currentaffairs

Does anyone know what the charge is on a standard current account to receive money from abroad? I remember asking about this some time ago at the bank and I think I was told it was 1% of the amount or something. I sent just under 10,000 pounds and have somehow lost 300 pounds (already having taken out the sender bank's fee). I am pretty sure that it was sent in pounds so NatWest didn't have to convert my money.. Obviously, current exchange rates change but something seems fishy.

lansbury

I don't pay charges to deposit money into my NatWest account, regardless of the source of the money.

If the money went through an intermediary bank, your bank - intermediary - Natwest, the intermediary bank will have almost certainly have deducted a fee.

currentaffairs

What has been the charge for receiving money through an intermediary bank in the past then or have you never sent money in that way before?

Just to be clear - I already paid the banking fee from the sender bank which was very reasonable (around 14 pounds).

durham_lad

I’m thinking the charge Natwest is quoting is if they receive foreign currency for an account. I have sent money to myself, sister and brother from abroad and always done the conversion ahead of time so the receiving bank gets the money in £s and they don’t add an additional charge.

lansbury

My experience is sending $s to the USA, £s to the UK. One reason to use a currency broker is that the ones I know don't send through an intermediary bank, and use ACH so no receiving wire fees. If a bank sends the money it is often not possible to find out in advance if an intermediary is used or not, or what the charge my be. My experience has been the intermediary bank charge is around $20 - $40, regardless of what the sending and receiving bank charge.

But I always do the conversion at the sending end so the money arrives in the currency used by the receiving bank. £300 sounds excessive for a fee wherever it was charged.

currentaffairs

Does intermediary bank mean the sorting bank? I notice that NatWest seems to use Barclays Bank. I always send the money in pounds. I haven't seen such a difference before when sending money so I wonder where the 300 pounds has gone to..

lansbury

If your bank and NatWest are part of a same clearing house system the money will go direct. If that isn't the case your bank will send it to an intermediary bank, who they have clearing facilities with and, who is part of the same clearing house system as NatWest.

Ask the sending bank how the money was sent, if an intermediary bank was used and if so who it was.