Sending money to family abroad

Ninjak

I have two sons - one living in Norway and the other in Spain and after a sale of a house I want to send them £25,000 each. Bank exchange rate is much lower than using a money broker, as on a sum like this there can be as much as £600 difference if using e.g, Key Currency who are based in Truro.  They say they are regulated by the FSCS but when I looked on FSCS website they are not covered if the company went bust.  As I have never used  anything like this - How safe is it and has anyone had experience of this?

wmb194

Ninjak said:

I have two sons - one living in Norway and the other in Spain and after a sale of a house I want to send them £25,000 each. Bank exchange rate is much lower than using a money broker, as on a sum like this there can be as much as £600 difference if using e.g, Key Currency who are based in Truro.  They say they are regulated by the FSCS but when I looked on FSCS website they are not covered if the company went bust.  As I have never used  anything like this - How safe is it and has anyone had experience of this?

Do you happen to have a current account with HSBC? If so, look at its Global Money Account. Good rates and all covered.

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

ob1kinobi

I don't have any experience of Key Currency so can't give any advice on them but I have used the below Company (Currencies Direct), without any issues, and they provided very competitive rates, much better than any bank, and were easy to deal with. They were apparently voted Best Currency Broker at the Good Money Guide Awards 2023, but you can also get other recommendations from goodmoneyguide and elsewhere.

Currencies Direct

One Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

currenciesdirect.com

customer.s@currenciesdirect.com

+44 (0) 20 7847 9494

One possible advantage is that their EU operational HQ is in Spain, see below.

© Currencies Direct Ltd, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AA, United Kingdom. Registered in England & Wales, No.: 03041197. Currencies Direct Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Institution under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. Our FCA Firm Reference number is 900669.

Our EU services are provided by Currencies Direct Spain.

© Currencies Direct Spain, E.D.E., S.L., Avenida del Mediterráneo, 341, 04638 Mojácar, Almería, Spain. Registered in the Commercial Registry of Almería under the Spanish tax ID number B04897930. Currencies Direct Spain, E.D.E., S.L. is authorised by the Bank of Spain as an Electronic Money Institution under Law 21/2011 of 26 July and Royal Decree 778/2012 of 4 May. Our registration number with the Bank of Spain is 6716

I hope this may help.

Ninjak

Many thanks!!  This is my first time on this forum - most helpful

Ayr_Rage

You may find that WISE is a very good option.

https://wise.com/

WastedWords

Atlantic will probably have better FX rate than either HSBC or Wise
https://atlantic.money/

bjorn_toby_wilde

+1 for Wise

Very simple to set up and the app is user friendly. I’ve used it in the past to transfer stock sale proceeds from the US to UK.

It’s also good for travel cash.

friolento

Ninjak said:

I have two sons - one living in Norway and the other in Spain and after a sale of a house I want to send them £25,000 each. Bank exchange rate is much lower than using a money broker, as on a sum like this there can be as much as £600 difference if using e.g, Key Currency who are based in Truro.  They say they are regulated by the FSCS but when I looked on FSCS website they are not covered if the company went bust.  As I have never used  anything like this - How safe is it and has anyone had experience of this?

If they said this, run!

The FSCS is not a regulator, but an industry compensation scheme. None of the currency transfer firms is covered by FSCS. If you want FSCS cover, you are stuck with banks or building societies.

There are, however, some currency transfer firms which are better known and probably carry less risk. I would happily use Wise, for example, for the transfer to Norway. For the transfer to Spain, I would use Starling Bank, who have similar rates to Wise. But this might not be an option for you as they don't currently accept new customers for their Euro accounts.

Whichever firm you end up using, I would recommend you fully verify your account with them before you send any money. In any case, have documented evidence of the source of the money available as you might be asked for it.

You can further de-risk transfers via currency transfer firms by splitting your £25k into multiples - say £5k - £10k at a time.

friolento

WastedWords said:

Atlantic will probably have better FX rate than either HSBC or Wise
https://atlantic.money/

They might have slightly better rates, but I'd hesitate to use them for large sums, on the grounds that they are nowhere near as well known as Wise.

greyteam1959

+2 for Wise.com
Excellent exchange rate & low fees.
Extremely ( in seconds usually) quick transfers 

lr1277

As a word of warning, sometimes money transfers from foreign citizens require the recipient to notify their local tax authority. I have no idea if these rules apply in Norway or Spain but you or your sons should find out before sending the money.

A few months ago, I found out if a US citizen receives money from a foreign citizen valued at over $100k, then they have to report it to the IRS. I used this search phrase:

informing IRS about money from overseas

Amongst the many results was the information about informing the IRS.

You may find similar for Norway and Spain (or they may have no such requirements).

Edited to add: this inquiry started by thinking about flying into a country with a bundle of cash, I found out you have to inform the destination country if you are carrying more than a certain amount. You also have to inform UK Customs if you leave the country with a certain amount. Which prompted me to think about notification levels on electronic transfers. If large sums are involved I imagine the money transfer service will be asking for proof of funds and maybe even forwarding this information to a government department (Treasury or Customs).