FX Brokers Feedback

Red_sky

This is an email I received from Cindy at XE.com which I thought may be useful and which had been recommended a couple of times on this forum:

Thank you for your interest in XE Trade.

We can convert GBP to USD and have the USD transferred to a USD bank account in Vietnam you specified by wire transfer.

Detailed information regarding what documents you will need to send us when you sign up for an XE Trade account can be found at:

(This is the only problem I can foresee as I'm already in Vietnam so to send passport/driving license/utility bills by post from here is just not pratical)

First of all, in order to use XE Trade you will need to sign up for a Trading Account with us. Doing so is completely free and there are no ongoing charges or minimum transfer levels.

We do not charge any commissions or transaction fees. The only possible "extra charge" you could incur from us is if you choose to have your funds delivered by Wire Transfer, instead of by EFT or Draft (which are both free). However, unlike with the banks, XE Trade wire transfers from us are done as close to "cost" as possible, and any fees for an outgoing wire transfer from us are always stated up front before you confirm your transaction.

We make our money on what is known as the "spread". This is the small difference between the price we quote you for a transaction and our actual cost of completing the transaction for you. Since foreign exchange is our specialty, we can do this extremely efficiently. In addition, our volumes allow us to make the spread as low as possible. The result is a much lower transaction cost than other providers, and without any extra per-transaction "commissions" or "fees" that are common elsewhere.

You can signup for your free XE Trade account at:

The rates used in our free informational services are mid-market rates. They are neither "buy" rates nor "sell" rates. Mid-market rates are derived from mid-point between the buy and sell rates of large-value transactions in the global currency markets.

Since "buy rates" and "sell rates" include overheads and profit margins that are set independently by each foreign exchange provider, they will vary depending on who you're talking to, and will always be different than the mid-market rate. It is very unlikely that you will be able have a transaction done at the mid-market rate reported in our free currency services.

Once you have an account, you can find out the exact rates you will receive for trades online through the XE Trade system. To assess the rates you would receive, log into XE Trade and follow the steps for a basic trade. We provide a full summary of your trade BEFORE you commit to it. This summary includes the exact exchange rate you will receive. If you do not like the rate you simply cancel the trade on the quote screen. There no fees to cancel a trade at this point. This allow you to evaluate our rates risk free.

In addition to this, we do also offer a best rate guarantee. We are confident that our rates should always be excellent and better than our competitors. However, if for any reason you can find anyone offering a better rate, simply get a quote from them and one from our system (the quotes must be like for like at roughly the same time) and let us know, and we will guarantee to beat the other rate.

XE Trade works in the following manner:

1) You book a transaction using the secure XE Trade website to convert your funds. Once you hit the "Confirm Trade" button this locks in the exchange rate. The rate does not change during the processing of the trade.

2) You send us the funds to be converted. This is the "payment" for the transaction. Payments can be by Wire/CHAPS transfer (the fastest method in the UK) or by BACS/Internet payments (the cheapest method). For your information, the transfer is a UK domestic payment as our GBP bank is in the UK.

Your bank will charge for a CHAPS transfer - you would need to check with the bank for their fees but the funds will typically arrive in our account during the same or next business day.

BACS/Internet payments are generally free (or low cost) but are slower. Payments using these methods typically take 3-5 business days to arrive in our accounts. There is also typically a 10,000 GBP per day limit imposed by most UK banks for this type of transfer.

Whichever method you use, please note that we cannot send out your converted funds until your full payment for the trade has been received. Please also note that we do ask that you initiate payment for the full amount within 3 business days of ordering your transaction.

More information on how to send us funds can be found in our FAQ at:

3) We convert the funds that you have provided to the currency you specified.

4) We deliver the converted currency as you specified by Wire Transfer.

Timescales to deliver the funds will depend on a number of factors including how you deliver funds to XE Trade and how you wish the funds to be delivered. Information on timescales can be found in our FAQ at:

You may also want to look at our overall Frequently Asked Questions and video demonstration.

The overall FAQ can be found at -

The video demonstration can be found at - These two areas should help you answer some of your questions and see the functionality of our system.

If you require anything else do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Cindy Chen

Sorry to hear about all those people having problems with FXA World. I do hope you are successful in getting your money back. PS. Sorry I couldn't include the links.

blueberrypie

Red_sky wrote: »

This is an email I received from Cindy at XE.com which I thought may be useful and which had been recommended a couple of times on this forum:
Detailed information regarding what documents you will need to send us when you sign up for an XE Trade account can be found at:

(This is the only problem I can foresee as I'm already in Vietnam so to send passport/driving license/utility bills by post from here is just not pratical)

When we opened an account with XE, we sent copies by fax/email. I don't think they had to be certified, although it was a few years ago, so it's possible I've forgotten or that procedures have changed. I'm sure they won't be expecting you to post them original documents though.

Red_sky

Thanks for your reply. I'm waiting to hear back from XE the easiest way to send them my ID docs. If I can scan them and send them by email that would be good. Thanks for your advice.

missile

If you want to transfer to spain. I would recomend open an account with Barclays.es. They accept cheque from any UK bank, give business rate with no charges or commision.
PS: They rebate 3% of any direct debits paid from your current account.

dc

Red_sky wrote: »

The overall FAQ can be found at -

The video demonstration can be found at - These two areas should help you answer some of your questions and see the functionality of our system.

How it works http://www.xe.com/fx/how.php

FAQs http://www.xe.com/fx/faq.php

Demos http://www.xe.com/fx/demo/ pick one from bottom

You can now speed up the your payment to them as they now accept payment by new "Faster Pay" from your bank (if it has that service), which gives them (XE) your money in minutes.
It is virtually a free Chaps system and speeds the FX trade by at least a couple of days.

"Faster Payments Service (FPS): A new payment method has recently been implemented in the UK which allows clients to take advantage of the best of both payment options. The Faster Payments Service allows clients to initiate a payment up to 10,000 GBP using their online banking interface. Like the BACS transfer, the payment is often free. Unlike the BACS transfer however, the funds will usually credit our account same day, rather than the 3-5 day timeline. "

Tempted to join XE however Caxton are FSA regged and offer good rates https://www.caxtonfx.com/Personal/online_payments.asp


AFAIK most accept copies of ID by email.


At mo I use Halifax online Banking to transfer from my current account.
So Easy and make you lazy
Same day $ receipt in USA ( at a Morgan Chase Bank Branch) for a fee of £9.95, but as the £ improves their $ rate has dropped. Used to be a couple of cents below IB rate but now 4-5 c below and the US intermediary bank HBOS use, Bank of New York Melon, has introduces a $32 fee.

And there are tiered rates (even though they (BoS) deny it) at around $3000 and $8000 which seem to be percentage rates as the changeover points increase as the pound improves. Each tier step gives you around a cent better rate. They also annoyingly drop the rate by a cent over the weekend too.


Good luck dc

dc

Red Sky:-

Found this link to send your ID securely to XE in jpg or pdf form.

XE Trade Secure File Transfer System (SFT)

https://www.xe.com/sft/

jamescoop

i registered with xe.com and transfermate.com. I guess what annoyed me about xe.com was they dont give you rates until youve gone through the hassle of sending in docs and after sending docs their rates are actually not very good.

i ended up using transfermate.com purely because they gave and committed to a rate before i wasted my time and they have a simple online system.

that was my experience anyway

blueberrypie

jamescoop wrote: »

i registered with xe.com and transfermate.com. I guess what annoyed me about xe.com was they dont give you rates until youve gone through the hassle of sending in docs and after sending docs their rates are actually not very good.

i ended up using transfermate.com purely because they gave and committed to a rate before i wasted my time and they have a simple online system.

that was my experience anyway

Just for the benefit of anyone who reads this and doesn't realise that "user who has posted three times" plus "every one of those posts promoting the same company" equals "very likely spam" - here's some more info:

Exchange rates change every few minutes, and all companies offering this service have to comply with regulations about who they deal with (hence the registration process). Any rate provided before you register with such a company would have expired before the registration process was complete - therefore anyone committing to a rate before you register is either charging more to insure itself against loss, or isn't being honest with you about the rate and/or service.

Googling "transfermate" brought up a few mentions - some of them very negative. Of the positive stories, there never seemed to be more than one person on any forum saying good things, and each time that one person seemed only to have made a couple of posts (never a regular). That in itself is a bit suspicious, but when you add that sometimes that one person was using a similar username to the poster above...oh, and I noticed that on one forum where two posters were praising the company, their posts shared the same spelling errors - again, all very suggestive of spam.

The "quick quote" rate provided on transfermate's website is an inter-bank rate and is not available to personal or small-to-medium business customers. That is not made clear on the page - you have to click through to a pop-up window to find out. Only the first transfer is fee-free - after that, there is a £10 fee. And their on-line payments system is only available to corporate clients. Again, these things are not made clear from the start.

Okay, so setting all of the above aside for a moment...rates. I just did a comparison of transfermate and xe.com, clicking for a rate on both at the same time. On a transfer of £1000 to US$, transfermate offered $8 more - *but* as mentioned, this is the interbank rate, not the *actual* rate that customers get (whereas the xe.com rate I got *was* the actual rate). However, even if it *had* been an actual rate, the fee would have made it a worse deal than XE.

Note: I have no association with XE other than as a very satisfied customer. I used them for comparison purposes simply because it was the easiest way for me to get a valid, guaranteed quote.

Dan77_3

I have had problems with various FX companies. They do show a saving against the bank but problems kept coming up with payments going on time and holding my funds. First Rate Fx showed me a largish saving, so I put a small kind of tester transaction through them, as suggested by my brother and found the service to be better than some of the others. I have been using them for around a 3 months and have had no complaints as of yet..

Saying that, you should definately ensure that the service you are promised is delivered. In this respect I have found that a lot of companies and banks are like politicians, and ALL should be dealt with at caution.

Hopefully this will be of help.

Red_sky

Thanks for your feedback dc. Just waiting for my paper copies of statements to arrive from the UK. My internet statements are no good because they don't show my address details on the same page. I will persevere.