Exchanging Euros to Pounds

Chrissymissy17

My daughter currently works in Germany (paid in euros with a German bank account) and is getting a really bad exchange rate when changing her euros to pounds for trips to UK - can anyone advise where she can get a better rate than the standard rates on offer - also when she returns home next year she will have a large sum to exchange and would lose a lot is she had to use a standard exchange agency. Thanks

benjus

Assume she still has a UK bank account? It's probably cheapest to use something like https://www.transferwise.com to transfer the EUR to GBP in her UK account.

If she prefers to take cash, have a look at http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/

InsideInsurance

Problem is the euro is weak at the moment and getting worse. A lot will depend on what your prediction is as to which way the euro will move, if you think itll continue getting worse then you may want to lock in the current rate as best you can, if you think itll get better then deal with it when she's ready to move

Takecareofthepennies

benjus wrote: »

Assume she still has a UK bank account? It's probably cheapest to use something like www.transferwise.com to transfer the EUR to GBP in her UK account.

If she prefers to take cash, have a look at http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/

I second Benjus re. Transferwise. Have used their service (on his initial recommendation) regularly for a couple of years or so now.
They seem to consistently offer the best available rates and are fast and reliable.

Obviously_the_best

Either if she has a UK account, or if you don't mind her sending them to you and you withdrawing them, Currency Fair or TransferWise are good bets.

sandsy

I find the best transfer rates are bank to bank as they use the interbank rate, and you just pay a specified fee.


I've used both my UK bank accounts to send money overseas using online banking. Can't she do the same with her German bank?

benjus

sandsy wrote: »

I find the best transfer rates are bank to bank as they use the interbank rate, and you just pay a specified fee.

Banks may use the inter-bank rate when trading with their own money, but they do not, in general, offer the inter-bank rate to customers moving money internationally. The actual rates they use are not generally published.

FXCompared.com used to show rates for a couple of banks (which were normally the worst in the list) but don't seem to do that any more.

If you've found a bank that offers customers the interbank rate for a fixed fee, please share it with us - if you could post an extract from the statements showing the money leaving and the money arriving (obviously with any personal details removed) that would be great.