Any way to pay less receiving money from abroad?

sgt_bilko_2

In January of this year EU VAT was introduced on digital downloads forcing online sellers to either register for VAT and deal with the tax complexities of 28 countries or go through a billing company that handles this side but charges for the service.

The problem I have is that the billing company are paying in US dollars and I'm getting hammered by the Halifax every time money is received into my account. Last month I was expecting just over £2000 but the final amount credited to my account was around £1850 and Halifax do not provide any information on the charges or the exchange rate.

Does anybody know of a cheaper bank or alternative for receiving money from another currency? This feels like an absolute ripoff and it's really hurting my finances that have already been hit by the increased billing costs and the huge fall off in European sales since EU VAT was introduced.

eskbanker

I find it difficult to imagine anyone pulling a financial fast one on Sgt Bilko!

Are you able to use a different billing company perhaps, that will bill in your native currency? Alternatively, check out http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange

globalds

buy bitcoins in dollars ..sell in pounds ..pray that the coin doesn't drop stupid amounts whilst you hold it.

jonesMUFCforever

sgt_bilko wrote: »

In January of this year EU VAT was introduced on digital downloads forcing online sellers to either register for VAT and deal with the tax complexities of 28 countries or go through a billing company that handles this side but charges for the service.

The problem I have is that the billing company are paying in US dollars and I'm getting hammered by the Halifax every time money is received into my account. Last month I was expecting just over £2000 but the final amount credited to my account was around £1850 and Halifax do not provide any information on the charges or the exchange rate.

Does anybody know of a cheaper bank or alternative for receiving money from another currency? This feels like an absolute ripoff and it's really hurting my finances that have already been hit by the increased billing costs and the huge fall off in European sales since EU VAT was introduced.

Halifax charge between £5 and £12 for inward payments so any other ''loss'' is down to your billing company.
What rate were you expecting?

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Halifax charge between £5 and £12 for inward payments

I'd expect ~3% extra for currency conversion, i.e. ~£60 for £2K.
However, even this can't explain ~£150 missing.

so any other ''loss'' is down to your billing company.

And to intermediary banks (if any), but again, ~£80 is far too much even for them.

sgt_bilko_2

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Halifax charge between £5 and £12 for inward payments so any other ''loss'' is down to your billing company.
What rate were you expecting?

The billing company sent $3065 and according to their web site there is no charge for sending international transfers to the UK. When I checked a couple online exchange rates that day it indicated I would receive around £2015, so I figured it would be about £2000 after bank charges. When checking my account online Halifax do not list the original dollar amount, charges or the exchange rate. It's simply listed as £1849.

glider3560

sgt_bilko wrote: »

The billing company sent $3065 and according to their web site there is no charge for sending international transfers to the UK. When I checked a couple online exchange rates that day it indicated I would receive around £2015, so I figured it would be about £2000 after bank charges. When checking my account online Halifax do not list the original dollar amount, charges or the exchange rate. It's simply listed as £1849.

I suspect the billing company are doing the coversion and not informing you.

sgt_bilko_2

glider3560 wrote: »

I suspect the billing company are doing the coversion and not informing you.

They say they only deal with US dollars but tomorrow I'll do some digging. The confirmation email they sent clearly indicates they sent US dollars.

jennifernil

My OH gets a pension from abroad every month. We found he gets to keep more of it by getting it sent to our Nationwide account rather than our main account with Halifax.

sgt_bilko_2

jennifernil wrote: »

My OH gets a pension from abroad every month. We found he gets to keep more of it by getting it sent to our Nationwide account rather than our main account with Halifax.

Is it a little bit more or considerably more? I've just been looking at alternative options and found a service called CurrencyFair that claims to charge much lower fees than typical banks but I have no experience of using a service like this.

eDicky

sgt_bilko wrote: »

Is it a little bit more or considerably more? I've just been looking at alternative options and found a service called CurrencyFair that claims to charge much lower fees than typical banks but I have no experience of using a service like this.

With services such as CurrencyFair, TransferWise etc, it is the party sending the funds who need to initiate it with the broker, and usually have an account with them to do it. If your billing agents would agree to do that, there is certainly a substantial saving to be made on your side, but probably not on theirs...

I think you need to ask Halifax for a detailed breakdown of that transfer, the inward USD amount, their charges and the exchange rate applied, to enable a proper analysis to be made of what caused the shortfall. Also try to check how the billing company send their international transfers without charge - do they absorb the charge, or use such a broker at their end?