Best app/account/service for getting some money efficiently from the US to the UK

Sulaco86

My wife has recieved an inheritance in the USA, it's not mega-bucks, under six figures, but is large enough that a couple of percent of difference in fees adds up to a large enough sum of money that I'd like to minimise the cost. This is also reliant on family and a solicitor cooperating in the US, so it needs to be relatively straightforward and ideally something we can set up from the UK and just send them simple instructions. It's also going to be a one off and needs to be relatively soon, so it can't be too complex.

The default option is a direct international money transfer, but that's going to cost 3-4% at the sending bank, which is a bit ouchy. I was investigating using Wise, which would allow us to have a US account number, so the sending people just do a regular domestic transfer, and we then move it to the UK ourselves within Wise which was a lot cheaper. But for some reason Wise has stopped giving out US account numbers at the moment so that's a non-starter.

Can anyone recommend a reliable service similar to Wise? I see loads of fintechy companies advertising on Google, but I've never heard of most of them so I'm a bit leery. Also, it's hard to find results for recieving US funds within the US, rather than sending to the US from here.

Alternatively is there another way to do this simply and keeping the fees as reasonable as possible?

Hoenir

Who is distributing the money the solicitor ? 

Sulaco86

Hoenir said:

Who is distributing the money the solicitor ? 

Yes, they are executing the will in California. But due to distance and timezone we tend to speak to them via family in the US (sister of my wife). We can send them instructions, but if it gets too weird or complex I think it might get tricky. The Wise solution would have been ideal as they just send to a US account and then it's in our hands, but frustratingly that's not available.

flaneurs_lobster

Was going to suggest the Starling USD business account but I see they have also paused new applications. Ditto Zing.

Is there a regulatory or some other reason for this hinderance?

wmb194

IanDudley said:

My wife has recieved an inheritance in the USA, it's not mega-bucks, under six figures, but is large enough that a couple of percent of difference in fees adds up to a large enough sum of money that I'd like to minimise the cost. This is also reliant on family and a solicitor cooperating in the US, so it needs to be relatively straightforward and ideally something we can set up from the UK and just send them simple instructions. It's also going to be a one off and needs to be relatively soon, so it can't be too complex.

The default option is a direct international money transfer, but that's going to cost 3-4% at the sending bank, which is a bit ouchy. I was investigating using Wise, which would allow us to have a US account number, so the sending people just do a regular domestic transfer, and we then move it to the UK ourselves within Wise which was a lot cheaper. But for some reason Wise has stopped giving out US account numbers at the moment so that's a non-starter.

Can anyone recommend a reliable service similar to Wise? I see loads of fintechy companies advertising on Google, but I've never heard of most of them so I'm a bit leery. Also, it's hard to find results for recieving US funds within the US, rather than sending to the US from here.

Alternatively is there another way to do this simply and keeping the fees as reasonable as possible?

This is going to seem a bit antediluvian but what about a cheque? ('Check.') The simplest thing for Americans to deal with. HSBC will still process US cheques I think. Deposit it in a USD currency account and then exchange it at a decent rate by transferring the money to a HSBC Global Money Account (actually quite a good account). I think you will need a standard GBP current account as well.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/currency-account/

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/products/global-money/

flaneurs_lobster

Suppose there's Revolut......

..although I've never had the nadgers to move more than £500 with them.

TMSG

IanDudley said:

The default option is a direct international money transfer, but that's going to cost 3-4% at the sending bank, which is a bit ouchy. I was investigating using Wise, which would allow us to have a US account number, so the sending people just do a regular domestic transfer, and we then move it to the UK ourselves within Wise which was a lot cheaper. But for some reason Wise has stopped giving out US account numbers at the moment so that's a non-starter.

Wise used to work with a certain US bank (now changed) which had a massive data breach and perhaps this has prompted a rethink. However, you don't necessarily need a US account, I think, if the US party can transfer to a GB account (which you get with Wise) and make the receiver pay for the fees. I'd give Wise a ring and ask them, in my experience they're pretty good answering the phone. One thing to remember is that in the case of receiving money from a third party, Wise will definitely ask for a photo of the Wise account holder and photo id, ie passport or driving licence (BTDT).

Sulaco86

wmb194 said:

IanDudley said:

My wife has recieved an inheritance in the USA, it's not mega-bucks, under six figures, but is large enough that a couple of percent of difference in fees adds up to a large enough sum of money that I'd like to minimise the cost. This is also reliant on family and a solicitor cooperating in the US, so it needs to be relatively straightforward and ideally something we can set up from the UK and just send them simple instructions. It's also going to be a one off and needs to be relatively soon, so it can't be too complex.

The default option is a direct international money transfer, but that's going to cost 3-4% at the sending bank, which is a bit ouchy. I was investigating using Wise, which would allow us to have a US account number, so the sending people just do a regular domestic transfer, and we then move it to the UK ourselves within Wise which was a lot cheaper. But for some reason Wise has stopped giving out US account numbers at the moment so that's a non-starter.

Can anyone recommend a reliable service similar to Wise? I see loads of fintechy companies advertising on Google, but I've never heard of most of them so I'm a bit leery. Also, it's hard to find results for recieving US funds within the US, rather than sending to the US from here.

Alternatively is there another way to do this simply and keeping the fees as reasonable as possible?

This is going to seem a bit antediluvian but what about a cheque? ('Check.') The simplest thing for Americans to deal with. HSBC will still process US cheques I think. Deposit it in a USD currency account and then exchange it at a decent rate by transferring the money to a HSBC Global Money Account (actually quite a good account). I think you will need a standard GBP current account as well.

it’s not the mechanics of the transfer that I’m struggling with, but how to optimise the fees and FX from the US to the UK. We don’t have a US bank account, my wife is American but has lived here for 23 years. So we either need to open a pseudo US account like Wise would have offered, or transfer directly from the US solicitor to a UK bank account,  but then the fees and FX are punitive. It’s annoying as Wise was perfect for this but has stopped offering it.

Sulaco86

flaneurs_lobster said:

Suppose there's Revolut......

..although I've never had the nadgers to move more than £500 with them.

I’ve heard that name, but haven’t found anything on their website offering a US account, I maybe need to look more closely.

Sulaco86

TMSG said:

IanDudley said:

The default option is a direct international money transfer, but that's going to cost 3-4% at the sending bank, which is a bit ouchy. I was investigating using Wise, which would allow us to have a US account number, so the sending people just do a regular domestic transfer, and we then move it to the UK ourselves within Wise which was a lot cheaper. But for some reason Wise has stopped giving out US account numbers at the moment so that's a non-starter.

Wise used to work with a certain US bank (now changed) which had a massive data breach and perhaps this has prompted a rethink. However, you don't necessarily need a US account, I think, if the US party can transfer to a GB account (which you get with Wise) and make the receiver pay for the fees. I'd give Wise a ring and ask them, in my experience they're pretty good answering the phone. One thing to remember is that in the case of receiving money from a third party, Wise will definitely ask for a photo of the Wise account holder and photo id, ie passport or driving licence (BTDT).

That’s interesting. I thought the only way to avoid punitive fees and FX was to bounce through a US account of some description first. I’ve set up a Wise login but not the account yet as it requires cash and it looked like they couldn’t help. I’ll give them a buzz and see what they say. Thanks

wmb194

flaneurs_lobster said:

Suppose there's Revolut......

..although I've never had the nadgers to move more than £500 with them.

You're thinking by ACH? I don't think that's available to new accounts: "If your Revolut account was created after 15 February 2024, you won’t have access to USD local details. If this is the case, you’ll need to transfer the funds via a SWIFT international transfer."

https://help.revolut.com/help/transfers/inbound-transfers/how-to-receive-money-from-another-bank/what-account-details-should-i-use-to-transfer-money-to-my-revolut-account/guide-to-usd-bank-transfers-to-your-revolut-account/