Siouxie

RBC is $17 to receive a wire transfer. Other banks > https://www.finder.com/ca/bank-fees-wire-transfers

BristolUK

It's all a bit strange really. "Wire" seems to be an all encompassing term looking it up. Even including Swift.

But since in Canada I have done swift transfers from my UK account to the lawyer's account twice (for property purchase) and to another account twice. Each time the only fee has been at the UK end.

I transfer money using TransferWise and again, there's no receiving fee.

Marion W

That is more encouraging.

Siouxie

For future reference, I just found this on the Govt website: https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

Marion W

Thank you very much for the link regarding late Pensions from the UK.

scrubbedexpat134

I was considering opening a Transferwise Border less account until i read the reviews
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/fina...nsferwise.html

Marion W

It`s is the usual story....if it sounds too good to be true etc. etc. Thanks for the follow-up on that,

BristolUK

I find this puzzling. I've read loads of those reviews and aside from a couple they don't explicitly say this is about the borderless account. It reads like complaints about the service which bear no resemblance to reality of my experiences (some look like downright lies) nor those of everyone else who has posted on BE about it.

However, a few talk about having their account closed and it's not clear whether they mean a borderless account was closed or just a general one.

If those reviews really mean their normal service, then either something different happens with less common currencies/transfers or there's something malicious going on.

There's even one review (specific reference to a borderless account) where the user got a number wrong when inputting and said it was TW's fault for not checking. The funds went to the wrong recipient. Just as they would with any other service if you put the wrong number in.

I have to say that if there was any truth to some of those allegations, I'm sure it would have made the news.
I've googled and can't find anything.

Googling also shows results page of review sites routinely giving 4/5 stars out of 5.

BristolUK

Just found this
https://www.truthinadvertising.org/c...r-affairs-com/

Hurlabrick

Yep, 'fake news'. At the very top of the consumer affairs website in tiny writing is a link about their reviews which if you then click on further links, it talks about 'accredited companies' and says TransferWise is not one of their 'accredited' companies. If you read what they have to do to be accredited, it says they must pay consumer affairs an unspecified monthly fee etc. Sound a bit like extortion to me.

I have used TW for 3 or 4 years and so far transferred a few hundred thou GBP through them with no problems at all. It is quicker to get money from my UK account to my Canadian account through them than it is fir me to get money from my Canadian account to pay one of my Canadian credit cards!

I did look into their borderless account, but as I already have a real and ongoing bank account in the UK with Nationwide and I am about to open another real US bank account through RBC, I have no need of their borderless account. Worth mentioning that as these borderless accounts are not with a 'real' bank, they are not covered by the banking deposit guarantee (happy to be corrected here if I am wrong). So I personally would not keep anything of more thsn a couple of thou as a working balance in such an account.

BristolUK

I hope you've seen the follow ups to the follow up

It seems that with that site you pay a fee to get good reviews sought out and published and the reverse if you don't. It really does sound like 'protection money' or you get your legs broken, windows smashed, poor reviews etc.

BristolUK

I've lost count of the number I've done. Did my latest today and the confirmation says it'll be in my Canadian account 6 hours later. It was accurate last time.
Yes, I may do this in future if it becomes more difficult to access my UK bank account - texts to UK mobile phones etc as extra security check - and have my pension paid into one. It will only be there as a balance to transfer to my usual bank in Canada so just a day or so.

Regarding protection, this is what the website says:
So it would seem it requires Barclays to go under for anything to be lost.
Services such as TransferWise have had so many articles written about them in so many financial publications that if anything were the least bit dodgy, it would have been published by now.

Hurlabrick

Yes, it was the Barclays going insolvent bit I was referring to. IF you had say a personal account as well with Barclays, even if they went bust, your deposits up to EUR 100k would be protected. Of course no one thought that a bank could go insolvent until 2008!

But yes, definitely a minor 'theoretical' risk.

BristolUK

Not sure what time it got there but it was within 9 hours.