Buying flat in Germany - need to transfer large amount of £ to €

johnieutah

Hi all,

I am looking at buying a flat in Germany and need to transfer at least £70k in to my € account. Obviously I'd like to get the most out of the money and have looked into services such as Trasnferwise and currencyfair, but are they safe for such a large amount of cash? Any alternatives? (where I'm not going to lose a large chunk of cash in fees etc... )

Many thanks.

innovate

No transfer is guaranteed under any scheme. You can reduce your risk by paying one of the outfits you might consider more reputable (such as a bank), and/or shipping your money in several instalments.

catokelly

To obtain the best rates use an international money transfer specialist. Ensure that the company that you use is FSA Authorised as this means that customers funds are ringfenced and protected. Also companies that are FSA authorised have to go through stringent financial, compliance and security checks before they can obtain the FSA Authorised status (unlike FSA registered status).

Also take other factors into account such as how long the company has been operating, what kind of rates they will offer for the amount that you mention and maybe speak to them on the phone to ask them any other questions that you may have as it's good to also speak to them considering the large amount you are transferring..

Nukumai

Are you remitting the funds to your German lawyer? Or to your own EUR a/c?

I have 2 euro accounts (1 in Cyprus and 1 in Spain) and a NZ account and have, until recently, used http://www.tranzfers.com/ Their quoted exchange-rates have always been acceptable and there is a low-cost flat-fee. They work on the basis that you transfer your GBP into their client account, then they (from their EUR own a/c) transfer the requisite amount of EUR into your EUR a/c...which is why I ask whether you are funding your own EUR a/c (there may be issues in setting up a third-party a/c - such as your German lawyer - as a valid receiving a/c). The transfer typically takes a couple of days to complete.

I have never had any problems at all with tranzfers and would recommend them (subject to you doing some obvious due diligence into them yourself).

More recently I have used the International Payments functionality that is available with my Lloyds Bank current a/c. The rate is never the best achievable (though, whose is...?) and the fee is comparable with tranzfers, but the biggest advantage is that the funds are typically available in my EUR a/c a couple of hours after leaving my GBP a/c.

One tip, irrespective of how you do this...remit a relatively small value payment first, to ensure that the end-to-end process (a/c numbers etc) has been set up correctly. If you feel like breaking the payments up into smaller components, then this can be a good idea, and will only cost you the additional flate fees plus any timing difference on the exchange-rate.

grumbler

catokelly wrote: »

...Ensure that the company that you use is FSA Authorised as this means that customers funds are ringfenced and protected. ...

I think this is a great over-estimation of "FSA Authorised" status.
Moneybookers (Skrill) are FSA Authorised, but their T&C say very clearly:

3.6. Electronic money accounts are not bank accounts. ... In the unlikely event that we become insolvent, you may lose the electronic money held in your Skrill (Moneybookers) Account. ...

catokelly

I have googled 'Skrill reviews' and they dont have very good reviews! Also lots of jargon about 'e-wallets', 'digital wallets' etc...

innovate

catokelly wrote: »

I have googled 'Skrill reviews' and they dont have very good reviews! Also lots of jargon about 'e-wallets', 'digital wallets' etc...

What's wrong with the jargon? How else would you refer to a an electronic wallet?

Skrill are perfectly ok as an e-wallet / digital wallet, I have used them extensively for the last 6 years and I know lots of other people who use them without issues. The negative reports are predominantly from people who don't comprehend the (simple) ID verification steps, and from folks who are trying to run multiple accounts under different names. Surprise surprise, this isn't allowed.

However, except for small amounts, Skrill are not your best choice for sending money from one country to another. Their charges for larger amounts are not competitive.