FX Brokers Feedback

Nukumai

Ranju wrote: »

We are contemplating of sending a very large sum of money from UK to St. Vincent for a holiday home.

In terms of credit risk, I would rather be exposed to a bank than a broker; so, whilst I tend to use a broker for my fx needs, and have always been extremely satisfied with their rates and levels of service, I always use a bank for larger amounts.

I'd suggest that you talk to your bank. For a larger sum you should expect to be offered a better-than-retail exchange rate.

D_Kerns

Dear Ranju,

You’re right about this situation – using a non-bank foreign exchange Company rather than a bank can be advantageous.

Another thing to consider is the time of your transaction – the currency markets are constantly fluctuating, and it’s crucial to keep your eye on the markets if you want to get the best rates. Banks will often give you a ‘rate of the day’ rather than waiting for the best time.

The major influences on currency are typically influenced by Political factors (elections, war, natural disasters etc), Social factors (property trends, tax levies etc) and Monetary factors (inflation, stock market trends etc).

You can also sign up to daily and weekly currency updates through some foreign exchange brokers.

David Kerns, Dealing Manager, Moneycorp

Pagan98

Only used them once but xe.com was relatively easy to set up, it took about a day and they didn't need to see my photo id. USD rate was pretty competitive at USD 1.5694 per 1 GBP on 3 August with no additional fees. The best thing was I could do a Faster Payments->XE.COM who initiated a Direct Deposit to ING (ING US don't accept incoming foreign wire transfers).

ERGOLOOK

ABrink wrote: »

It looks as though danielatom may not be the only person still (or again) having problems with FXA World. They have recently had a county court judgment against them leading to a complete collapse in their credit score.

I have some circa £180 still in the FXA or Barclays account. No reply from Barclays or FXA. ( no site) Has anyone gone to small claims court with success?

blueberrypie

Thousands of people face uncertainty over travel money after an exchange firm went into administration.

Crown Currency Exchange, one of the UK's biggest foreign exchange websites, has collapsed - blaming the downturn in the travel market.

Administrators MCR said that an estimated 13,000 consumers would be directly affected.

These people should not expect an early resolution in the case and a quick return of money, administrators said.

Full story on BBC website

dan1242

I thought I would come on here and give my views - for what it is worth. We work and run the editorial team at foreign exchange comparison site MyCurrencyTransfer.com. After learning of the crown currency exchange debacle, it has never been so important that the currency broker you go with is not merely FSA registered but AUTHORISED. Although this applied in this instance predominantly to holiday money, the principles can apply to foreign currency transfers. Without question, they provide cost savings (which Martin has alluded to) over traditional channels of overseas money transfers such as the high street banks, but it is about picking the right ones.

A few questions you may want to ask:

- Do you operate segregated client accounts? If so with whom and how are these properly managed and run
- What are your FSA credentials - registration number? Authorised?
- Track Record? How long have you been in business? What annual FX volume do you transact per annum

Of course - backing up an earlier post, it may be worth shopping around and getting quotes from a couple of brokers. It also may be possible to negotiate a little on price.

Editorial Team

MyCurrencyTransfer.com

redflash

I am currently in the middle of a transaction to convert 6K to Euro and send to France.

UKForex claim the money was sent on 4th but my account reads Remitted to Beneficiary 9th. This is 5 days after UKForex claim the money was remitted and 5 days into the future.

I have telephoned and emailed UKForex and repeatedly asked for exact details of the remittance. I also asked for an explanation why my account says the money was remitted on 9th but UKForex insist it was sent on the 5th.

The only explanation is that the 9th is the date they expect the funds to be credited to my account.

I have even telephoned the Australian HQ and they say Remitted to beneficiary actually means the date they expect the account to be credited.

I will see if the funds arrive on the 9th.

In the meantime a very unsatisfactory experience and with incorrect information on the UKForex secure web login pages I would have no confidence recommended UKForex or their HQ OZForex.

If the situation improves I will keep you posted.

Baldur

sandra-ozforex wrote: »

......Sandra Witzel
Social Media Manager
OzForex

Please see the rules of this forum, relating to those purporting to be authorised company representatives - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs#response

ronniek

I am waiting to send £10,000 to France but to a Post Office account rather than a bank and am thinking of using either Currencies.co.uk or World First. Does anyone know anything about these two companies and does using a post office account in France make any difference to the transfer??

benjus

I've opened an account with The FX Firm and so far sent 2 transactions of about £2k to France without any problems. For this sort of amount, the charges amount to about 1.5% of the amount sent. It works something like this:

Day 1: I call them and set up the trade
Day 2: I send them the money via Faster Payments
Day 3: They send the money to France
Day 4: The French account receives the money