Moving money from UK to Romania

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twoshedsmcginty
twoshedsmcginty Posts: 5 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
I moved to Romania about 18 months ago, and now want to move a large-ish amount of money from my HSBC account to a Romanian bank account. Since I am coming over shortly for a visit, I have thought to take the money out in cash and bring it back here, with the necessary paperwork to account for it at customs.

I would appreciate any advice or thoughts about undertaking a move of money like this, with the exception of opening or using services I don't already use, such as Transferwise.

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  • jonnygee2
    jonnygee2 Posts: 2,086 Forumite
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    How much money?

    Why don't you want to use transferwise?
  • maninthestreet
    maninthestreet Posts: 16,127 Forumite
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    Why both with the hassle and risk of carrying large amounts of cash?
    What is wrong with Transferwise??
    "You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,210 Forumite
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    What exactly are you trying to achieve?

    What will you do with the sterling cash when you get to Romania?
  • PRAISETHESUN
    PRAISETHESUN Posts: 3,723 Forumite
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    I'd avoid cash for the hassle of all the paperwork involved, the poor exchange rates associated with cash exchanges and the potential risk of it being lost/stolen. My recommendations for overseas bank transfers are Revolut and Transferwise - some other choices are also explained here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange/
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 31,051 Forumite
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    twoshedsmcginty wrote: »
    I moved to Romania about 18 months ago, and now want to move a large-ish amount of money from my HSBC account to a Romanian bank account. Since I am coming over shortly for a visit, I have thought to take the money out in cash and bring it back here, with the necessary paperwork to account for it at customs.

    I would appreciate any advice or thoughts about undertaking a move of money like this, with the exception of opening or using services I don't already use, such as Transferwise.
    Even if you have some aversion to using the obvious and cost-effective specialist brokers, transporting a large(-ish) wad of physical cash seems an unnecessary overreaction, so why not just arrange a bank-to-bank transfer from HSBC?

    They're not exactly renowned for competitive charges but I'd be amazed if it didn't work out cheaper than converting via cash and it would all be less risky and fully auditable....
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