Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Can anybody help me with my money transfer to Australia.

I have heard about currency brokerages but don't know enough about them and have never used them so could use some advice of whether its worth it or just to go through my bank (Santander)

Also if possible could you advise me on exchange rates and what i should be looking at transferring £150k.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Today would be a good time. You can find exchange rates by typing that in Google.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

You will get a slightly better rate with a broker, it is straight forward to use one so I would recommend it. There are a few, but try UKforex.

The exchange rate is the exchange rate. Today it is at 1.87, so you will get a little bit less than that as the exchanger will make their margin. Rate is going up at the moment, so I would not be in any rush to change the whole lot, just change what you need and keep an eye on things.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Thank you for your advice.

It seems everybody I ask tells me different things as Beoz you said today would be a good time and Bermudashorts you are saying don't rush in to anything.

Forgive me for being cautious but I am spending nearly all of my life savings (nr 65 yrs) on this exchange and do not want to get it wrong. I don't really understand how any of this works??

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Well the fact is that neither Beoz nor I nor anybody else knows what the exchange rate is going to do in the future and thus know what is the best thing to do. If anybody tells you that they can predict rate movements, then they are a fool and you should ignore them. We can only guess at what the exchange rate will do and therefore it is natural that there will be different predictions.

Recently the pound has been strengthening against the dollar. My speculation is that this will continue for a bit longer. Indeed when I wrote a few days ago it was 1.87 and now it is 1.88, so you would do better if you exchanged today than you would have if you exchanged a few days ago.

So my advise was good. But there was no science to it and could easily have gone the other way.

You just have to decide whether you want to watch the rate a bit longer and hope that GBP continues to strengthen or take today's rate and have it over and done with.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Thank you Bermudashorts that is very helpful.

I will hold out on it for a couple of days and see if the pound continues to make more progress. Just doing my research now and am getting to grips with it all.

Did you use an FX exchange brokerage for your transfer and if so who?

UKForex seem to have somewhat mixed reviews.

Is there anybody else who can recommend a currency exchange company so I can make an informed decision on who to exchange with?

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

When we moved money from UK to Australia we used UKForex and it was very user friendly and easy. I am frankly stunned that you have read mixed reviews as I don't think a broker would last very long if they can't exchange money properly.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

I guess its a matter of asking yourself if its going to hit 0.45 or 0.4 like it was 10 or so years ago. Maybe. Maybe not.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Today it is 1.89, so it continues to slowly climb.

This is a bit of a pain for me as I am looking to send money the other way at the moment. :o

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Likewise - its a right pain. I sent a bunch at 60p. Perhaps I need to play the market and bring it back.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Just broke the 12 month high just now 1.89860:fingerscrossed:

Just how high can it go? Would love to see 2.5, but that's some way off.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

On the skids - last time it went that low, back in January, it came right back up again.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

I just wanted to do a +1 for Ukforex (aka Tranzfers). I've used them consistently since 2005. I had one tiny issue with them very early on (which, in hindsight was probably user error on my part), not only did they fix it, but they also gave me a bunch (10 I think) of free transfers. I've recommended them to several friends/family and never had any bad reports.

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

Slaptic,

Worth calling a couple of companies or checking a few FX comparison sites. Brokers will save you money compared to your banks.

Most will have free transfer fees and offer a rate which is slightly under the rate you see online.


<wee snip>

Re: Currency Transfer GBP-AUD
 

With that amount of funds, I'd definitely go for a broker over a bank. I'm only talking about my own experience, sending money the other way (AU to GBP) through OzForex.

Scouse and I knew absolutely nothing about foreign exchange brokers before I asked for help here on BE.

We are sending money every 6 months for a property purchase in the UK, and we'd paid the deposit through a bank transfer (Commonwealth Bank). It was only after reading the advice here that I realized what dunderheads we'd been, the bank rate was far less favourable to us that OzForex.

Another thing to bear in mind with brokers, at least the one we used - you can contact them and often negotiate a better rate than the published one, if you have a decent chunk of cash as you do.

Happy to discuss our particular experiences privately if you want to, would need to be via BE email though as I don't 'do' private messages :)