best euro to pound exchange rate

kokolino23

I need to transfer a big chunk of money from my abroad account to UK so I can purchase a property here.
What would be the best way to do it safely so I can get the highest exchange rate possible, please?
Many thanks.

benjus

Cheapest: fxcompared.com transferwise.com etc

Safest: direct bank transfer

You might be able to negotiate a rate with your bank rather than just accepting the standard rate for the day the money his your account.

kokolino23

I spoke to my bank and the exchange needs to be done abroad as the account here is in sterling. If I do that, I have to sell the euros first, then buy sterling with the local currency.

Voyager2002

I used to use Fidelity Money Funds for this... not sure if it still works.

Google Fidelity Investments and speak to them. They should be able to open an investment account for you that would accept bank transfers from your Euro account. You would then transfer the funds to them in Euro so that you would be holding an interest-bearing Euro fund. You use that to buy a Sterling fund, and then ask them to transfer the sum in sterling to your UK bank. If they still do this, that is probably the best possible exchange rate available.

grumbler

kokolino23 wrote: »

I spoke to my bank and the exchange needs to be done abroad as the account here is in sterling.

Most likely you were told bu11shit.

That said, expect to lose ~3% on conversion when receiving a € transfer to a £ account. Some banks also charge a small flat fee for incoming international transfers.

There are many UK currency brokers that will accept € transfer from abroad and then transfer ££ to your UK account. See MSE article:

• Sending Money Overseas