Foreign cash saving

WolfUK

Hello

I really struggled to work out which group to put this in so if this is wrong please move to the correct forum.

My wife has been gifted a semi sizeable amount of Swiss francs in cash Following the death of her grandmother. This at the moment is in our safe in various denominations.

My question is what do we do now how do we go about converting this cash into GBP In order to allow her to put it into a savings account. Is it as simple as taking it to any bureau du exchange? How do you get the best rate for converting cash back to GBP when it was not bought for holiday money.

I hope this makes sense?

Thankyou for your advice

GiddyInvestor

Essentially the most practical way is a bureau de change but not the standard high street ones which have rip off exchange rates. Do some research on google and you will find independent bureaus in large cities that have much fairer rates. Alternatively there are companies that you can post cash to with an insured service that are quite reputable and which have even better rates.

WolfUK

GiddyInvestor wrote: »

Essentially the most practical way is a bureau de change but not the standard high street ones which have rip off exchange rates. Do some research on google and you will find independent bureaus in large cities that have much fairer rates. Alternatively there are companies that you can post cash to with an insured service that are quite reputable and which have even better rates.

Hi Thanks for the reply I saw this with a Thomas Exhange I think that was the name but had to download a form and post the cash with special delivery which I thought was a little risky.

MDMD

How much is “semi-sizeable”?

For AML reasons they are likely to have limits on what you can exchange without prior notice. But if you just turn up with a large bunch of Swiss francs they may want evidence that it’s not the proceeds of tax evasion etc....

NedS

MDMD wrote: »

How much is “semi-sizeable”?

For AML reasons they are likely to have limits on what you can exchange without prior notice. But if you just turn up with a large bunch of Swiss francs they may want evidence that it’s not the proceeds of tax evasion etc....

That was my initial thought - you may need to be able to produce a paper trail.

WolfUK

It’s less than €10k so don’t have to declare it. https://www.gov.uk/bringing-cash-into-uk

The prior notice was what I was wondering about as well hence my question.

WolfUK

Any further advice?

Vortigern

WolfUK wrote: »

Any further advice?

Don't be too hasty. Watch this thread for a few more days and perhaps somebody with experience of exchanging such sums will post a reply.

xylophone

Anything here?

https://www.compareholidaymoney.com/sell-currency/swiss-francs.php

smjxm09

Had she kept the cash under a mattress rather than in a bank account? I can why it would look rather dodgy. I suppose it all depends what is considered to be semi-sizeable.

WolfUK

smjxm09 wrote: »

Had she kept the cash under a mattress rather than in a bank account? I can why it would look rather dodgy. I suppose it all depends what is considered to be semi-sizeable.

I answered this :-)