grapii

Hi All,

Need some advice. Back in May I transferred some money from my UK account into my WestPac account using HiFx. The transaction went smoothly but I noticed a discrepancy in the amount transferred. Having investigated this with WestPac and my UK account, it seemed that the intermediary bank that HiFx used charged for the conversion.

I subsequently called HiFx and they arranged a refund for the charge. However since then HiFx policy has changed and they no longer offer a refund for any charges applied by the intermediary bank....and they can't tell me how much a charge it will be, it could be a percentage or if there is a max fee that will apply.

My previous transfer was for only £2000 GBP so wasn't so bad, but now that we're moving I want to transfer a larger amount £35K+ GBP. Not knowing how much the intermediary bank will charge for this is worrying, but is there an alternative? Are there any other transfer companies that won't charge or charge but you know how much beforehand? Of should I let my UK bank (Natwest) do the transfer direct?

Thanks

Bermudashorts

We used ozforex and were aware of all charges up front.

Bix

Likewise.

Long time since I've needed to use their service but over the years they have the best rep with expats to Aus.

Prudi

We set up a Citibank account in each country (OH was here and I was in the UK), and transfers are free between two Citibank accounts. UK account was free, but with a minimum opening balance, Australian one had a minimal monthly fee. It was easy to do the transfers online and they were instant.

spadgersdad

Hi
We have used Ozforex several times and never had a problem, well satisfied.

grapii

Thanks All,

I just been on the phone with ozforex (ukforex) and they don't apply charges for anything over £3000, which is good for me and it's simple to use. I just need to transfer money from my Natwest account into their UK Barclays account. They then transfer the agreed amount from their AU WestPac account into my AU WestPac account. So they don't really transfer money, so to speak.

Thanks for your help!!

Buzzy--Bee

I've transferred with Ozforex several times, never been any sort of a problem or charge.

BB

PunkDebutante

We have had the same problem with Hifx and needed an alternative. Glad to see there are good alternatives.

Japonica

Another vote for ozforex. We actually use them regularly for accounts back in Canada. No issues whatsoever. And I like how you can do everything yourself online. We used Currency Online back in 2009 and although they had better rates, it was a pain because we had to fax the bank and ask them to do the actual transfer and then the bank would charge fees for that as well.

Jordan Tilley

£35K is a lot of money so be sure to have your currency broker monitor the market for you. There has been so much volatility in the Aussie Dollar rate timing is everything. The crises in Greece is hurting the commodity currencies and helping the Pound to gain. The rate is at almost 1.60.

grapii

I Know, I've been monitoring it regularly. Can I tell ozforex to only make the purchase at a given rate? or is it spot transactions only, Ie, login, get a quote, complete transaction based on quote?

Jordan Tilley

You will be able to set a rate both above and below the market to help manage your risk to the rate dropping as well as taking advantage of the rate going up. Lets say you wanted to acheive 1.62, you could agree this with your dealer and if the rate hits the currency will be bought.

grapii

Can that be done by ozforex, or a different establishment....sorry for being stupid

Jordan Tilley

Different brokers work differently so I can't confirm. Moneycorp will be able to do this either verbally or on-line.

grapii

Thanks Jordon, I just ozforex and they can do this for transactions over £20K. I've just set it up for 1.62 and will only commit if it reaches that rate. I have the option to cancel or change the rate anytime as long as it hasn't already hit the threshold. They call this transaction a Limit Order.

Once again, thanks all for your help.