PeterAndSue

For people on the hunt for the best exchange rate.
I thought I would try and get a spot check poll.
I tend to follow the commenwealth bank.
Can anyone beat it ?

Commenwealth Bank 11/12/2003 09:00 = 2.3500

pom_uk

Hi
Is the Commonwealth Bank's rate available on the web somewhere as I now have a big lump of cash that needs to go down under via my Commonwealth account ?

We have also got a UK HSBC account & wondered if it would be better to wait till I get an account opened with them in Oz ?

Also someone mentioned it's cheapest to transfer via Paypal, anyone know what the charges are for this & is it only suitable for small amounts?

TIA

Pom_UK

PeterAndSue

Commenwealth bank tel no is 0207 710 3990.
But what is HSBC offering today ??????

pom_uk

Dunno, don't check it I'm afraid just get the free daily exchange rate email updates from www.xe.com to keep an eye on what the rate is doing, but seem to remember someone saying HSBC were quite cheap on their transfer charges, although I know it's fee free with Commonwealth over £15k & their rate always seems ok??


Pom_UK

OzTennis

I'm sure you have to open an account with the Commonwealth by providing proof of identity - copy of passport pages, utility bills etc. I had a thread a month or so about them because they closed our account. We had it for a number of years and they were only going to provide this facility for up to 2 years. We can go through the identity checks again though and open a new account.

The Commonwealth charges a flat £15 per transaction obviously irrespective of amount. If you do a CHAPS transfer from your own bank to the Commonwealth you will incur further charges with your own bank (also £15 for Royal Bank of Scotland in our case). Thus it cost us £30 each time we transferred - never did a transfer for less than a few thousand pounds because of this.

I will be interested to see what commission others mention.

Oh, some will probably say don't deal with the Commonwealth but we did over 50 transfers to our Oz account without a single problem. Just your luck though as in many things!

OzTennis

claireg3

Just had an email from Halewood and their spot rate is 2.359 at the mo. The minimum amount you can exchange is £5000 but they don't charge any commission. If you forward buy you put down 10% as deposit and then agree a date to settle up (ie when house is sold) once they have cleared the funds they transfer to your Oz account We settle up on the 6th Jan and they will transfer the funds on the 7th.(If we settled up before 12 midday on the 6th they would transfer the same day)

Claire

PeterAndSue

Yep,
I was told my the commonwealth bank they only keep your UK account open for two years .
Don't know if this two years from the date of opening or two years from the date you activate your Aus account.
So either way don't leave money in you Commonwealth UK bank account for longer than two years , as it will disappear when they close it.

tetley101

The current rate on bloomberg is 2.3645 @11.20

Does anyone have any views on where the rate is going.

I have been advised it will recover in the next 12 month

(not a reccomendation!!!)

Kenand Nel

Now rate from Clydesdale Bank if moving more than £20k is 2.363
Ken

ABCDiamond

If you get your HSBC manager to get a quote for you, you should get a better rate than from the International division, I did. But it may depend on the amount being transferred. The rate I got via my manager was a lot better.

OzTennis

The reason for the 2 year bit is that they are a financial and migrant advisory service in London. They say they don't do retail banking (ie they won't transfer your salary or pension etc on a regular basis if you are in Oz and they presume after 2 years that you have moved to Oz, or given up on the idea).

I think we just got noticed in an audit of accounts. We opened our account in 1996 and have been making regular transfers since then - so we were slightly over the 2 years! The lady we deal with has been super over the years and she explained that we could open a new account if we wanted - it was just 'procedures' that she was following. He name is Susan Pieromaldi and her phone number is exactly as you gave it but with a 2 on the end not a 0 which is the main switchboard.

You don't as such leave your money in London because they will open an account for you at a branch in Oz and transfer your funds to there at the exchange rate applicable when you send your £'s. That's my understanding anyway - we've never sent £'s to London which weren't converted to $'s and sent to our account in Oz though.

OzTennis

Halewood look OK as far as rate and no commission goes - they are quite reputable (and safe)?

Polly58

Hi All

Often spot rates that are quoted are 'Interbank' rates, these are often rates for speculators dealing in millions of pounds. The rates you actually get are less attractive and dependant on the amount of money you transfer. I suggest you contact your fx company and confirm the rate.

Polly58

PeterAndSue

So at the moment we have,

Commenwealth = 2.3500
Halewood = 2.359
bloomberg = 2.3645
Clydesdale Bank = 2.363

OzTennis

Ken

That's a good rate. The Clydesdale are owned by the National Bank in Australia. Have you opened a National account in Oz via the Clydesdale as this is one option we are looking at presently?

OzTennis

OzTennis

Do Bloomberg deal in fx transactions or just provide information about fx rates??

OzTennis