delete account

grumbler

Mastercard rate is used for card transactions and has nothing to do with bank transfers.

For transfers the market rate is used - the one they are "charged for buying and selling currencies" - https://www.starlingbank.com/send-money-abroad.

That said, Mastercard rate is very close to the 'market rate'.

Daliah

comperinha said:

 You use your debit card to deposit with Wise, and they send your chosen amount in the currency you want?

Debit cards, or other cards, cannot be used to deposit money into Wise. All deposits must be made by bank transfer,

comperinha said:

 I unfortunately got stung with the Starling issue, as I needed to send that 280CHF payment urgently. I don't want to use them anymore; I only opened the account because I appear to have misunderstood some info here on MSE.

You have the wrong expectations. Nobody will exchange your money for free. You either pay a fee and get a good exchange rate, or you don't pay a fee and get a terrible exchange rate, Worst case you pay a fee and get a terrible exchange rate to boot. Starling will use the interbank exchange rate, i.e. the best possible rate, and they charge a transfer fee.

You have confused the information about using the Starling debit card abroad, and making a transfer with Starling. You can use the debit card abroad to make purchases, pay for a service or withdraw cash at an ATM, and Starling won't charge you extra.

comperinha said:

I need to send a larger payment shortly and I'm trying to find the cheapest way to do it but it seems a lot of hassle to get the information I need. Maybe I just need to choose a random bank and just accept the charges? The 3.67GBP saving I mentioned between Starling and Wise doesn't seem worth it. As far as I'm aware, the SEPA thing only covers euros and not other EEA currencies.

How do you know that the difference between using a money transfer service and your bank for your larger payment is £3.67? Traditional banks will absolutely not give you the best deal and it's not only the fees you have to consider but also the exchange rate.  Banks will generally use terrible exchange rates, and often lump a fee on top. "The SEPA thing" doesn't guarantee you get the best deal.

As has already been mentioned, you can use something like https://www.monito.com/ to figure out the best deal you can get from specialist currency transfer firms, and compare that with what banks give you (bank deals aren't on currency transfer comparison sites).

CKhalvashi

comperinha said:

Daliah said:

You have confused the information about using the Starling debit card abroad, and making a transfer with Starling.

No I haven't. It was your post that misinformed me. Within the Chase thread that I referred to previously in the thread. Someone asked about fee-free bank transfers with Chase because of their ATM/card-purchases with Chase and you jumped straight in and mentioned Starling. I later mentioned that it wasn't fee-free as I'd already been scammed by that point so thanks. I think you're the kind of person not to be bothered that you've wronged someone else, because it's all in their head, right? Not to worry, I'll be dead soon.

I tried the Starling transfer after the smaller successful transfer and it was (according to Starling) "rejected by receiving bank". They're blaming the receiving bank after the first transfer was successful for the smaller amount. So I'm feeling scammed to the tune of £60 because my payment was returned to me.

I tested a SEPA from a mainstream bank and this was more expensive. Recipient is advising transferring to them in GBP to pay the invoice, but of course this is no guarantee that they will get the correct amount in their currency because I don't know what exchange rate will be used at the receiving bank. I could choose to use the "interchange rate" or whatever, but it's still no guarantee they'll get the exact amount as per their invoice due to their incoming exchange rates. In which case I'll lose again because I need to transfer a shortfall and get charged more fees to make up for the mistake.

I'm not used to this whole thing and I'm being ripped off massively. Checked out MONITO but doesn't meet my purpose. I can choose "GBP to XYZ" then have to play around with the GBP amount to meet the required amount in destination currency.

Sorry, do you mind me asking how you've been scammed? Daliah is a long standing poster on these forums and also has been very clear. They have also not recommended a particular solution and if a payment is returned to you that can't be the fault of a poster here.

You have suggested exactly why (as several have suggested) Wise may be the best choice for your needs, as you can select the exact amount you need to send. You have chosen not to use this option due to not trusting them and I am aware that a limited number of customers have had problems but they're a large, longstanding company in this sector and very clear about their fees. There are very few companies of their scale without a few people having problems.

I have been a business customer of theirs since 2017 and a personal customer since 2014, so it's a company i have a lot of experience with. I haven't had a problem with them as a company.

eDicky

I'm not used to this whole thing and I'm being ripped off massively. Checked out MONITO but doesn't meet my purpose. I can choose "GBP to XYZ" then have to play around with the GBP amount to meet the required amount in destination currency.

It's been quite apparent that you aren't used to sending international payments, and you have been given relevant advice here. It's a pity that you seem to be blaming a continued lack of understanding on those genuinely trying to help.

Monito is a comparison site to find the most cost effective providers for particular currencies, amounts and destinations - there's no need to enter the exact figure required by the payee, just a rough amount in GBP. When you then go to the site of whoever you choose, to actually send the funds, you can then enter that exact figure in the target currency.

In my experience, there's no need to lack confidence in Wise, I've been using them extensively for years.