Transfer money from the USA with no fee

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BadBehaviour
BadBehaviour Posts: 302 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
Hi,
I was wondering if there is any bank in the UK that allows you to transfer money from a bank in the USA with no fees but just exchange rates.

I am aware of Paypal for transfers etc, but was wondering specifically about a bank account. Thanks.

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  • jonesMUFCforever
    jonesMUFCforever Posts: 28,898 Forumite
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    How would a UK bank be able to transfer from a US bank?

    Or do you mean funds arriving from the US with no fees when received here?
  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,574 Forumite
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    edited 14 September 2016 at 12:43PM
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    I don't know if such a UK bank exists, but if so there is still the unfavorable exchange rates used by banks to consider. Both these and the charges can be avoided if the party sending the funds can use a suitable transfer broker. The money then arrives from the broker's UK account in GBP to whatever UK account you have, as a domestic transfer without fees.
    Evolution, not revolution
  • matt-comparison
    matt-comparison Posts: 22 Forumite
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    You shouldn't care as much about the transfer fees as you do about the exchange rates. The transfer fees from the USA will not exceed $50. The exchange rate on the USD to GBP can be 4% worse than the interbank rate.

    I believe HSBC would allow you to move money between two HSBC bank accounts with no fees. But then again the markup you would pay here in the UK would be very high.

    If this is a substantial amount you should consider using money transfer companies (HiFX, Moneycorp and the like). Commercial firms that usually don't charge any fees above a certain mark, and their exchange rates are preferable to those of banks. If you are moving 100k+ you could even further negotiate your rates. The downside - long sign up process.

    If you are comfortable with moving it online without ever speaking to anyone on the phone, look up companies like Transferwise . Just google for "Transferwise review", find a thorough review, and learn more about the firm. The gist is as follows - they charge fixed, transparent, fees. Their from-USA-transfer fees are actually the highest at 1.5%, it is still much cheaper than a bank.
  • Caz3121
    Caz3121 Posts: 15,545 Forumite
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    Sergio - I assume you are just selecting random threads for your posts...this one is almost 3 years old!
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
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    Caz3121 wrote: »
    Sergio - I assume you are just selecting random threads for your posts...this one is almost 3 years old!


    Caz, you seem to have slipped a year into the future :rotfl:.
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