Foreign currency deposits

straggler

Hi all,

I'm doing some work abroad for which I'll get paid directly into my UK account but in US Dollars. It's not enough to justify getting a US Dollar account.

Do all banks convert at the same rate? And are there charges for receiving money by international transfer? Or is there a particular account that's best for this sort of thing?

Thanks.

catokelly

straggler wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm doing some work abroad for which I'll get paid directly into my UK account but in US Dollars. It's not enough to justify getting a US Dollar account.

Do all banks convert at the same rate? And are there charges for receiving money by international transfer? Or is there a particular account that's best for this sort of thing?

Thanks.

Most banks will charge you a monthly fee if you choose to open a US Dollar account, you will also still have the issue of trying to convert the Dollars to Pounds at decent rates.

If US Dollars are sent directly to your UK bank account, most banks will offer uncompetive rates for converting the $$$ to £££s and also you wont know what rate was applied until after the transaction has been done.

Another option is to use an international money transfer specialist, most transfer specialists will hold designated currency accounts therefore you could transfer the $$$ directly to their US Dollar account, they would convert the funds to GBP at much better rates than the banks (and they would also let you know the rate before converting the Dollars, you could choose to book the rate or wait for the rate to improve). Once you have booked the rate the Sterling will be sent to your UK account. Your $$$ will go further if you go for this option.

straggler

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like a good idea although I'll have to check the company I'm working for will accept paying a transfer to someone other than me directly. They need an easily traceable paper trail so they can prove that the money they pay me has actually gone abroad (from Uganda) as salary.

catokelly

The company that you are working for would need to put your name as the reference when sending the payment. You can explain to your employer that because you dont hold a usd account you would like the funds to go to a forex company's client usd account.

You would also get an email receipt confirming receipt of funds and the conversion to GBP which you could forward onto your employer as proof.