transfering money
 

An aquaintance who has lived in several countries including Oz has advised us not to transfer money from UK to Oz bank account electronically but to obtain a bankers draft from UK and present it in Oz bank upon arrival. He states that this saves £s on commission, fees and that the exchange rate is better that end.

This isn't an idea that I've heard recomended before, I wonder if any of you have any thoughts on it? I thought the transfer fee was only £10 anyway but dont know about the exchange rates?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Hello MC (you don't rap do you?0

We will transfer our big lump sum from the sale of the house with Halewood as they don't charge and the rates are pretty good. We have transferred a small amount already so that we will have some dosh as soon as we get there and we did that electronically - it only cost £7 to do but the exchange rate was pants - a good 10 cents less than Halewood. Oh well!

Claire

Hi claire,
We are thinking of using Halewood for our big lump sum transfer, but were unsure as to how long it takes.
We haven't left a great deal of time between completing and flying out, and would like to know our money was in place before we leave.
Have you any idea how long it takes?

Hi Williem,

we registered with them a while ago - you need to do that first before you can do anything else. We complete on the 6th jan and are flying out on the 8th. They will transfer the money to our Oz account on the 7th and it will take 3 - 5 working days to clear so we should be able to access it the following week. We've got a bit in our account already and are taking a few $100 dollars in cash.
Halewood have been really good so far - we did a forward contract with them a while ago when the exchange rate was a little better than it is now. Andy Nelson who you will deal with is very good and tells you what is what as far as he can.

When do you leave?

Claire

We leave on the 21st February for Brisbane.
The house should be completed the previous week sometime.

Where are you heading for?

Hello again,
we are off to Perth. You should have plenty of time to sort it all out. Give them a bell tomorrow and they will send all the forms etc out to you. Hopefully the exchange rate will improve a wee bit before we go.

Claire

Thanks Claire,
No rap I'm afraid, just scottish sounding initials!
Hubby (Williem) responded for me, we'll give them a bell tomorrow. Good luck,

Michaela

We used halewood, found them to be spot on. Miles better rate than what the bank could offer, free transfer and once they had received cleared funds the dollar was in our oz account within hours.

Top service.

Thanks Claire, Warwick road,

I think you've made our minds up.

Will

How do you get in touch with Halewood? Have they got a website?

www.hifx.co.uk

or

01753 859159

They have been really helpful so far

Claire

Anyone know how the Halewood exchange rate compares with the Commonwealth Bank exchange rate, as Commonwealth charge no commission for amounts over £15,000 ??

Pom_UK

Halewood don't charge commission full stop. The only limitation is their minimum transaction is £5000.

Claire

FWIW Here's my piece: I'm no expert just someone who wants to exchange some money securely for the best price.

I have just spoken to Halewood & Commonwealth Bank. Andy Nelson was really helpful as was Steven at the Commonwealth. The bottom line is this though. I got quotes on £30,000. They were Halewood - 2.3582 & Commonwealth - 2.3530 a saving of @£400 by using Halewood I think.

But I have several lingering what if's ....

I asked Halewood if the SWIFT transfer they make to my bank in Australia chargeable they say not by them, Commonwealth say not by them but they said that there will undoubtably be less in my account when I get it as whoever Halewood use will take their few $'s on it's way there? With Commonwealth what I am quoted will be what is in my bank @2 days later.

Commonwealth also said the rate quoted by Halewood was too close to the market rate & if they don't charge any commission how do they make money to pay staff etc ? Commonwealth make their money by maintaining a relationship with the client & on mortgages etc ?

I asked Halewood if I would be protected should they go bust they said my money goes into a client trust account with Barclays where it's protected. Commonwealth said they are FSA approved I would not loose my money as others did with a similar intermediary in the past.

As I said the bottom line on the quote of £30k was a saving of @£400 with lots of ifs & buts about Halewood.

FWIW - Commonwealth eventually said they would also match Halewoods price. But on the downside they need the money in a no interest account before quoting, whereas Halewood give 3 days to settle on amounts upto £50k.

I've already setup accounts with Commonwealth in UK & Oz & given the bottom line & the concerns raised about Halewood it looks like Commonwealth for me. I definately can't take any risks whatsoever.

Maybe someone who has used Halewood or Commonwealth from start to finish can provide some feedback ?
<added l8r>Oops they already have !!

Pom_UK :confused:

From personal experience with "client trust accounts", it is not always guaranteed. The $5,000 I had secure in one of these once, ended up helping to pay for a Villa in France for one of the directors!! I got it all back eventually, but it took 5 years !!

My experience had nothing to do with Foreign Exchange, but I just wanted to point out that a "client trust account" is not 100% secure. It maybe 99.9% of the time, but I would now look to see how long the company has been around. If it has been trading for a good number of years, then that gives you more security.