www.xe.com for money transfers - Any reviews

raymondred

Noticed you wanted USD to GBP:

Mid-Market rate = 1 USD = 0.64486 GBP

NatWest = 1 USD = 0.5857 GBP

xeTrade = 1 USD = 0.6373 GBP

Obviously these rates change change constantly. But at any time the bank spreads over mid-market are a total rip-off - about 8% looking at these rates.

jabba42

raymondred wrote: »

Noticed you wanted USD to GBP:

Mid-Market rate = 1 USD = 0.64486 GBP

NatWest = 1 USD = 0.5857 GBP

xeTrade = 1 USD = 0.6373 GBP

Obviously these rates change change constantly. But at any time the bank spreads over mid-market are a total rip-off - about 8% looking at these rates.

1.011862545112192% the above

Saxo bank if you have a trading account is half that, 0.5% commission on spot.

tsanders

I used xe.com without problems for 6 years or more but recently received an email supposedly from xe.com saying I needed to log in at least every 18 months to retain my account validity. Without thinking (yes, I know) I clicked on the link in the email and logged on. I immediately realised how stupid that was :eek: and opened another browser, logged into xe.com and changed my password, then logged out.

A mouse-over on the link brought up a weird URL (with westernunion in it). Very worried, I forwarded the email to xe.com and they replied saying it was legitimate and from them!!! How naive/reckless are they to be sending out such emails? It only takes someone to make a phishing email like that and they get access not only to your own account, but the bank details etc of everyone you paid!!

I have closed my account there as they say they will not change their email policy.

This time I was lucky but I will never do that again! Be warned and be aware of the risks of phishing emails.

bowlhead99

I received that email last Friday.

I didn't follow the email link directly because I know better than to click on links that take me to a logon page somewhere, even though a whole host of financial institutions (and nonfinancial groups - "click here to track your order") do send emails with links to different parts of their websites. I only ever log on to my banks by clicking through from their homepages and don't even have bookmarks for them because it never takes more than a couple of seconds to type the URL for the main bank site.

Some groups say they will never send a link asking for personal details or taking you direct to a login form. But I'm not convinced that if they do, it's "naive / reckless". Of course someone can knock up a phishing email using that as a template, but they could knock up an email that would fool a bunch of people anyway. Even without having ever seen a template, I could easily make a legitimate looking email with XE or HSBC or Lloyds or Tesco letterheads on it that went to a dodgy site run by some scammers.

Just today I received a Tesco email reminding me I could modify my recent grocery order or my personal details and giving a link that went straight to their secure logon page. If a scammer had sent me that, with a link to their fake site, they could have found out where I lived, changed my personal details, and then used my saved credit card to order £500 of groceries to pick up from a train station carpark click-and-collect point. But it wasn't a scammer, it was Tesco's legitimate secure logon page of course, just like the XE one was theirs. But I would not terminate my use of Tesco just because they sent me a link in an email that a scammer could copy and divert me to his own password grabbing site.

Similarly, I would not terminate my account with XE (which I haven't actually needed for a while) just because they sent me an email asking me to log on and giving me a convenient link.

I think you are going overboard by saying we should beware of XE's "phishing emails". Phishing is when a dodgy group of bandits try to convince you to log on to their wholly illegitimate site to capture your details. XE are asking you to log on to their wholly legitimate site!

They give you a URL link to get straight to the logon screen, if you want to follow it, in case you can't remember the full URL of the site. Which in fairness you might well not be able to remember, if you haven't used it for 18 months. I certainly don't remember that it's https: //fx2.xe.com/fxlogin/Pages/Login.aspx? ; I just go to xe.com and navigate until I find the xe trade bit. So, a direct link is a convenience. If you had to look it up on a search engine, you might find one of the hits was a group of dodgy phishing scammers, so that would have been a rather less safe approach.

I don't have a major issue with their approach. They requested that I log on by the Xth of August [about 4 weeks away, none of the fake urgency '[I]you Must Click HERE NOW[/I]' like a scammer would do] and they specifically say on the email that if you're at all concerned with the legitimacy of the email feel free to contact them, giving you a URL that takes you to their main site and contact details therein http: //www.xe.com/xetrade/help/all-contact.htm

So, I don't see this as cause to close my account. As you say, if you blindly clicked it without thinking, that's perhaps cause for you to change your ways.

FYI, Xe.com the currency site has been running for a long time and when they launched the XEtrade service over a decade ago it was in partnership/ affiliation with Custom House (if I recall, whenever you send them cash for a trade, you send it to Custom House's account at Barclays). Custom House has been owned by Western Union for five years or more, which explains the reference to Western Union in the embedded URL taking you to the frontend signin screen.

I knew of the Western Union connection because when looking for online financial services, I take an interest in the organisation to whom I'm entrusting my cash . If you did not, then there is probably another lesson in there for you about "knowing your enemy" when engaging a currency data website for secure financial services.

Pearlstar

I have used XE many times. Phoning them squeezes a better rate than their initial quote. Never been charged any fees by XE or banks.
However, see the below email chain, read from bottom up -

ME
The 2 statements "thank you for choosing XE" and "your account has been deactivated" are contradictory.

If I phone you next year for a trade, will I be able to deal immediately using my last transaction as a reference? -

YES OR NO

I have checked my trades and I have used XE 3 times in the past 12 months, last trade February 14th 2014...your "de-activation" is ridiculous and I wish to escalate a complaint to an empowered senior manager for investigation, explanation (and apology).

XE
Thank you for choosing XE Trade as your online currency exchange and international bank to bank transactions provider.

We apologize for the inconvenience. However, your account has been deactivated due to regulatory requirements and account inactivity, as a security measure. If you wish to use our service, we would ask if your could re - sign up for a new account.

We would greatly appreciate your cooperation and wish you a nice day.

Our Customer Care team is dedicated to providing you with any assistance you need through this process.

ME
I am not impressed. I made 3 phone trades last year and was planning to use your service again.

I fail to see any benefit in deactivating me??

XE
Due to inactivity, your XE Trade account has been deactivated. If you wish to have an account with us in the future, please visit our website to sign up again.

Pearlstar

Sorted :think:

XE
Thank you for contacting with us, we appreciate your cooperation.

Please be advised that your account is still active. Kindly disregard our emails about your account deactivation.

Jillyjarvis

I have also used XE for many years & found them to be great as long as you are extremely careful not to make any mistakes. I have recently discovered Transferwise who, although they do charge a fee, give a much better rate which makes up for the fee, plus they are much faster & you get much more chance to change your mind, even after you have agreed the instruction.