Sending Money Overseas article discussion

bramval

I have booked a holiday apartment in Switzerland but the agent requires payment in Swiss Francs (800) in addition to which I have to pay a damage deposit of 1000 Swiss Francs. The funds have to be with the recipient within a week. Can anyone give me guidance please on the quickest, easiest and (preferably) cheapest way to do this.
Thanks in anticipation

EugeneB

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

The same problem as with most places that charge a low fee; they make all the money back (and more) on the lousy exchange rate.

Unless the sums you are sending are microscopic it's generally better value to pay a larger fee and get a better rate. The end result will benefit you.

Well, I've compared Opal with MoneyBookers and XE on amounts of about 6000 GBP and as it turned out Opal have a better rate!

punk_beatz

Hi guys,

I'm after some advice, hope you can help!

My girlfriend is from the US and now lives here with me in the UK.

Each month she has to pay her student loans in the US. She uses Transferz to send the money (around £300) to her debit account in the US and then pays it to the loans company. Until a year ago all she paid was the £7 Transferz fee and their exchange rates are very good, but all of a sudden her US bank was taken over and now charge a $16 transfer fee each time and a $5 a month fee just for the account. So each month she pays £20 in fees just to make the payment.

Is there a cheaper way of doing this? The loans company say they can't accept a payment from a foreign debit/credit card, which is mental, but then they are a very small loans company in a very small town and not a big national.

Cheers!

hodman-29

I have yet to find any company that can beat CurrencyFair.com. The beauty of their approach is that you effectively swap currency with other people so money doesn't really leave the country - it's just transfered between bank accounts. This means that the exchange rate can be very good because it's not actually based on transfer rates. You'll find that you can often beat the rate that banks exchange money at!
And because money doesn't get transferred abroad the transfer fees are also low (3euros).
They are a small company and regulated in Ireland. I've used them a lot and even spoken to the guys that run it. Your money goes into a segregated Bank of America account so no matter what happens with the business your money is safe.
Oh and you can pay from your account in the UK straight into the loans company account in the US.

CarolynCh

hodman-29 wrote: »

I have yet to find any company that can beat CurrencyFair.com. The beauty of their approach is that you effectively swap currency with other people so money doesn't really leave the country - it's just transfered between bank accounts. This means that the exchange rate can be very good because it's not actually based on transfer rates. You'll find that you can often beat the rate that banks exchange money at!
And because money doesn't get transferred abroad the transfer fees are also low (3euros).
They are a small company and regulated in Ireland. I've used them a lot and even spoken to the guys that run it. Your money goes into a segregated Bank of America account so no matter what happens with the business your money is safe.
Oh and you can pay from your account in the UK straight into the loans company account in the US.

Thanks to the above I looked at Currency Fair. Signed up and used it to send Euros for a rental payment. I found it very easy to use, the rate was really good and the fee was only €3. The funds arrived the next working day. Excellent service.

robonz

Has anyone tried using http://www.moneymoveit.com

ninorr82

Hi

I'm using my lloyds account to withdraw currency in Poland
I've been informed by Lloyds that they are using visa currency rates
While checking the rates on visa site against ones used they are way off
The one that should be used is 1 GBP -5.270178 yet hey have used 4.7977(as at 31/07/12)

I appreciate the fluctuation but isn't that too much of the difference ?
I've checked multiple sites and the rate is around 5.20 as per that date

Lloyds is saying it is not up to them and there is nothing they can do

How I'm suppose to query it with visa and should I do it or lloyds?

Thanks
Dawid

baby_frogmella

hodman-29 wrote: »

I have yet to find any company that can beat CurrencyFair.com./QUOTE]

Transferwise beats currencyfair Only ~ 0.45% in fees with mid-market x rates, though the drawback is that they only trade in GBP<>EUR for the time being.

noh

ninorr82 wrote: »

Hi

I'm using my lloyds account to withdraw currency in Poland
I've been informed by Lloyds that they are using visa currency rates
While checking the rates on visa site against ones used they are way off
The one that should be used is 1 GBP -5.270178 yet hey have used 4.7977(as at 31/07/12)

I appreciate the fluctuation but isn't that too much of the difference ?
I've checked multiple sites and the rate is around 5.20 as per that date

Lloyds is saying it is not up to them and there is nothing they can do

How I'm suppose to query it with visa and should I do it or lloyds?

Thanks
Dawid

Lloyds add their own currency conversion fee of 2.99% to the Visa rate. They also add a further 1.5% for cash withdrawals abroad. They are one of the most expensive banks for this type of transaction.
See page 9 of http://www.lloydstsb.com/media/lloydstsb2004/pdfs/banking_charges_brochure.pdf

deviousdave

is it beneficial to use a U.K. broker to send and convert dollars back to pounds into the u.k from a U.S bank or will normal bank transfer be as good?