Best way to receive a large payment from abroad

Frequentlyhere

MSE has a good guide on sending money, but what's the best/safest/easiest way to receive a 5 figure sum? I need to receive some Polish Zloty.

My default call would be Wise, but unfortunately they're out of action w.r.t Polish Zloty at the moment (not supplying new zloty bank details to anyone).

I do have a Revolut account which works great, but I've heard bad things about receiving large payments + they don't have FSCS protection.

I've seen a list of  "Randomcorp money transfer" best buy services, but they don't exactly inspire me with confidence. Feels like I'm going to end up in the Daily Mail money pages having sent my money into an abyss or a rapidly failing firm.

High street banks seem to all charge a ton of margin fee, as you'd expect.

Help?

jbrassy

Have you considered the HSBC Global Money Account: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/products/global-money/

You need to set up a regular HSBC account first, then you can open the Global Money account. The good news on this front is that you'll get £200 free if you switch your current account to HSBC.

Frequentlyhere

Thanks for the suggestion. Funnily enough I was playing around with it this morning.

The only problem seems to be that though you can hold and send in foreign currencies fee-free, if foreign currencies are sent to it then it apparently auto-converts them into sterling. Which is a shame as otherwise it'd be perfect, but I guess that's one way in which they make their money.

I am however trying to clarify exactly how good/bad their rate is when they do that because it still might be the best option given it has FSCS protection and (TBC) that might avoid a hefty 'normal bank' fee.

eDicky

Frequentlyhere said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Funnily enough I was playing around with it this morning.

The only problem seems to be that though you can hold and send in foreign currencies fee-free, if foreign currencies are sent to it then it apparently auto-converts them into sterling. Which is a shame as otherwise it'd be perfect, but I guess that's one way in which they make their money.

I am however trying to clarify exactly how good/bad their rate is when they do that because it still might be the best option given it has FSCS protection and (TBC) that might avoid a hefty 'normal bank' fee.

To receive foreign currency without conversion you would need to open also the appropriate HSBC Currency account then transfer from there to the Global Money Account, but unfortunately HSBC UK apparently don't offer a Currency account for PLN.

jbrassy

A follow-up question from me would be: how long do you intend to keep this Polish zloty? If you intend to receive the money then immediately convert it to pounds, then Revolut would probably be a good option. I appreciate it has no FSCS protection, but if you only hold the money there for a day or two, I don't think it's anything to be worried about. Once the money is converted you can transfer to a regular bank account.

Frequentlyhere

jbrassy said:

A follow-up question from me would be: how long do you intend to keep this Polish zloty? If you intend to receive the money then immediately convert it to pounds, then Revolut would probably be a good option. I appreciate it has no FSCS protection, but if you only hold the money there for a day or two, I don't think it's anything to be worried about. Once the money is converted you can transfer to a regular bank account.

Yep, I'd want to immediately convert it. I might go with the Revo option, I already use it for everyday purposes, though I've also heard a few horror stories with funds being held up (or even lost) due to inadequate customer services.