Transferring money from Japan

yorica

Hi

I would be very interested to find out the best way ie cost effective way to transfer Japanese yen (worth £50k sterling) to the UK. The money will be used to pay for a house extension in the UK.

I would like to avoid the fees and poor exchange rates offered by the UK banks.

The money is coming from my in-laws in Japan who have suggested that they go into their local post office and just transfer the money to my wife's Halifax account (who incidentally is Japanese).

Although this is very easy for them to do, I do feel we will lose out considerably and I understand there are better, if not more complicated options elsewhere.

I've heard about the broker option and so I looked on the HiFX website where I thought I could set up an account in my in-laws name along with all their payment details. Could I control the whole process from the UK as they don't speak or understand English?

Is this feasible in any way or I'm I stuck with the Japanese post office/Halifax option?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

benjus

Have you tried calling HiFX and asking them?

One possibility might be for you to set up a contract for the deal with HiFX, then HiFX gives you a transaction reference number and the details of their JPY receiving account, then the in-laws go to the Post Office and make a transfer into the HiFX receiving account. HiFX then pays you into your/your wife's British account from their Sterling account.

I'm just using HiFX as an example because you mentioned them - I've never used them myself.

yorica

Does anyone have any opinions/advice they wish to share?

Many thanks

yorica

Seasons greetings

After speaking with HiFX they informed me to get my in-laws in Japan to set up an account with their Syndey office as they would be HiFx's clients not me (as I'm receiving the money). They would also have to supply ID etc.

This is too much to ask of my in-laws who simply want to go into their local post office and transfer the money to my UK bank account.

Unfortunately I feel the banking system here in the UK will simply rip us off with a poor FX rate and additional charges.

Can anyone recommend an alternative?

Many thanks