Transferring large amount of money from Poland to UK

Nemeziss21

Hi there,

I am in a process of selling a flat in Poland. I am trying to find the most  efficient and safest way of sending the money from Poland to UK.

I know bank transfer would be the safest way but it would be the most expensive way. I am trying to find a good alternative.

There is plenty of firms dealing with international transfers from Poland to UK but I don't know which one would be the best. Has anyone got any experience with any of them?

I read about UK based brokers on Money Saving Expert page- Cirrencies Direct, Global Reach and Money Corp.  The trouble is I don't think I could use them to send money from Poland to UK. Only UK to Poland. Correct me if I am wrong.

I have dual nationality and speak fluent Polish to make it a bit easier.

Thanks for any advice.

Molehusband

Nemeziss21 said:

Hi there,

I am in a process of selling a flat in Poland. I am trying to find the most  efficient and safest way of sending the money from Poland to UK.

I know bank transfer would be the safest way but it would be the most expensive way. I am trying to find a good alternative.

Well my immediate reaction is that, if I was doing this transaction, safety is by far the most important consideration  While we all want to save money where possible, what kind of "most expensive way" in terms of £ are you being faced with and how does that cost compare with the proceeds of the sale? Certainly, unless the bank transfer cost is outrageously expensive as a percentage of the sale price you received, I would prefer to be able to sleep soundly without having to worry about whether the proceeds will arrive safely and in reasonable time.

eskbanker

Nemeziss21 said:

I read about UK based brokers on Money Saving Expert page- Cirrencies Direct, Global Reach and Money Corp.  The trouble is I don't think I could use them to send money from Poland to UK. Only UK to Poland. Correct me if I am wrong.

Just because the MSE article is labelled as relating to sending money from the UK to elsewhere, that doesn't imply that providers will only operate in that direction, if that's what you were thinking, so there's no reason to believe that you can't use them to send from PLN to GBP.

Although cost isn't necessarily the best way to compare options, https://www.monito.com/ offers a comparison feature and includes providers like Wise (formerly TransferWise), who are often recommended on here - I was happy with their service when I used them, albeit that was a four-figure sum starting from the UK....

Chris_English

How much do you mean when you say a large amount? A few tens of thousand of pounds, millions, or somewhere in the middle?

eDicky

The fixed fee for a straight bank transfer pales into significance for larger amounts, but the adverse conversion rates that banks impose cause a multiplied cost for a large sum.

This can sometimes be reduced if you can negotiate the rate with a bank's Forex department, but usually they can never match the value of using a reputable transfer service, such as Wise or CurrencyFair, to cut out the bank fees and rates entirely.

Such brokers can be used for transfers in any direction between various countries/currencies, including PLN/GBP. See monito.com for some comparisons.

Marchitiello

I second Wise, albeit I use it for Business mostly, there are fees involved but these are minimal.

One other options could be a Fineco UK multi currency account, which has no fee once the money are in your account and you want to convert it between the 4 currencies available (EUR, GBP, CHF, USD). 

Penelopa.Pitstop

I suggest to change PLN to GBP and then send it by bank transfer. (Alior Kantor or similar place with decent exchange rate) You will avoid poor currency exchange rate applied by bank.

I don't remember if Alior bank account is required, but it can be opened remotely. And then you can add Alior Kantor for currency exchange. From there, you can do international transfer in GBP.

Marchitiello

Penelopa.Pitstop said:

I suggest to change PLN to GBP and then send it by bank transfer. (Alior Kantor or similar place with decent exchange rate) You will avoid poor currency exchange rate applied by bank.

I don't remember if Alior bank account is required, but it can be opened remotely. And then you can add Alior Kantor for currency exchange. From there, you can do international transfer in GBP.

For those of us that suggested Wise and Fineco UK was because the exchange close to the spot rate and there are minimal to 0 fees, no risk of bad exchange rates there 

J_B

We always use https://www.currencyfair.com

I've looked on their website and can't see any limits