Best way of sending Euros to UK

Android08

This year I've been working in Germany. I have a German bank account that my wages have been paid into, next month I am leaving and want to know the best way to send my euros back to my UK account.

My UK bank account is with Natwest although the exchange rates on international transfers are terrible. I will probably have about €4000.

In the past I have withdrawn cash and brought it back, then posted it to Best Exchange as it showed the best rate on the Travel Money Maximiser, although that was with smaller amounts. Royal Mail will only give 2500 insurance on special delivery. I was wondering if there is a better way of doing it that will be me the most pounds back.

I see that most of the places listed have branches in London although I'm not anywhere near there and don't really want to travel there if I can avoid.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

dzug1

Well a bank transfer is simplest. There will be a fee, but you'll get a better exchange rate than you would for cash, sufficient (with large sums) to outweigh the fee. Try your German bank if you think Natwest's fees are too high.

A currency broker is the other solution.

galaxygirl01

I've been working in Italy for 10 months and have an Italian bank account but lots of things that come out of my UK Barclays account so I regularly transfer my euros to the UK (mostly every 2-3 months so 3000 0r 4000 euros at a time) and I seem to get the amount I expect to be getting when I've checked the exchange rate. If there is a difference for charges it's only small.

That's my experience anyway

Android08

My problem wasn't with the bank charges. It is the bank's exchange rate. Natwest's buying rate is currently 1.3117 while Best Exchange has 1.2158. With 4000EUR this gets 3049.48GBP and 3290.01GBP respectively. Natwest's also has a charge of 7GBP for receiving the payment, nearly 250GBP difference.
I was hoping for a better way of doing this that didn't involve posting €4000 cash.

ailuro2

Can't you use a bureau de change over in Germany to buy GBP?

spiro

You need to bare in mind that the pound has peaked against the euro over the last few days and you could buy €1.18 for £1 meaning the buy rate would be around €1.25-€1.35 to buy £1. I have just checked on the Post Office website and their buy rate is €1.3186 = £1.

The other option is to bring cash back and sell it to someone(s) who needs euros for the summer because then you can split the buy/sell rate.

MikeKBRFX

Hi Android08!

As suggested by dzug1, a currency broker would probably be your best option.

You would be able to get a much better exchange rate with a broker, anything up to 4 or 5 cents better.

Once you have registered with a broker (very simple and can be done online in most cases), you can agree a rate, send them the Euros and they will transfer the agreed amount of Pounds sterling to your UK account once they receive the Euros, with no charges.

Always make sure though, you use a company who are FSA regulated.

Voyager2002

The broker that I use for this kind of thing is at https://www.xe.com Registration is a bit of a hassle, but the service is excellent and exchange rates are the best that I have been able to find. Zero charges (apart from the spread on buy and sell rates). And I understand that they are now FSA-regulated.