Exchange Sterling for Australian dollars

M.Holloway

I've decided to make the move to Australia! England really is just too cold and dark for me.

I've sold my place in Finchley and after various debts and travel costs have about £85,000 to take with me.

I'm essentially wondering what is the best way to transfer my money to an Australian bank account, and convert the currency.

A friend of mine said if I did a straight bank transfer I would lose a massive chunk of my cash in the exchange.

Checking on MSE’s http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange there is a good guide on how to get the best provider, but the list is very limited and doesn’t really tell me the full spectrum of charges, fees, commissions and rate that I might get specifically for my money.

I got a quote today which will get me around $121,500 (inc. charges, etc) but I was wondering if someone knows whether this is a good deal or not??

I’ll be flying soon so any help before this Thursday will be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance

laurentulse

You can use an Australian bank if you don't want to send money from London, however keep an eye on the Aussie charges not only on currency transfer fees, but the account maintenance charges.

A typical example to use as guidance see below bank charges:
- $0 to $5,000 (AUD equivalent) = AUD60
- $5,001 to $100,000 (AUD equivalent) = AUD30
- Balances over $100,000 (AUD equivalent) = No fees

In addition to the account maintenance charges the following fees also apply:
- Foreign currency cheque/bank draft negotiations = AUD25
- Foreign currency cheque/bank draft sent for collection = AUD50



Good luck!

drlewis1951

I know how you feel. I am trying to transfer sterling to Florida (not that much) and have quotes from banks that are far higher than fx brokers. On £12,500 the best I've got is $19,530 including fees with a broker. Worst $18,625 with a major high street bank. However still doing my home work and trying to get a cheap deal.

Not aiming to hijack your post, but does anybody know if the FSA coverage is the same for banks and currency brokers?

Spanish_Prince

Sounds like a very poor deal - this equates to an exchange rate of about 1.43 when the Australian dollar spot rate today closed at about 1.528 , you should be looking in the region of $127,500 - $6,000 more than you have been quoted!!
Try contacting one of the companies on the Martin Lewis Cheap Travel Money Site - for example Thomas Exchange -email them and they will give you a quote [EMAIL="sales@thomasexchange.co.uk"]sales@thomasexchange.co.uk[/EMAIL]

zagfles

M.Holloway wrote: »

I've decided to make the move to Australia! England really is just too cold and dark for me.

I've sold my place in Finchley and after various debts and travel costs have about £85,000 to take with me.

I'm essentially wondering what is the best way to transfer my money to an Australian bank account, and convert the currency.

A friend of mine said if I did a straight bank transfer I would lose a massive chunk of my cash in the exchange.

Checking on MSE’s http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange there is a good guide on how to get the best provider, but the list is very limited and doesn’t really tell me the full spectrum of charges, fees, commissions and rate that I might get specifically for my money.

I got a quote today which will get me around $121,500 (inc. charges, etc) but I was wondering if someone knows whether this is a good deal or not??

I’ll be flying soon so any help before this Thursday will be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance

Don't touch that quote with a bargepole - it's a complete rip-off.

When transferring large amounts you should be looking at the interbank rate, and anything less than that consider the charge for the transaction. The interbank rate is currently about 1.53, so 85k should get you AUD 130,050, so they're charging you AUD 8550, ie £5588 !! That is a total rip-off.

neilbond007

Looks like you should be looking at getting closer to $130,000
http://www.fxcompared.com/Content/money-transfer-from-UK-Australia-above-3000-amount-85000

I have used TorFX to transfer cash from the UK to the USA twice (2 years ago) and IFX about a month ago. Both went very smoothly.

Fees wise - TorFX there were no fees. IFX charged GBP10 (bank fees). IFX had a better rate than any of the other options so that was a tenner well spent!

When I initially moved over here 2 1/2 years ago I investigated various ways of transferring money. Inter bank transfers typically gave you a crap rate and high charges. It was a no brainer to use fx brokers.

drlewis - Looks like $19,500 is about the best you can hope for... http://www.fxcompared.com/Content/money-transfer-from-UK-USA-above-3000-amount-12500
IFX (and most fx brokers i'm guessing) give you a rate of about 1.5c below the inter bank rate. I got lucky and transfered GBP10k on the day it hit 1.66 and therefore I got a rate of $1.6450. I have more to transfer but losing 8c in the last fortnight is holding me back...

If either of you are interested I can let you know my contact at IFX. He did a great job when I was being !!!!!!ed around by the Halifax.

adelrisco

Probably not the best deal that you can get. With current rate fluctuations you should be able to get something nearer to $129,000 australian dollars including fees with a broker like RationalFX.

Banks tend to charge transfer fees and/or give not as competitive good rates.

Good luck and hope you get a good deal.

adelrisco

Hi, drlewis
Looking at your case, today you should be able to get around 21K US dollars including fees. So, shop around and make sure you get the right provider.
With FSA authorised brokers funds are ringfenced, so your money is always protected.
Andres

neilbond007

adelrisco wrote: »

Hi, drlewis
Looking at your case, today you should be able to get around 21K US dollars including fees. So, shop around and make sure you get the right provider.
With FSA authorised brokers funds are ringfenced, so your money is always protected.
Andres

$21,000??

You sure?

Where?

Best I can see is just over $19,500

neilbond007

ashleyingle wrote: »

It may pay to look at more boutique currency brokers who have this same FSA protection but more fiercely competitive compared to the larger fx brokerages who just about beat banks rates.

OK, like who?

SWISS_FRANK

neilbond007 wrote: »

$21,000??

You sure?

Where?

Best I can see is just over $19,500

You are right, the US spot rate as I write this is 1.5725 - the best rate you could hope for at the moment would be about 1.56 which would come to $19,500 for £12,500.
To get $21,000 you would need to be getting a rate of 1.68 which at the moment is clearly impossible !