Sending Money Overseas article discussion

Georgeb1971

Just a heads up, although most of you may already know this but when dealing with these currency transfer companies the exchange rate they offer is often up for negotiation.
I transferred over €50000 with Currencies Direct believing that they would automatically give me a better rate than my bank. After going through the hassle of transferring the money to them the rate they offered me was lower than the rate I was due to get if I had just paid the Euros from my Irish Bank account into my English Sterling account (First Direct). It took me 3 calls before they finally offered me a slightly better rate but to be honest I was only a few pounds better off and with hindsight wish I hadn't bothered. All I'm saying is make sure you check that the rate you actually get is better than just using your own bank,

robatwork

Consumerist wrote: »

Thanks for that. Very handy and just what I was looking for.

It's currently being redirected to:

https://www.monito.com/

Not very clear though - it shows the "cheapest" or "best rated" but doesn't actually show how much money is going to arrive at the recipient after taking into account the exchange rate and all fees. Surely that's the most important way to sort the results?

Ned1

I recently had to transfer aprox., 210,00AUD (129,000GBP) to Australia.
The recipients bank, Bankvic, not having a SWIFT Code, advised that they used Amex and that Amex advised DO NOT CONVERT TO AUD in order to save exchange costs.
I did so, sending £129,000, despite my bank advising that they usually sent in AUD.
Result was shortfall of £9,700 due to exchange rate used by Amex.
I had to make up the shortfall and did so, by sending to recipients different bank, in AUD and payment went through perfectly.
My problem now is that, my bank, Amex UK nor Ombudsman UK have any jurisdiction over Australian banks and I cannot get explanation as to why they recommended not sending AUD.
As is evidently proven by my second transfer, I was given wrong advice.
Can anyone (especially Martin!) tell me as to how I can hold the Aussies responsible for wrong advice they gave me in not to send original payment in AUD?
The same Bankvic, transferred the same sum to me, via Amex four years ago and at that time they transferred in GBP
Hope someone can help.

grumbler

Shortfall against what expected amount?
It's hard to believe that even Amex charge extra 7.5% for the conversion (and even in total, not extra).
Any other unpredictable fees have to be fixed and less significant for such a big amount.

Demand a full breakdown of the fees, charges and the exchange rate from the Australian bank.

jonesMUFCforever

Ned1 wrote: »

I recently had to transfer aprox., 210,00AUD (129,000GBP) to Australia.
The recipients bank, Bankvic, not having a SWIFT Code, advised that they used Amex and that Amex advised DO NOT CONVERT TO AUD in order to save exchange costs.
I did so, sending £129,000, despite my bank advising that they usually sent in AUD.
Result was shortfall of £9,700 due to exchange rate used by Amex.
I had to make up the shortfall and did so, by sending to recipients different bank, in AUD and payment went through perfectly.
My problem now is that, my bank, Amex UK nor Ombudsman UK have any jurisdiction over Australian banks and I cannot get explanation as to why they recommended not sending AUD.
As is evidently proven by my second transfer, I was given wrong advice.
Can anyone (especially Martin!) tell me as to how I can hold the Aussies responsible for wrong advice they gave me in not to send original payment in AUD?
The same Bankvic, transferred the same sum to me, via Amex four years ago and at that time they transferred in GBP
Hope someone can help.

Basically you can't.

grumbler

Why not?

https://odf.fos.org.au/

There is a 'Country' drop-down menu in the step 5 "Applicant details"

That said, it's worth complaining formally to the the bank first and get some formal reply.

JDTawa

Hi it's not quite the same thing- I am new to the site- but I have a reasonable chunk of USDs in cash I want to swap for pounds. The banks here apply a ridiculous exchange rate to cash transfers, way lower than the bank account to bank account exchange rate on sites like e-e.com. Does anyone have any ideas on the best place to exchange the cash in the UK/best rate or another method of doing it? Thanks JD cash

grumbler

>>http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back

I don't even see even a website "e-e.com", let alone the exchange rates available there.

SCJRoper

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice please, my partner and I are buying a holiday ->retirement home in rural Ireland and will be needing to transfer funds for the future in the next few weeks (approx 70k). We don't (yet) have an Irish bank account.
Can anyone recommend a particular agency to use, or at least a short list for us to use for comparison, as there are obviously many, with different qualities. Thanks in advance.

grumbler

http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/money-transfer-to-Ireland/70000-GBP

For smaller amounts check Transferwise and Currencyfair: http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/money-transfer-to-Ireland/7000-GBP