Received a foreign cheque - I want the best rate

josied

Hi there,

I've just returned from Australia and have a cheque for approx $10k which I need to cash.

When I compared the interest rate of my bank (paying the cheque straight into my a/c) to the XE.com interest rate I was losing around £300 in what I presume to be the poor exchange rate (there was a small fee of around £12 I think).

I could post the cheque back to my sister who is still in Aus and have her pay it in to my aussie a/c, so I can then use an online service with a better exchange rate such as Ozforex.com, but the problem is I need the money quite urgently and I'm worried how long this process will take.

Are there any other options I have? Or does anyone know if some banks have better rates than others? I'd happily open a new current a/c with a bank to take advantage of a better FX rate.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

grumbler

josied wrote: »

I could post the cheque back to my sister who is still in Aus and have her pay it in to my aussie a/c, so I can then use an online service with a better exchange rate such as Ozforex.com, but the problem is I need the money quite urgently and I'm worried how long this process will take.

Clearing in UK is unlikely to be any faster, but will cost you much more. You should have brought cash, not a cheque.

For alternatives to Ozforex check fxcompared.com and mycurrrencytransfer.com

Voyager2002

josied wrote: »

Hi there,

I could post the cheque back to my sister who is still in Aus and have her pay it in to my aussie a/c, so I can then use an online service with a better exchange rate such as Ozforex.com, but the problem is I need the money quite urgently and I'm worried how long this process will take.

That would be the fastest solution: while your bank has told you the amount you would receive, they have probably not told you how long it would take.

Perhaps pay for an express service or courier.

jonesMUFCforever

grumbler wrote: »

Clearing in UK is unlikely to be any faster, but will cost you much more. You should have brought cash, not a cheque.

For alternatives to Ozforex check fxcompared.com and mycurrrencytransfer.com

Can i suggest cash rates would not be very good versus foreign exchange rates.

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Can i suggest cash rates would not be very good versus foreign exchange rates.

Surely they will be much better than for a cheque deposited to a UK bank.

The best buyback rate I see is 2.099: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/australian%20dollars/10000#results

This is 1.2% worse than 2.074 that I see at http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/