International Tranfer Hidden Charge

Somebody99

I was sending some money to the USA using my UK HSBC account and I needed the money to be the equivalent of 300 USD I chose to pay the UK charge knowing that Bank of America would charge 15 USD and I would be left with the USD 285 I need to purchase an item. However HSBC USA charged me an extra USD 25 for being an intermediary bank. SO in total I paid UK HSBC 4 pounds, Bank of America 15 USD and 25 USD to HSBC USA. I am very unhappy about the intermediary charge to HSBC USA!!!! Please help me with knowing my rights they have offered to refund me 20 pounds but I send money every few months to USA and I only realised now they hav been taking 25usd every time

agrinnall

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein


(although other sources suggest he never said it, but it's a good line).

Stop using a bank to bank transfer, and look into using a currency broker instead, which will be much cheaper.

grumbler

You don't have any rights as I am pretty sure BoA warn about possible extra charges. Be happy with £20 that HSBC offer you.

It's your fault that you didn't notice the charge for months and have not looked for other options:
https://www.fxcompared.com/Content/money-transfer-from-UK-USA-below-3000-amount-200
http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/money-transfer-to-USA/200-GBP
MSE article: Sending Money Overseas

For small amounts even Papal, Skrill or even WU are likely to be cheaper than a bank transfer.

wizzards

Give transferwise a try

www.transferwise.com

You can set the amount you want to credit or the amount you want to send. Its a great service for small amounts. I have used it many time with no issues as yet. By far one of the cheapest way to transfer money or even buy stuff from abroad when credit card won't do.

mgdavid

my personal recommendation is
https://www.currencyfair.com

COIAHLGW

Another vote for Transferwise here also.... Transfers to my Bank of America account have always been within a day or so - and because at that point it's a domestic transfer, BofA don't charge any additional fees.

Toe-Jam

I live in Northern Ireland and Work in the Republic, I have come to realise there is no one size fits all solution to transferring money.

I personally don't recommend Transferwise, They take days to convert the money, you have to keep checking on it if the market has moved to much, they just put it on hold, until you accept the lower rate.

I use xendpay, you can pay by debit card and you can decide how much you want to pay as a transfer fee (including nothing). Its great for small amounts.

jjlandlord

The insanity, I think, is making international wire transfers for such low amounts.

Even without the intermediary bank charge, for $300 you'd be paying about 7% in fees...

Toe-Jam wrote: »

I live in Northern Ireland and Work in the Republic, I have come to realise there is no one size fits all solution to transferring money.

Most banks charge very little fees, or no fees at all for SEPA transfers, so I think that you would only be paying based on the exchange rate applied.

Toe-Jam

jjlandlord wrote: »

The insanity, I think, is making international wire transfers for such low amounts.

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of saving up my salary and transferring it once a year, I have to eat and have bills to pay.

jjlandlord wrote: »

Even without the intermediary bank charge, for $300 you'd be paying about 7% in fees...

I have today transferred €500 to my UK Account and got £390.80

The Midmarket rate at the time was £390.88

Please explain how i'm paying 7% in fees ?

jjlandlord wrote: »

Most banks charge very little fees, or no fees at all for SEPA transfers, so I think that you would only be paying based on the exchange rate applied.

Yes it costs nothing to send the money via SEPA, However UK banks fleece people when they receive foreign currency, So it must arrive already converted in order for this not to happen.

jjlandlord

Toe-Jam wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of saving up my salary and transferring it once a year, I have to eat and have bills to pay.



I have today transferred €500 to my UK Account and got £390.80

The Midmarket rate at the time was £390.88

Please explain how i'm paying 7% in fees ?

Hey I was replying to your post only after I quoted it.
The first part of my post was directed at OP, since that's his thread.