokers make enough profit just by doing the transfer, taking what rate they buy it and sell it to the individual. Most people have caught on and the majority offer 0% commission, But please don’t fall into the trap that this is a special offer, it isnt at all special.

Set Limits - This is a brokers preference, however, you won’t need to look real far for a broker who will not set limits, and still handle with no fees and charges, no matter how small or large the amount.

How do banks/ brokers make money on a trade? - Banks buy and sell using interbank rates, which you can see on-the-spot rates on financial TV channels. Banks will take a set large profit margin, whilst brokers can vary their profit margin, but take a much tighter one. for example, if the Interbank rate for GBP-EUR is at 1.15. Banks will sell to individuals, on average 1.10-1.12, whist brokers will sell around 1.1450-1.13. Brokers will buy their currency from banks and tight spreads from banks at commercial wholesale rates, which can be around 0.002-0.005 off interbank.

When to buy? - Banks won’t tell you, some brokers won’t tell you, but top brokers will guide you with data when it can be a good time to transfer. There are 2 times to trade, at the right time, or at the last minute, which can possibly be a difference of 2 points (a possible example during a matter of days = GBPUSD 1.67 at right time - 1.65 at last minute) on a £100,000 pound transfer, that is $2,000 difference. Make sure your broker cares about when is the right time to transfer. There is a fine line for giving advice though. FSA regulated brokers CAN advice you, non-FSA regulated brokers CANNOT advise you, however they can lay out what is happening in the markets and INTERPRET what will happen, but you make up our own decision.

Financial products - Limit orders, stop losses, forward contracts, can be handy. Your broker will recommend them if they would benefit you. If you want to transfer currency at a later date but like the current rate, forward contracts are useful and 5-10% deposit is required and can last 2 years, depending on the broker. Limit orders and stop losses are used to reduce the risk of missing a target rate (limit order) and rate going below a certain point (stop losses). these two are commonly used if a vital transfer has to be done after the weekend. It is common for brokers to provide a rate alert or a limit order forward option, so when it hit a good rate, they will contact the client, then you have to option to complete the transfer or agree a forward contract.

Security – A very important word in financial services sector. Due to recent turmoil in the banking system many brokers have changed bankers. 100% guaranteed safety and compensation of client funds is ideal. Banks such as Bank of Ireland are protected 100% by the Irish government. Always make sure the account the broker has is a segregated account to separate client funds. All money services Businesses should have a MSB number so you can verify them via HM Customs and Excise, and they will monitored by Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) who work closely with FSA for the prevention of money laundering. So your broker, to open an account will ask for photocopies of ID and address verification as well as sign to agree their Ts and Cs. This would only take minutes on your side. Make sure you find out if their calls are monitored and recorded. You can even ask for the recording of the call to be sent on email to you, just for your peace of mind.

I really people should ask around 2 or 3 different brokers for rates, If you have a rate that is better than the 2nd broker, saying so will only benefit you. It maybe a great idea to get into a Group Booking, but I have only heard of two other companies that provide them. Smaller fx brokers, don’t have the big marketing budgets and big expenses and I have only heard of three companies will actually write 'unbeatable' rates. This doesn’t meant to say smaller to better, because the 'big' fx companies can provide travel money, prepaid currency cards and pay on credit card for example. Some brokers don’t even work on a commission basis. I’m Not!

Regards,
Ashley Ingle
Excel Currencies.

[tmj12]

I try to do a comparison on their website for UK Sterling Pound to Malaysian Ringgit and it returns US Dollar result instead!! I've informed them with regard to this issue but so far received no response from them with a week gone by. The phone number on their website goes to answering machine all the time.

I would like to send (transfer) money to my Malaysian bank account now and again to pay for the mortgage but I am finding it difficult to get a company with good rate.

I've tried Foreign Currency Direct and they say they don't deal with Malaysian Ringgit currency. I am now having to resort to using my Natwest bank and it's costing £20 fees plus the £12.50 for receiving it totalling £32.50 a pop which is quite costly. I do this about 4-6 times a year. In addition, the currency rate is substantially lower than the interbank rate.

Can anyone recommed any other options? By the way, I've already read through the Foreign Currency section on moneysavingexpert and would to know what other options do I have as Malaysian Ringgit currency is not one of the major currencies that most companies deal with.

Many thanks in advance.