State pension exchange rates
 

I am interested in transferring my UK state pension directly to my Australian bank account.
Does anyone have details of historical exchange rates used. Any examples with a date would help me decide if it’s worth doing.

Thank you

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but yes, It would be interesting to know if direct to Aussie account is the wisest way of receiving it or whether better rates of exchange can be achieved by having it paid into a UK account and then transferring it ourselves to Australia using a currency transfer service such as OrbitRemit, OFX or XE. My gut feeling is the DIY route will likely be the better value since having it paid direct can be considered to be the complacent way to go, and banks thrive on customer complacency.

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

I've been in receipt of a private pension from the UK for over 20 years and up until last year, I always had it dropped into my foreign bank account directly. They would just use the exchange rate of the day and I didn't worry about it. I imagine there was a bit of a fee involved too but I had no control over that.

Due to a change in our circumstances here (I got a job) I now have the pension drop straight into my bank account in the UK. It has been accumulating nicely and I have the flexibility of moving it down here when the exchange rate is favourable rather than accept whatever the exchange rate will be on any given day. I realise that I'm in a fortunate position of having income in Australia and this won't work for everyone but it certainly does for me. When I'm eligible for the UK state pension I will do the same thing.

There are going to be fees whichever way you choose but these can be offset by at least getting a decent exchange rate.

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

Also, typically the greater the amount that you transfer, the greater the exchange rate you get.

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

You don't say if the UK state pension is your sole source of income. (If it is you're in trouble!).
Assuming your main income is otherwise, why not just have your state pension paid into a UK bank account and use a UK credit card debiting that? We do just that with a Nationwide card and a Barclays current account. The small exchange commission on the card is probably better than what you get transferring to Oz, and it's like having "free" money!

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

That's one way of doing it. Not sure what it's like now but historically Nationwide always had the best rates for overseas transactions. But almost certainly not as good as using a money transfer service.

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

Years ago Nationwide had NO commission on foreign purchases. (It was that policy that made me get a card - unfortunately I had just furnished our house in the USA using Barclaycard :( !)
Their exchange rates were very competitive too. I believe they still are - I check the monthly statement and use the $$ purchase price for my budgeting: it is very close to the midprice average.

Re: State pension exchange rates
 

Blimey! Sorry, I missed this. Yes, I can remember those days. Nationwide was always the best on that. When we went on holiday overseas we just took the card along and used that transaction by transaction with no worrying about transaction charges or bad exchange rates.

I still find that compared with our Aussie Commonwealth Bank card we still get a better deal with nationwide for international transactions. Also, I have a bank accounts in several countries so usually also weigh up which currency is doing best against the currency of the country I'm in and use that. It's a bit like that with passports too. Need a visa? Cost of visa? :decision: