Sending USD sales proceeds to UK (E-trade) - options

kinger101

Hi all

Aware there is a old thread knocking about on this one already, but thought I'd ask again to see what people are using given available options might have increased in the last few years.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5950826/wire-transfer-from-etrade-us-to-uk-can-someone-help-please/p1

I get share options from my employer which are managed via E-trade.  So far, when I've been selling, I've been wiring the money (USD) to my Santander current account in the UK (GBP).  The forex rate I'm getting this way would make a cashier in the bureau-de-change at Gatwick blush.  When I worked previously in the USA (long time ago now), I managed to get a much better rate by sending money via what was then xetrade, so I know in theory, I should be able to get much closer to the mid-marker rate.

I have a Revolut account but that seemed somewhat cluncky from what I've read.

What other options are people using to transfer out of E-trade?  Is Wise any better than Revolut?  

I'm not averse to paying a low monthly fee (say £5) if necessary.

Ideally I want a combination of as few steps as possible and a good rate.

Thanks

DullGreyGuy

Haven't used e-Trade but for similar type things I use Wise. Just double check the transfer method used, especially if you want a USD US account with Wise, as not all their accounts support all transfer methods (though in fairness it was a Canadian account I had most the troubles with). 

ielond

I also have an E*Trade account and used Wise to set up a US account for  E*Trade withdrawal. I then transferred funds to my UK Wise account. It was a considerable saving over E*Trade to My Uk bank acc.

wmb194

kinger101 said:

Hi all

Aware there is a old thread knocking about on this one already, but thought I'd ask again to see what people are using given available options might have increased in the last few years.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5950826/wire-transfer-from-etrade-us-to-uk-can-someone-help-please/p1

I get share options from my employer which are managed via E-trade.  So far, when I've been selling, I've been wiring the money (USD) to my Santander current account in the UK (GBP).  The forex rate I'm getting this way would make a cashier in the bureau-de-change at Gatwick blush.  When I worked previously in the USA (long time ago now), I managed to get a much better rate by sending money via what was then xetrade, so I know in theory, I should be able to get much closer to the mid-marker rate.

I have a Revolut account but that seemed somewhat cluncky from what I've read.

What other options are people using to transfer out of E-trade?  Is Wise any better than Revolut?  

I'm not averse to paying a low monthly fee (say £5) if necessary.

Ideally I want a combination of as few steps as possible and a good rate.

Thanks

There's definitely a more recent thread than that but as it happens yesterday I made a cash withdrawal from my etrade account: I've sent it to my Wise USD account. I do this fairly regularly and so it's been working perfectly. It usually takes a couple of working days to arrive. It'll cost 0.47% to convert it to sterling and Wise's conversion rates are good. Last I checked it's cheaper to transfer it to a Wise GBP account first and then on rather than directly to a UK account.

With Wise you receive a US account and routing number to send it via the US's ACH system so from etrade's point of view it's being sent to a domestic account. The set-up process includes a test payment from etrade to Wise. It'll either reverse automatically and etrade will see it's a valid account in your name and/or there's a reference code you'll see on the deposit to Wise which you in enter in etrade.

kinger101

Thanks everyone.  I'll set up a Wise account then.  Looks like it way save me quite a bit compared to wiring direct to Santander.

Johnnyboy11

Consider opening an Interactive Brokers UK account, send USD there and then exchange for GBP. Great exchange rate, minimal fees and you get 4.33% on cash balances which are FSCS covered.

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/home.php

techgirl123

Hi I was wondering if someone can please help. 

I have an etrade account, set up a wise account from a UK perspective but have access to a US account i.e US account details which I used to transfer. 

I did a test run of sending $10 from etrade to the US wise account, no fee from etrade, however when the money came into the Wise US account it went from $10 to $5.86, I was charge $4.14 - this is really high, so not sure what I did wrong? 

Can anyone help advise on this one? 

wmb194

techgirl123 said:

Hi I was wondering if someone can please help. 

I have an etrade account, set up a wise account from a UK perspective but have access to a US account i.e US account details which I used to transfer. 

I did a test run of sending $10 from etrade to the US wise account, no fee from etrade, however when the money came into the Wise US account it went from $10 to $5.86, I was charge $4.14 - this is really high, so not sure what I did wrong? 

Can anyone help advise on this one? 

Is there a description of the fee? How did you make the transfer from etade? As a 'wire' or by ACH? ACH is the free one: in etrade you follow the 'transfer money' links. 

Otherwise, is it because of the way you withdrew it from Wise? It seems to want to charge me more if I try to transfer directly out of my USD account to a UK GBP current account than when I convert and transfer it to my Wise GBP account and then transfer it onwards to a UK GBP account.

Futuristic

techgirl123 said:

Hi I was wondering if someone can please help. 

I have an etrade account, set up a wise account from a UK perspective but have access to a US account i.e US account details which I used to transfer. 

I did a test run of sending $10 from etrade to the US wise account, no fee from etrade, however when the money came into the Wise US account it went from $10 to $5.86, I was charge $4.14 - this is really high, so not sure what I did wrong? 

Can anyone help advise on this one? 

it was sent via SWIFT not ACH. If you don't have US acc with etrade it might be why as they sent from another bank outside US.

It does state on wise:
There’s a 4.14 USD fee to receive wire transfers

Also this fee is fixed so it's small when talking about big numbers. 

beckymclarke

Hi, Are people being charged a $25 wire transfer fee when transferring to the US Wise Account from etrade or is there a way around this? 

sausage_time

Not used ETrade in a while, but I'm sure ACH transfers to Wise US$ bank details was no cost from ETrade or Wise.