Foreign currency bank accounts

BeeTree

Hello all,

I'd like a little advice from the hive mind please. 

I'm a Brit and about to start a job where I'll be paid in US dollars. I have heard there are bank accounts where you reside in one country but open another account in a foreign currency thus enabling you to take advantage of good currency exchange rates when the moment is right. 

Does anyone know of any UK based banks who offer such accounts and what has your experience been of them and using them in this way?

Many thanks,

Helena.

Band7

Only Fineco Bank at present, unless you have large sums of money that you are happy to have sitting in a bank. The Barclays might be another option, or offshore accounts in Guernsey / Jersey / Isle of Man

WastedWords

Another possible solution is the HSBC Currency Account which you can pay USD into. The  exchange rate is poor BUT you can also have an HSBC Global Money Account with decent exchange rates. THe GMA cannot receive money from outside banks but you can transfer USD from the Currency Account for free and then exchange.
In short Employer->HSBC Currency Account->HSBC Global Money Account->exchange or spend
Currency account does not have a debit card. The GMA does.

HSBC bumph says $7 dollars to received USD into the currency account but in a recent test transaction no charge was taken and no intermediary bank fees.
USD from same source to my Fineco USD account saw $10 disappear in intermediary bank fees.
Fineco do not offer USD debit card so you would need to exchange to spend. 
If you are working overseas having a method spend direct from USD might be a consideration 

Band7

WastedWords said:

 

HSBC bumph says $7 dollars to received USD into the currency account but in a recent test transaction no charge was taken and no intermediary bank fees.
USD from same source to my Fineco USD account saw $10 disappear in intermediary bank fees. 

What's the difference in HSBC and Fineco exchange rate?

KathysBoy

I had a euro account with Barclays when I used to spend long periods abroad. You can also open a USD account, BUT you must have a sterling current account. I used to use Currencyfair to buy and sell euros. You have to go into a branch to open a foreign currency account.

Details of their charges.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/content/dam/documents/personal/important-information/FeeInformation-PersonalCurrencyAccount.pdf

WastedWords

Band7 said:

WastedWords said:

 

HSBC bumph says $7 dollars to received USD into the currency account but in a recent test transaction no charge was taken and no intermediary bank fees.
USD from same source to my Fineco USD account saw $10 disappear in intermediary bank fees. 

What's the difference in HSBC and Fineco exchange rate?

Generally competitive albeit HSBC GMA is new and not as transparent as Fineco so may change in future. 

Quick check just now shows: 
HSBC  $10000*0.805022=8050.22

Fineco $10000*0.805542=8055.42
difference could be just timing.  

BeeTree

Thanks very much all. 

FYI  - Just been in touch with Nationwide and they tell me there are no transfer fees on their FlexDirect Account plus their current rate is 1.21 GBP which is slightly better than HSBC. I'm still checking this one out though as I feel I might be missing something.

wmb194

BeeTree said:

Thanks very much all. 

FYI  - Just been in touch with Nationwide and they tell me there are no transfer fees on their FlexDirect Account plus their current rate is 1.21 GBP which is slightly better than HSBC. I'm still checking this one out though as I feel I might be missing something.

A GBP/USD of 1.21 is awful. HSBC's Global Currency Account's* rate in the example above is 1.2422. You won't get that now as sterling's slightly weaker today and the market spot rate is currently 1.2367 but essentially Nationwide's fee is in the FX rate it gives you.

*Note, for this specific account, not some general rip-off rate for ordinary accounts.

Brie

Lots of people believe that Wise is a good company to us to move currency into GBP.  I've set up an account but having trouble due to the country from which I'm trying to move money.  But the exchange rate is supposed to be better than banks and fees lower.

WastedWords

Nationwide 1.21GBP will be for GBP->USD. The USD->GBP rate will be different. 

Quick check of current Fineco rates:
GBP-USD 1.2342 (0.81024)
USD-GBP 0.806842 (1.239)

Also Nationwide do not offer a currency account so exhange will be done when they receive the funds.

BeeTree

Thanks all. This is very much appreciated.

Seems that Wise have the best exchange rate at the moment.

1 GBP = 1.23675 USD
1 USD = 0.808407 GBP

Seems that Brie is the only one who is using Wise on here at the moment but with some difficulty due to her account country.

Anyone else had experience of using Wise to convert USD to GBP and transfer the funds to a UK bank account?