Sending Money Overseas article discussion

catokelly

Avoid using your bank for receiving US Dollar payments. If you use an international money transfer company you will get much more for your $$$.

Check that the UK broker has a US Dollar bank account, therefore you will be sending US Dollars directly to their USD account, which they will convert to Sterling for you, basing the rate on the live market rate rather than the banks 'tourist' rate.

suzejf

Please advise me on the best way to get the most from international payments made regularly into my account.

I am separated and my ex lives in Germany and makes monthly child maintenance payments from his Deutsche Bank account into my English NatWest account. Although he is paying the same amount of Euros each month, the amount I receive in Sterling once converted has dramatically dropped over the past year, obviously because of the fluctuating exchange rates.

On top of that Natwest take off a £7 charge at my end, so I don't end up getting much child maintenance as a result. Before the payments were made into a previous account and I wasn't charged anything at my end. It may be that there is some link between DB and Barclays.

Can someone tell me if there is a better way of making regular transfers and maximising the amount of sterling received eventually? Can I get a fixed exchange rate for a year without being stung for a charge each month from a reputable transfer service? I'm getting fed up that Natwest gets to benefit from money which is meant to be helping me with raising my child!! Many thanks.

catokelly

Hi Suze,

Avoid getting the Euros sent directly to your UK bank as you will be subject to their unfavourable exchange rates/charges, because the banks apply the unfavourable generic tourist exchange rates and will also do the conversion to Sterling without letting you know the rate beforehand.

If you use a reputable international money transfer specialist, you will maximise your money as they will base the rates on the live market rate not the 'tourist rate' and they will let you know the rate before converting the Euros to Sterling.

I recommend Thomas Exchange, they can convert transfers from Euro accounts abroad into Sterling and once a rate has been agreed, they will transfer the Sterling equivalent to your UK account as a same day transfer. Their rates are always much better than the banks.

gowgowuk

Hello all,

A quick question regarding money transfer company for transfer from Europe to UK. In my case: I am selling a flat in Belgium and want to transfer the money (100,000 plus) in UK. I don't have a Belgian bank account. The way I understand the help pages of these companies, either I need to open an account in Belgium (not that easy), or the person paying the money needs to register with the broker. Since this person is going to be a Solicitor, I doubt they will open an account with a money transfer company! Alternatively, my bank, First Direct, is offering a current account in Euros, that I can easily open here in UK. Can I do that, ask the payment to be paid in Euros on this account (with limited fees) and later on, register with one of the money transfer company to transfer from my UK Euro account to my UK Pounds account?

Sorry, all of this seem still pretty obscure to me...
Thanks for any help and pointers....

Philippe

gowgowuk

Thanks ashleyingle,
Yes it helps a lot. I guess I did not understand that I could open a euro account myself with the broker. It definitely seems like the way to go.
I'll investigate and compare these companies next. (I have plenty of time: payment should not happen for another 2 months).

dswcmw

Morning.
My mother has sold her apartment in Spain and wants to transfer the money back to her UK account, what is the best and cheapest way to do this please
Many thanks

gowgowuk

update: I found a friend in Belgium working in a bank. He can get a preferential rate of 0.25% below the interbank rate. I suppose that none of the currency brokers are that low and it's a no-brainer, right? There might be some fee to transfer GBP into my account from Belgium, but I think it would be 125€ max, so, about 0.08%. Of course, I do trust him!

catokelly

Hi dswcmw,

I would advise you to avoid getting Euros sent directly to a Sterling account...Have you considered using an international money transfer specialist? Most of them hold Euro accounts and can accept Euro transfers into their Euro account. They will usually base their rates on live market rates, so the rates are usually very competitive compared to banks.

Once you have booked a rate, they would then transfer the Sterling equivalent to your nominated UK account.:j

dswcmw

Hello.
Many thanks for the reply
I heard of my mum this morning telling me her solicitor sent the money to her uk account on Monday without her knowing, so she will get charged a fortune now

catokelly

dswcmw wrote: »

Hello.
Many thanks for the reply
I heard of my mum this morning telling me her solicitor sent the money to her uk account on Monday without her knowing, so she will get charged a fortune now

Its probably worth checking if the Solicitor has sent it yet, if not you could cancel the request. However if the payment has been sent, tell your Mum to contact her bank to let them know that she is expecting a payment from abroad (sometimes if you let them know in advance, they might give you a better rate than usual), it's worth a shot!