Money transfer via SWIFT to foreign account best way?

jonboy_2

I am out in Egypt at the moment and would like to get any advice on the best Moneysaving way to transfer a few thousand quid from my UK account to my Egyptian one here. In order to benefit from a better EGP/GBP exchange over here than in the UK, I have opened a sterling demoninated account in Egypt which I can then transfer over to Egyptian money.

Would a transfer via SWIFT from my UK account be the best option? Is it a flat rate fee or a percentage of the total amount transferred? I would have liked to use my UK web account to do this over here, but I think you can only do web transfers to another UK bank?

Please let me know if there are any other more cost effective ways of getting fairly large amounts out to a foreign account. Many thanks.

nico26

When I do mine I have to phone as you need iban numbers and swift codes and I am unable to do that online.Last time I did it was a flat fee of £19 but you have to take into consideration the exchange rate.But you had best speak to your bank.There are other ways to do it depending on the amount you want to transfer,i am sure someone will come along and tell you ..

jammin_2

To be honest, if I were in your position, I'd open a Nationwide bank account online, giving either your own address in the UK if you still have one, or that of a relative.

Once the account is open, have someone forward the ATM card to you in Egypt. Place the funds in your new Nationwide account and then simply withdraw EGP from an ATM in Egypt.

Nationwide do not charge fees for withdrawing currency overseas and *so I understand* convert at the interbank rate.

Having a GBP account in Egypt with a local bank there, transferring GBP to it from a UK bank, as per your current plan, would certainly be more hassle, time consuming and costly.

jonboy_2

Thanks for the replies.

The Nationwide option looks a good one, especially as they seem to offer the interbank exchange rate. I suspect though that even the EGP/GBP interbank exchange rate won't be as favourable as the EGP/GBP customer rate available at banks here in Egypt. When I came out here a few weeks back, before the pound's plunge, I could get around 9.5 EGP/GBP in Egypt, while it was around 8.9 in the UK.

jammin_2

jonboy wrote: »

When I came out here a few weeks back, before the pound's plunge, I could get around 9.5 EGP/GBP in Egypt, while it was around 8.9 in the UK.

But that's just because UK banks make a lot more on currency conversions than banks in Egypt. The interbank rate is currently 9.00539 according to xe.com.