US dollar salary into UK bank

nicholas123

I will be starting a new job where I will receive my salary in US$. I appreciate from previous posts that the options for receiving my salary into the UK are:

1. Standard payment from my employer into my UK current account (currently Lloyds TSB). This is dependent on the Lloyds exchange rate (probably not great), and possibly they will charge for processing the monthly payment (need to check if this is the case and how much, can't find the info on their website). Any advice on which UK banks consistently offer better $:£ exchange rates, or no fee for accepting international payments?

2. Open a US dollar account, and process the transfer when the exchange rates are most reasonable. I'm not sure whether this would work out more or less costly. Any advice on possible banks for a US$ account?

Many thanks, Nicholas

InsideInsurance

As you are in control of when the exchange is made then in theory the 2nd is the better option but realistically how often are you going to need to draw on your salary? Do you have enough stirling liquid assets that you could go without pay for 6 months if the rates become unfavourable? If you are drawing down every month the benefit may be fairly small.

jennifernil

My husband receives pension payments from abroad each month, we discovered that Nationwide do not make a charge for receiving foreign payments, they also give a good rate of exchange. This is handled via HSBC, so you need to supply all the correct details. We use the NW FlexAccount. I suppose using an HSBC account would work out similarly.

Not sure about the Lloyds exchange rates, but I do know that they will make a charge of at least £7 for an incoming foreign transaction of over £100.

opowell

Citibank offer a UK based US dollar bank account. If you have more than £2000 in it, it's fee free (it used to be fee free for everyone).

Anyway, you could get the cheques paid in there, and then either use Citibank to exchange it, or withdraw it as dollars cash and exchange it wherever.

We've also used UKForex for exchanges, although that was for a larger transaction.

catokelly

Avoid sending the Dollars directly to your Sterling account as the banks rates are usually 'tourist rates' and the worst on the high street! You also have no idea what rate has been applied until after the transaction has been done.

Another option you may consider is that you could also use a currency broker to accept the US Dollar payments in their US Dollar account, they would then convert the Dollars into Sterling (using live market rates not tourist/bank rates), once you have agreed the rate, they would send the funds to your nominated Sterling account.

Thomas Exchange can accept inbound US Dollar transfers into their Dollar account for this purpose, if you are in London you can call to one of their offices, or email them/ring them for more info/Registration form, they dont charge any fee for receiving inbound international transfers.

jicms

Does anyone know the cheapest way to transfer from an Australian bank account into a UK one? In this case the receiving bank is Nationwide (Flexaccount) which are usually one of the best for charges, but this payment incurred heavy charges presumably from the Australian bank.

catokelly

jicms wrote: »

Does anyone know the cheapest way to transfer from an Australian bank account into a UK one? In this case the receiving bank is Nationwide (Flexaccount) which are usually one of the best for charges, but this payment incurred heavy charges presumably from the Australian bank.

I suspect that Nationwide may have charged you for receiving Australian Dollars into a Sterling account, they would have also used generic tourist rates to convert the Australian $ into Sterling.

With refererence to my earlier answer to Nicholas, Thomas Exchange also hold an Australian Dollar account, whereby they can receive Australian Dollars into their Aussie $ account. When the funds hit their account, they will let you know the rate and then transfer the UK Sterling equivalent into your nominated UK account. Rates always better than the banks.

Once you register with them, they provide you with their Australian Dollar details, there isnt much info on their website about on their site so is best to email [EMAIL="enquiries@thomasexchange.co.uk"]enquiries@thomasexchange.co.uk[/EMAIL] or visit one of their branches.

lovinituk

jicms wrote: »

Does anyone know the cheapest way to transfer from an Australian bank account into a UK one? In this case the receiving bank is Nationwide (Flexaccount) which are usually one of the best for charges, but this payment incurred heavy charges presumably from the Australian bank.

Who sent the money from the Aus bank? They would have had the option for charges to paid by them or by the receiver - looks like they chose the latter!

Melontwist

HSBC are the best bank for non sterling income

jicms

The funds are being transferred from my daughter in Aus to her UK account here.

Not sure if money transfer companies like Moneycorp or FX are the way to go.

jicms

"I suspect that Nationwide may have charged you for receiving Australian Dollars into a Sterling account, they would have also used generic tourist rates to convert the Australian $ into Sterling."

Goes to show a bank that's good for some things is totally unsuitable for others.