International payments - swift

ellzman

How long do international payments take?

is there any faster payment services etc? like chaps or bacs to receive money from an international person?

thanks in advance!!

stephane_2

It will take about 2 to 3 days to reach recipient but you generally have a fast option which take 24 hours but is more expensive....

ellzman

so there is a facility whereby I can receive it in 24 hours...? I did not know this, I always thought it was between 2-4 days...

stephane_2

Maybe not all banks offer that option, but I bank with First Direct and they do a 24hrs option at a cost of £20 I think depending on the amount sent

Ghostrider

It depends where in the world, what currency and which bank you are sending the money too.

You'll need to be a bit more specific if you want a useful answer. For instance, if you're sending Euros to a Socgen account in France by priority method, then you may get it in 24 hours, if on the other hand you are sending Vietnamese Dong to a 2 bob bank in Ghana and expecting them to convert to local currency, then it might take a little bit longer than a few days!

iwanttoberich

Try MoneyGram. I sometimes send money to family overseas and it gets there in 10 minutes. I'm sure it works the same way coming to the UK. They just need to collect from an agent. Here's the link: http://www.moneygram.com/MGI/EN/GB/Market/Market.htm?CC=GB&LC=EN. You can send it from the post office or one of their agents. I'm not sure what the limit is though, as I only do very small amounts such as £100.

ellzman

I am not the one sending the money.

I am hopefully looking to receive the money. It will be coming into my natwest account approximately $10000


thanks.

AnonymousForObviousReason

I'd call to check you're not going to be hit for some charges also with that amount of cash you may want to check out the exchange rate they offer and researching if it would be better to have it sent in sterling.

Also I'm reading the First Direct terms and conditions (I'm opening an account, its not for fun honest) and it states:
Inward payments received from banks abroad:
in Sterling above £100 = £6.00
in currency above £100 equivalent £8.00

Obviously you're with Natwest but what's good for the goose...

AnonymousForObviousReason

Another post just reminded me a friend used Citi bank to save money here and withdraw it on holiday in America (you don't say that's the source but you're getting $), that worked really well. Obviously this could be a delay as you'd have to set up an account but worth thinking about.