How do I transfer my money with less fees?

Debjupp

Hi there, looking for some advice.
We've just sold our house in australia and now need to transfer the proceeds home to scotland.
Its $400,000 and on contacting National Bank in Australia theyve advised the only way to transfer it is by internet banking but I'll only be allowed to transfer $20,000 a day and each time it will cost me $22! Apart from the fact this will amount to over $400 in fees its going to take me 4 weeks to get all the money across!!
I cant believe there isnt an easier way to do it and due to the time difference with australia its proving hard to get hold of anyone to find out!
Hope someone has some pearls of wisdom x

bazster

This is not a technical limitation, it is a condition of your account with them. By the way, as well as the $22 NAB fee, your UK bank will charge you another fee for each transaction!

Your best bet might be to open another account in Australia, with NAB or a different bank, which will allow you to transfer it all in one go, and then transfer it all to that account first. I'd have thought that any bog-standard (i.e. non-internet) current account would do the trick, you'll just need to instruct them in writing rather than doing it online.

xylophone

What would have happened if you had simply told NAB that you wanted to close the account? Would they have insisted on holding the money in some kind of suspense account and transferring A$ 20,000 a day, or would they simply have transferred the whole sum on closure to an account of your choice?

InsideInsurance

How far are you willing to go to get it sorted?

You should be able to find some bank that operates in both countries and offers fee free internal international transfers. I believe HSBC do and possibly Citi.You could open accounts in both countries, transfer it to your Aus account then internally transfer it to your UK account and then back out to your regular UK account.

Of cause remember that fees are only one part of it and at that sum of money you also need to consider exchange rates and an FX company may be able to get better value for you.