FX Brokers Feedback

roysterdoyster

Hi,

Just registered with the above for future money transfer towards house purchase.

Any user experiences, good or bad, let me know

thanks

Bonzodog

Just checked with my bank, the money owed has been deposited in my account. Hope things go well for all you other guys owed money by FXA

AshleyECFX

Hello, As you can tell from my name, I work for a foreign currency exchange company, this isn’t for the intention of advertising, but to give genuine inside information. I am going to give you a transparent Insight into the industry, which is a very competitive industry indeed.

I am actually writing a post because it does seem so many people are confused with how, where AND when individuals (and companies) can actually get the unbeatable rates, security, and avoiding fees and charges. Im am talking about transfers from account - account, for example £ account - $ account, Regular small international transfers up to large purchases

Transfer Fee - Banks and some brokers charge same day, TT (telegraphic transfers), CHAPS, unless a BACS payment - 2-3 days free of charge. Banks will charge £15 - £50 a time with 2-3 day international transfers, whilst Brokers can charge £10 TT. However some brokers do not charge the client the fees, they will take it out of their profit, no matter how small the transfer. You can find by you using online or telephone banking, funds will move in a matter of minutes up to 3 hrs via Fast Payment system from UK bank - UK bank, subject to the bank providing FPS and is free of charge. Finding out your daily limit and each transfer limit will benefit you.

Commission - In my personal opinion, in these days charging commission is over charging because banks and brokers make enough profit just by doing the transfer, taking what rate they buy it and sell it to the individual. Most people have caught on and the majority offer 0% commission, But please don’t fall into the trap that this is a special offer, it isnt at all special.

Set Limits - This is a brokers preference, however, you won’t need to look real far for a broker who will not set limits, and still handle with no fees and charges, no matter how small or large the amount.

How do banks/ brokers make money on a trade? - Banks buy and sell using interbank rates, which you can see on-the-spot rates on financial TV channels. Banks will take a set large profit margin, whilst brokers can vary their profit margin, but take a much tighter one. for example, if the Interbank rate for GBP-EUR is at 1.15. Banks will sell to individuals, on average 1.10-1.12, whist brokers will sell around 1.1450-1.13. Brokers will buy their currency from banks and tight spreads from banks at commercial wholesale rates, which can be around 0.002-0.005 off interbank.

When to buy? - Banks won’t tell you, some brokers won’t tell you, but top brokers will guide you with data when it can be a good time to transfer. There are 2 times to trade, at the right time, or at the last minute, which can possibly be a difference of 2 points (a possible example during a matter of days = GBPUSD 1.67 at right time - 1.65 at last minute) on a £100,000 pound transfer, that is $2,000 difference. Make sure your broker cares about when is the right time to transfer. There is a fine line for giving advice though. FSA regulated brokers CAN advice you, non-FSA regulated brokers CANNOT advise you, however they can lay out what is happening in the markets and INTERPRET what will happen, but you make up our own decision.

Financial products - Limit orders, stop losses, forward contracts, can be handy. Your broker will recommend them if they would benefit you. If you want to transfer currency at a later date but like the current rate, forward contracts are useful and 5-10% deposit is required and can last 2 years, depending on the broker. Limit orders and stop losses are used to reduce the risk of missing a target rate (limit order) and rate going below a certain point (stop losses). these two are commonly used if a vital transfer has to be done after the weekend. It is common for brokers to provide a rate alert or a limit order forward option, so when it hit a good rate, they will contact the client, then you have to option to complete the transfer or agree a forward contract.

Security – A very important word in financial services sector. Due to recent turmoil in the banking system many brokers have changed bankers. 100% guaranteed safety and compensation of client funds is ideal. Banks such as Bank of Ireland are protected 100% by the Irish government. Always make sure the account the broker has is a segregated account to separate client funds. All money services Businesses should have a MSB number so you can verify them via HM Customs and Excise, and they will monitored by Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) who work closely with FSA for the prevention of money laundering. So your broker, to open an account will ask for photocopies of ID and address verification as well as sign to agree their Ts and Cs. This would only take minutes on your side. Make sure you find out if their calls are monitored and recorded. You can even ask for the recording of the call to be sent on email to you, just for your peace of mind.

I really people should ask around 2 or 3 different brokers for rates, If you have a rate that is better than the 2nd broker, saying so will only benefit you. It maybe a great idea to get into a Group Booking, but I have only heard of two other companies that provide them. Smaller fx brokers, don’t have the big marketing budgets and big expenses and I have only heard of three companies will actually write 'unbeatable' rates. This doesn’t meant to say smaller to better, because the 'big' fx companies can provide travel money, prepaid currency cards and pay on credit card for example. Some brokers don’t even work on a commission basis. I’m Not!

Regards,
Ashley Ingle
Excel Currencies.
:money:

shaun_london

I needed to move EUR 30000 into my account in the UK and was not sure with whom to go. The posts in this forum have been extremely helpful re how to go about doing it. I phoned quite a bit around and got different quotes. In the end, I decided to go with XE and am really happy with the service. They are extremely helpful and professional and it all went fast and smooth.

One suggestion - once I completed the registration process, the quote I got online was lower than the one I agreed on. I called them back and told them so and they offered me a better quote over the phone. So, its worth calling them first, agree on a quote and call them back if the online quote is different from the one offered on the phone.

pete80

I have used 3 FX companies so far when transferring money between UK and the USA. The best seems to have been Hargreaves Lansdown who are a FTSE listed company on the London Stock Exchange.

My trades are basically hedging on currencies and are in excess of £300,000 so I am comfortable using this company. It seems the best rates are avaiable for FX transactions of over £50,000 which shoukd get a spread of 20 pips (0.2 of a cent) on GBP/USD.

For safety sakes, stick with the larger companies who have been around for years and push hard to negotiate your rates, I used to pay a 40 to 50 pip spread at first.

Bonzodog

I would like to extend my thanks to Martin Lewis personally and to this Moneysavingexpert forum site.

Had it not been for the existence of this forum, I daresay that the awful business with FXA World would at best have taken a great deal more time to resolve and at worst, numerous members/clients of FXA World would have faced losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

In all probability, it was only the existence of this forum that made the victims aware that others were in the same boat and thus through concerted action by the Amersham police, bring the company to heel.

FxA_World_PLC

Following the posting made on the 13th July 2009, I can confirm that all outstanding amounts have been paid to FxA World customers.

The Directors of FxA World PLC are pleased that no monies have been lost by either customers or suppliers to the company during this difficult period. All client accounts have been fully reconciled and funds placed in relevant accounts.

No further action is being taken by any of the Authorities consulted by members during this period, now their enquiries are complete.

We do not believe there are any clients who have any reason for further complaint. However, any client of FxA World, who may have a grievance of not being settled, is encouraged to contact us immediately.
There remains a considerable commercial opportunity for private individuals, small and medium sized businesses and other organisations to benefit from the cost savings generated by the use of the FxA World technology; estimated to be between 3-5% of the sum transferred through banks and brokers.

To enable this to occur with guaranteed security, we have appointed independent auditors to monitor and govern client accounts to ensure reconciliation and funds availability.

The directors remain confident that this business model provides a valuable, quality service to FxA world customers, which saves them money.

Individuals, businesses and organisations that would like to take advantage of this more robust process can apply to [EMAIL="RCustomerservices@fxaworld.com"]Customerservices@fxaworld.com[/EMAIL]

Vijay Kumar
Director

Pshemek

Sure, Mr Kumar, after all taht I am sure people wil use you service. It is a shame, I liked this service very much. Bye

GunnerB

Let's conveniently forget all the distress caused to people and the non communication - or even downright lies told about when payment would be made (see earlier posts). No comment about the extra costs incurred due to the late payments made as a result of their incompetence...wouldn't touch FXA World with a bargepole.

DC01

nzseries1 wrote: »

Another vote for HiFX. Their online system is awesome, but it took months to set up the account because their ID checking was so extensive.

I agree their online system is first class and rates pretty good too - noticed their system has just been updated recently to handle wire transfers upto £50K (from £10K and card only) but they still dont have the ability to buy ££ online and it shuts down early evening (you need to do ££ purchases over the telephone but the people are usually pretty nice and helpful) - you can do registration online and I had an email in a few minutes after putting in my details and could trade there and then but they ask for passport and driver licence details (which is OK as long as you have them to hand). One of my friends said to try and use currencyonline.com. Tried them out but the registration required me to send docs whereas HiFX didnt - but that said - their system is pretty cool and also once set up (which took a couple of days) you can buy ££ online. They have a cool calculator on their home page which gives you real rates (which I verified over the phone with a couple of brokers) rather than stupid indicitive interbank rates which are useless that most other brokers quote on their calculators and you can never get near these rates. The calculator allowed me to compare the rates that I got from others and it tells you whether it will cost more or save you money. There rates were really sharp but they charge a fee over certain amounts so watch out. CaxtonFX also has a cool system but only debit cards (HiFX also does credit cards)