Transfering money UK £ to US $ accounts?

leith

Hi

I live in the UK but frequently visit the USA. I therefore have a UK GBP account at LloydsTSB, and a US USD account at Bank of America.

Wire transfers incur large fees - anyone got any bright ideas to transfer from my UK to my USA account?

I am prepared to open a UK account with another UK bank if needed.

dgp1000

Hi - Try Citibank in the UK. You can open up a USD Current Account here and transfer money between a GBP and USD bank account as you would between two UK GBP bank accounts. That way you'd keep your Lloyds TSB account. Regards

[Deleted User]

dgp1000 wrote: »

Hi - Try Citibank in the UK. You can open up a USD Current Account here and transfer money between a GBP and USD bank account as you would between two UK GBP bank accounts. That way you'd keep your Lloyds TSB account. Regards

Seconded. They're very good.

markbodega

As Martin says in his guide to making international payments, when moving money, costs fall into two simple categories: fees and the exchange rate. It’s crucial to check both out when choosing who to use.

· Fees. The obvious charge.
A multitude of fees, charges or commission can apply, both for the sender and the recipient. Many providers levy lots of small charges to disguise exactly how much it costs.

· Exchange rates. The hidden charge.
Many companies claim to be ‘commission free’ then load the exchange rate so you get less buck for your pound. Worse still, it’s often teeth-pullingly difficult to get hold of the exact rate and compare it, as some providers simply don’t provide the data.

A number of banks allow you to transfer money without a fee. This being the case I’d look at Citibank, HSBC and Lloyds. HSBC for example, offers fees free transfer to 41 countries including the US, but you need its Premier bank account (which means you need £50k savings or a £250k mortgage with HSBC, or £75k salary going into an HSBC account), so it’s not worth it unless you make a lot of transfers. Citibank have a number of account options including multi-currency accounts and US Dollar and Sterling accounts. Just bear in mind that whilst they offer ‘no charges’ the exchange rates offered are not particularly keen.

You therefore might also want to contact one of the larger currency specialists to do a comparison. Most won’t charge you to make a transfer and they offer much better exchange rates (traditionally saving you around 4% on the exchange rate alone).

Some will also have an online transfer service which offer discounted exchange rates if you transfer your money via their internet service each time you need to make a transfer.

Whatever you prefer it pays to shop around.

Best regards

Mark

FB13

A lot of people use XE.com

You can send money to them using faster payment and receive the money via EFT to avoid wire transfer fees. This is what I do to transfer money from my Lloyds account to pay my american student loans.