Money transfer from US to UK

Footslog

Dear all,

Apologies if this has been covered before - I did some searching on the forum but I couldn't find anything similar.

A relative in the US wants to send me some money. On a previous occasion several years ago, she did this by writing me a cheque. That worked, after some delay, phone calls to my bank and with fairly hefty charges deducted. The whole process felt a bit flaky and uncertain to me.

On that occasion my bank advised that it would be much better for her to do a money transfer online in future.

My aunt doesn't do online banking, but has forwarded me an email from her financial advisor who is asking for the following information:

Recipient’s Financial Institution Name:
Recipient’s Financial Institution Address:
Recipient’s Financial Institution Phone Number ( and contact name if possible ):
Recipient’s Financial Institution Swift ID:
Recipient’s Financial Institution IBAN #:
Recipient’s Financial Institution Routing Number:
Recipients Financial Institution Account Number:
Recipient’s Full Name and Address:
FBO Account Name and Address ( complete with full name as it appears on their account and address including postal code ):


Most of this I can work out, but am I right in thinking that 'Routing Number' would be Sort Code? I'm guessing FBO means 'For the Benefit Of' in this context, so it would be my name and address again?

Has anyone had similar experience of receiving a money transfer from the US? Is there anything else I should know or look out for?

For security reasons, I won't be sending the requested details via email, btw.


Many thanks for any advice.

eDicky

Yes, Sort Code is the UK equivalent of Routing Number.

I can't imagine the beneficiary bank's phone number being necessary, and not likely to be available for a branch.

I would also ignore FBO, could be 'further benefit of' in case of relevance.

You will still be charged by your bank for receiving foreign currency and its conversion at a terrible rate. These days such transfers can be done easily online with a broker, saving most of the fees and conversion costs, but it sounds unlikely that the FA has a clue about such things.

Flobberchops

No, the routing code isn't the same as the sort code. Your bank will be able to tell you what routing code details to provide for an incoming international payment.

Footslog

Thanks eDicky and Flobberchops.

I'm pretty much resigned to following the FA this time - even doing something other than writing a cheque took some persuasion!

I'll contact my bank re 'Routing number' and see what they have to say.

eDicky

Flobberchops wrote: »

No, the routing code isn't the same as the sort code. Your bank will be able to tell you what routing code details to provide for an incoming international payment.

These will be the SWIFT/BIC and IBAN, as already requested.

Accounts are identified by the routing number and account number in the US, just as the sort code and account number are used in the UK. That's why the US routing number can be said to be the equivalent of the UK sort code. In practice the sort code will be just something to fill in the 'routing number' field in the form for ordering the transfer, if required.

Flobberchops

eDicky wrote: »

These will be the SWIFT/BIC and IBAN, as already requested.

Accounts are identified by the routing number and account number in the US, just as the sort code and account number are used in the UK. That's why the US routing number can be said to be the equivalent of the UK sort code. In practice the sort code will be just something to fill in the 'routing number' field in the form for ordering the transfer, if required.

Possibly. A routing/ABA code is nine digits long, so depending on the sender's system, it may not be sufficient to simply fill the corresponding data field with any numbers, and neither the sort or account would be nine digits long. For example my bank, Barclays, tells customers to give the routing ABA number 026002574 to receive money from America.

eDicky

Well, you know I was thinking that a major UK bank may be smart enough to have such a 'routing' number ready to satisfy American bank requirements, they usually have no conception that anything international could be different to their own systems.

Also I thought of the obvious solution, which should be manageable - if the OP opens a TransferWise Borderless account it provides a personal USD account and details at a US bank for receiving the dollars directly as a domestic transfer, making everything easier and avoiding bank fees and exchange rates. TransferWise uses the interbank rate and charges a very small percentage, the dollars converted at leisure and withdrawn to any UK bank as a UK domestic transfer, no fees.

Footslog

Thanks for the further suggestion eDicky. I will follow up on the Transferwise idea as a possible alternative. It sounds like it may have the advantage of making things simpler (and more cost effective) for me without having ask my aunt's financial advisor to do anything different.

londoninvestor

Footslog wrote: »

Thanks for the further suggestion eDicky. I will follow up on the Transferwise idea as a possible alternative. It sounds like it may have the advantage of making things simpler (and more cost effective) for me without having ask my aunt's financial advisor to do anything different.

Just to underscore eDicky's point, if you go this way (which I'd recommend too!), you should make sure the transfer of dollars is done as a US domestic transfer (called ACH) which is fee-free - don't use a "wire" or SWIFT transfer, which will cost you or your aunt in fees.

sausage_time

TransferWise is a good solution. Just be aware that they don't have FSCS protection, so I generally don't leave much in the account.

Chino

eDicky wrote: »

and withdrawn to any UK bank as a UK domestic transfer, no fees.

If you're referring to the Transferwise Borderless Account then, according to Transferwise's website, there is a 65p fee for withdrawing GBP to a GBP account:

2. Sending money to the same currency

When you send money to an account in the same currency, we'll charge a fixed fee. You can find out the fee for the currency you're sending below.


3. Fixed fee by currency

The fee we charge to send money depends on the currency you're sending to.
Currency you're sending Fixed fee
...
GBP 0.65

https://transferwise.com/help/article/2888782/borderless-account/how-much-does-it-cost-to-send-or-withdraw-money-to-a-bank-account#/Same%20currency