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

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  • wmb194 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/
    Yes I was, thanks for the heads-up, although my Revolut account is older than this.
  • Sulaco86
    Sulaco86 Posts: 21 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    wmb194 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/
    Hmm, feels like all of these services have stopped offering US account details, there must be some general reason behind that. Pain for me though, feels like I might have to just take the international transfer fees on the nose.
  • Hoenir
    Hoenir Posts: 7,736 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    IanDudley said:
    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.
    Is the solicitor offering that option. The US banking system is highly fragemented and services we take for granted aren't also accessible. They may might say it's a cheque. 
  • Sulaco86
    Sulaco86 Posts: 21 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Hoenir said:
    IanDudley said:
    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.
    Is the solicitor offering that option. The US banking system is highly fragemented and services we take for granted aren't also accessible. They may might say it's a cheque. 
    I’ve been told they can do a direct transfer to an IBAN/SWIFT, but the fees and FX isn’t very good, hence I’m looking for something else as it could save me thousands.
  • Hoenir
    Hoenir Posts: 7,736 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    IanDudley said:
    Hoenir said:
    IanDudley said:
    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.
    Is the solicitor offering that option. The US banking system is highly fragemented and services we take for granted aren't also accessible. They may might say it's a cheque. 
    I’ve been told they can do a direct transfer to an IBAN/SWIFT, but the fees and FX isn’t very good, hence I’m looking for something else as it could save me thousands.
    Needs to be something that they they are prepared to do though. 
  • Sulaco86
    Sulaco86 Posts: 21 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Hoenir said:
    IanDudley said:
    Hoenir said:
    IanDudley said:
    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.
    Is the solicitor offering that option. The US banking system is highly fragemented and services we take for granted aren't also accessible. They may might say it's a cheque. 
    I’ve been told they can do a direct transfer to an IBAN/SWIFT, but the fees and FX isn’t very good, hence I’m looking for something else as it could save me thousands.
    Needs to be something that they they are prepared to do though. 
    That’s what I mean, they’ve said they can do it that way, it’s just expensive hence I’m looking for alternatives 
  • sausage_time
    sausage_time Posts: 1,455 Ambassador
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 9 August 2024 at 8:22AM
    Can't you just send to Wise via SWIFT to your GBP details, and (important!) ask the solicitor to send in Dollars?  If I understand it Wise will use the same conversion that you'd get if you did an "internal" USD-GBP conversion.  There will probably be a one off charge for the SWIFT wire transfer ($20-$30 likely based on historical experience).

    https://wise.com/help/articles/2935927/how-do-i-use-my-gbp-account-details

    But check Wise will use the same rate in these circumstances.  

    It's a shame that new USD details are paused - I use this all the time, and I hope they don't shut it down.
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  • Sulaco86
    Sulaco86 Posts: 21 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    Can't you just send to Wise via SWIFT to your GBP details, and (important!) ask the solicitor to send in Dollars?  If I understand it Wise will use the same conversion that you'd get if you did an "internal" USD-GBP conversion.  There will probably be a one off charge for the SWIFT wire transfer ($20-$30 likely based on historical experience).

    https://wise.com/help/articles/2935927/how-do-i-use-my-gbp-account-details

    But check Wise will use the same rate in these circumstances.  

    It's a shame that new USD details are paused - I use this all the time, and I hope they don't shut it down.
    Thanks, someone else suggested that so I'm going to try and talk to Wise today. My original understanding was that the punitive charges and FX came from the sending bank if they had to send it to a UK account, so sending to my Wise GBP account would be essentially no different from sending to my normal current account at RBS as I'd already have paid the cost before it got to Wise. But if there is a way to get around that, it would do what I'm trying to do. A $20-$30 fee is fine, and I'm not trying to squeeze every last penny out of the FX or get this for free. But if I can pay 1% of the amount rather than 4%, that is thousands of pounds of difference.
  • PRAISETHESUN
    PRAISETHESUN Posts: 4,862 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    IanDudley said:
    Can't you just send to Wise via SWIFT to your GBP details, and (important!) ask the solicitor to send in Dollars?  If I understand it Wise will use the same conversion that you'd get if you did an "internal" USD-GBP conversion.  There will probably be a one off charge for the SWIFT wire transfer ($20-$30 likely based on historical experience).

    https://wise.com/help/articles/2935927/how-do-i-use-my-gbp-account-details

    But check Wise will use the same rate in these circumstances.  

    It's a shame that new USD details are paused - I use this all the time, and I hope they don't shut it down.
    Thanks, someone else suggested that so I'm going to try and talk to Wise today. My original understanding was that the punitive charges and FX came from the sending bank if they had to send it to a UK account, so sending to my Wise GBP account would be essentially no different from sending to my normal current account at RBS as I'd already have paid the cost before it got to Wise. But if there is a way to get around that, it would do what I'm trying to do. A $20-$30 fee is fine, and I'm not trying to squeeze every last penny out of the FX or get this for free. But if I can pay 1% of the amount rather than 4%, that is thousands of pounds of difference.
    The important difference is really down to where the currency conversion happens.

    If the sender sends GBP, it will be the sending bank which does conversion.
    If the sender sends USD, it will be the receiving bank which does the conversion.

    If you provide your Wise account details to the sender and instruct them to send USD, then it will be the receiving bank (ie. Wise) which does the conversion, netting you the best rate. I suspect you'll be stuck with the wire fees in either case, meaning it makes sense to focus on the best exchange rate as a factor you can actually control.



  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,835 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    IanDudley said:
    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.

    I expect you will find that the attorney will only send the funds to an account in your own name. Otherwise you could use various services, such as Atlantic Money:
    I don't know if they will provide USD account details in your own name, or whether the attorney can be persuaded to use such a service if not...

    Evolution, not revolution
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