Sending Money Overseas article discussion

jimgfsmith

I want to send small amounts abroad as deposits on holiday accommodation. As my bank charges too much, PayPal is not used by all and Western Union agents have left this area, I decided to try Tranzfers. Over the last 10 days I have started to set up an account . I noticed that the security lock on the website had red on it. The site identity was not verified and parts of the page were not encrypted. Sometimes the site does show as secure, other times it doesn't. I have tried to contact Tranzfers on the matter and sent them a screen shot. No response.

Su1

After reading the advice on putting a UK cheque into an account abroad thought we would give it a go.
Paid the cheque into our Greek account, they gave us the exchange rate of the day and charged us just 1euro commision. No charge from our UK bank. Downside - it takes 23(?)days to clear. We have also discovered that if we take GB pounds to the Bank of Greece(not to be confused with the National Bank of Greece)we get at least the exchange rate of the day and they charge no commission.

momo2007

Hi all,

I'd like to add my experience on HIFX where I send money from the UK to Malaysia.

Quick account set up. I just give my driver license number. Thats it. No ID sending.

You can send money from HIFX into your choice of bank account.A minor downside is only a number of currencies is used for the transaction. For example, you can use your GBP to pay someone in USD or EURO. I was sending money to Malaysia and had to pay in USD as MYR was not listed.

The downside is that HIFX opens from 8am to 10pm Monday to Thursday and Friday from 8am to 6pm. These are the only times where you can create your transaction to send off your payment.

In creating a transaction for the payment, you decide how much you want to send. The minimum amount is GBP250 for the transaction.

You enter your payee account details. The rate shown will go up or down or remain the same based on what's going on the Foreign Exchange world. Once you click Confirm to confirm your transaction...you cannot cancel or change. You are bind to the contract at the confirmed exchange rate.

Hifx will email you details on where you send your payment to...which is a Barclay bank in the UK...The details will be shown on the screen upon confirming the transaction.

Hifx sends me an email when they have sent the payment to my recipient.

I've used hifx twice since my recent account opening with them like 1 month or so...so far it has been good. The money arrives quicker than if I do bank transfer. Overall its cheaper than the bank for the fast service. But it gets more expensive if I pay more which I cant afford to so that's ok in keeping the fees almost on par with the banks.

I made a transaction on UK Monday evening and the payment arrives on the other side on UK Wednesday.

The fees that they charge is basically the rate of the exchange for the currency that you are sending in...There's no option to send in GBP. I compare their rate with XE's. The difference is about 0.06 (GBP/USD pair). Not sure if the XE site's rate is interbank's rate or not...but I would presume that it is...

Hifx claimed that the recipient do not pay anything in receiving the money...I cant claim if this is true or not as I paid in USD when is then converted to MYR...But I'm happy with the fast service and the paid amount received on the other side.

I'm trying to open an XE account and still in progress...

It would be great if any of you with XE accounts wont mind sharing the experience...how much do they charge for fees? If the payment is made into a foreign account, is there a fee for the recipient to pay? How long does it take for yours to arrive depending on which method you use?

I am also interested to hear from those with moneycorp accounts...mind sharing your experience?

Many thanks.

PS: Oh I forgot to mention that after making the transaction, you have upto 3 days to pay Hifx if you choose to pay by bank transfer. You can also opt to pay by debit/credit card.

JamesSE22

Firstly, may I thank everyone in advance who replies to my post, and for taking the time to read it.

At the grand old age of 42 I have inherited a 50% share in my only relative's house in France who died 18 months ago.
I have never been able to afford to own a property so this has come as a lifeline, for which I am hugely grateful to her for giving me.

She has also left me some cash, approx 30,000 Euros (after tax).
Her solicitor gave me a cheque last week.
I bank at the Natwest, and know from bitter experience that their foreign currency exchange rates are dire.

I was going to use one of the currency brokerage houses to convert the Euros into Sterling.

Problem:

Not being either a French national, nor having residency in France, nor a mailing address there, nor being employed there, I was therefore unable to open a French bank account.

I have some expenses associated with the property, back taxes and unpaid utilities at her death which need to be to paid ASAP in Euros.

Added to which, when the property is sold, it's just gone onto the market, the funds from the sale will need to be paid in (in Euros).

I would also like to use the remainder of the cash to fund the degree course I am now finally able to afford to take in the UK.

Can anyone recommend a UK bank where I could at least pay the cheque in in Euros and draw on it in Euros?
That way, I can put aside some of it in Euros to pay my French bills and send the remainder off to the currency brokers to convert into Sterling and then transfer into my current account.

This is the largest sum of money I have ever had and I'm frankly very worried about wasting too much of it in fees and unnecessary expenses.

All and any suggestions are very gratefully received.

jon_delphin

now I just stumbled over something new, pay.us.com. They charge nothing and move money within seconds over the world. It looks like skype, but for money. opeing soon. see the press release on their site, they open soon

zhatorna65

Oh look, people with 1 post to their name, praising particular services.

A cynic might suggest that they're paid buzz-marketing drones.

chriskross

JamesSE22 wrote: »

Firstly, may I thank everyone in advance who replies to my post, and for taking the time to read it.

At the grand old age of 42 I have inherited a 50% share in my only relative's house in France who died 18 months ago.
I have never been able to afford to own a property so this has come as a lifeline, for which I am hugely grateful to her for giving me.

She has also left me some cash, approx 30,000 Euros (after tax).
Her solicitor gave me a cheque last week.
I bank at the Natwest, and know from bitter experience that their foreign currency exchange rates are dire.

I was going to use one of the currency brokerage houses to convert the Euros into Sterling.

Problem:

Not being either a French national, nor having residency in France, nor a mailing address there, nor being employed there, I was therefore unable to open a French bank account.

Not true. See http://www.britline.com. I have an account with them.

jig

all my gf is traveeling around india and want to make payment for a hotel which does not accept credit card (as they need to swipe!). They told me they will accept ' master visa Demand Draft' or a western union money transfer.

Please can anyone let me know what a Demand draft is? And which is the easiest and cheapest method of sending the money the total charges are around £120.

Thanks
Jig

misa.blue

Hello,
can you please advise me the cheapest way to pay £1000 into my account in Czech Republic?
In UK I have account with Nationwide who offers SWIFT transfer for £25 regardless the amount transfered.
Is there any cheaper, better way? Someone here suggested paying UK cheque into foreign account, I'm not in rush, would that work better for me? What do I need to find out to do that?

Any advise will be appreciated!

Olipro

misa.blue wrote: »

Hello,
can you please advise me the cheapest way to pay £1000 into my account in Czech Republic?
In UK I have account with Nationwide who offers SWIFT transfer for £25 regardless the amount transfered.
Is there any cheaper, better way? Someone here suggested paying UK cheque into foreign account, I'm not in rush, would that work better for me? What do I need to find out to do that?

Any advise will be appreciated!

your best bet would probably be moneybookers.com - you might need to open two accounts (one UK, one Czech) - but in any case, for an amount that in relative terms is fairly small, they're probably your cheapest option unless you know someone in either the UK or CR who needs GBP.