Savings: USD-> GBP now ?

BiggaThanBen

If someone has got savings split in GBP and USD, would it be a good idea for him to convert USDs to GBP now ? Other currencies is not an option because of exchange losses, the money meant to be spend in GBP in a couple of years' time ...

Jonbvn

I converted US$ to £GBP a few weeks back. That was MY guess. The current £ dip against sterling seems like a reasonable opportunity for $ sellers.

Regardless of the above, if anyone tells you they can predict the currency markets they are probably lying. Volatile is an understatement.. Just look at dollar/£ between 2.20 and 1.75 in just the last few months,.

smash

I'm in the same situation, been holding dollars for ages waiting for a favourable exchange rate. I was tempted about 2 weeks ago when it went down to about 1.74 but you never know how low it's going to go.

Now the great unknown is whether the bail outs and possible cut in interest rates next week will strengthen the dollar?

Jonbvn

smash wrote: »

Now the great unknown is whether the bail outs and possible cut in interest rates next week will strengthen the dollar?

The next sterling IR decision will be key IMHO.

So many variables!

BritRael

I'm in the same situation, but I'd like to ask another question; What is the best way to make the transfer? i.e. do you simply ask your bank to close the account and pay out in sterling or is there a way to get a better exchange rate?

smash

It depends on the bank I suppose, I'm with Citi and they vary their percentage on how much you transfer. There is a page on the main site which gives you rates: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ so it might be worth using an agency rather than the bank themselves.

BiggaThanBen

Does not look good for USD savings at the moment, - back to 1.76 from less than 1.69 in 4 days ..

smash

I'm glad I changed mine to Sterling last Thursday at 1.72, but it could still go back down in the future. I may not have got the highest rate, but I do feel much happier now that I have finally converted

robledouk

I`m in the same boat......have about 80k dollars and looking to exchange the Lloyds offshore account (my late Father`s) and have been waiting for a good time to change the lot into a Lloyds domestic UK account

It`s about 1.65 now......but I`m a bit confused about this whole interbank exchange rate........what does it mean exactly? If the rate is different, how much different can it typically be?

I presume I`m not going to get 1.65 if I exchanged it.....completely clueless about this

BiggaThanBen

robledouk wrote: »

I`m in the same boat......have about 80k dollars and looking to exchange the Lloyds offshore account (my late Father`s) and have been waiting for a good time to change the lot into a Lloyds domestic UK account

It`s about 1.65 now......but I`m a bit confused about this whole interbank exchange rate........what does it mean exactly? If the rate is different, how much different can it typically be?

I presume I`m not going to get 1.65 if I exchanged it.....completely clueless about this

Should have changed a week ago ... but I do believe it will go up again soon ..

The rate should be close to the one XE uses, you can get more information here: http://www.xe.com/faq.php#midmarket

The only thing I am not sure about is when it actually converts USD->GBP, when you send it or when you receive it here (3-4 days difference if sent by SWIFT), probably the latter, as it is UK's bank that does the conversion when trasfer was sent in USD ...

robledouk

apologies for the ignorance but do most banks have pretty much similar interbank exchange rates? Or is a particular bank that you know of more favourable in terms of rate than another bank from your experiences/knowledge?

As it`s Lloyds USD that my late father had, it would be easier and quicker (2 days I was told) to transfer to the Lloyds UK account.......but not sure if Lloyds` rate is not good/to avoid......

As it`s a large amount of USD that I`m looking to exchange I don`t want to be making any rash decisions! thanks again