Moneycorps etc
 

People seem to use the above and HiFX etc to transfer funds to Canada.

What is the feeling about thranferring your hard earned life savings into the hands of a company for them to then transfer on your behalf ?

Are you nervous about giving your money to a company with no recourse if they a) go out of business or b) swindle you ? Is there any recourse ?

I am getting close to using one such company and have actually started to thing about it in the cold light of day.

Thoughts ?

Paul

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Paul, I was exactly where you are when it came to transferring proceeds of my house sale to Canada. I had signed up with xe.com but frankly was nervous of what might happened. In the end I used my UK bank, First Direct for peace of mind. What I did do, is as the transfer was largeish, was talk to their treasury/forex dept who gave me a better rate than the tourist rate for regular cash transfers. Checking with the xe.com website it seemed to be reasonably competitive.

AX

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

I've been using xe.com for about five years and have never had a problem. I have moved a lot of cash with them but I usually only transfer 15,000 GPB or so at a time but that is more about my thinking about exchanges rates or just current needs for money etc not because of any fear that the money might just evaporate... scarey thought though! :ohmy:

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

I understand people have used these companies before without issue, just like people used BCCI without issue until the $hit hit the fan.

I was more concerned about protection of funds. I have emailed the company to ask and will post when I get a reply.

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

If you're that concerned, why not just send it over bit by bit? 'Bit' meaning an amount you can lose and it will not do your head in.

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Good plan if we weren't buying a house chucky egg ;)

But I will see what they come back with.

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Hi,

We used hifx and had no problem. We used them for £5000 so we could get a car and a week later (once the money was safe in our account) transferred the rest

Hope this helps.


Kerry

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

I have used moneycorp 3 times. Once they sent the money to the wrong bank, they admitted it was their fault in the end. This was the money to buy a car. I ended up having to hire a car for longer and have it one way from Halifax and drop of in Frederiction which made it expensive. They offered poultry compensation. They even blamed me for not completing the form properly without the person that called me even looking at the faxed transfer form. I told her to get it and read it, she then confirmed I had completed correctly. They did nothing to sort it out. I had to wait until the bank they sent it to returned it, then moneycorp sent it to the correct place.

Traders also didn't seem to be bothered at all when I did the car transaction as it was a realtively small amount of money. I won't use them again

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Hi
When we moved we used Halo Financial who were absolutely brilliant. Alastair Sweetman is the consultant and he kept us up to date and informed. I know of numerous other people who have also used their services and are really happy with them.
I am someone who is very cautious and had major panics over changing the money e.g. in case it got lost, they went bankrupt etc!!!!
All I can say is give Alastair a call, if you mention me, you can have a laugh over all the panic phone calls he received!!!!
Good luck
Julie Parry

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Thats what we did with moneycorp, transferred about 5k to start with to buy a car and then after the house sale in Uk transferred the rest in one hit. But I must admit when transferring a large amount, $large, I was sweating bullets for a few days, but it worked fine in the end. All in all I used them 3 times and never had a problem.

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Hi Tangram

I’m glad you raised the subject of client fund security. It’s of paramount importance, especially when you're transferring large amounts of money to start your new life abroad.

When choosing a currency specialist, our check list would be as follows:

- do they hold your money in segregated client trust accounts. Essentially this means that your funds are held separately from company funds protecting it from creditors etc.

- do they have professional indemnity insurance protecting customers from staff fraud etc.

- do they have direct access to SWIFT. SWIFT is the worlds largest payments and settlements network for domestic and international trades. Direct access ensures you the client benefit from faster payments and enhanced security.

Are currency brokers regulated?
Essentially regulation wise there are two categories of foreign exchange - speculative foreign exchange and deliverable foreign exchange. Speculative foreign exchange (betting on the market) is judged by the Financial Services Authority to be an investment and therefore it falls under their remit. Deliverable foreign exchange (what we do) is deemed money transfer and therefore is regulated by HM Customs and Excise and this includes the main high street banks.

Our private client business therefore, falls under the remit of the HMC&E, however, we have a corporate arm of the business and an insurance company which are both fully FSA regulated.

It’s also worth pointing out that we are one of the largest players in the market. Last year we handled over £20billion in foreign exchange and helped over 30,000 private individuals buy and sell currency. Approx 20% of our new business comes direct from customers recommending us to their friends and family due to the high levels of service we provide and we have an NPS score (Net Promoter Score) of 58, which is higher than most businesses including John Lewis!

Finally, clients have the peace of mind that we are also trusted by over 2,000corporate clients including The Royal Mail, HMV and Dyson.

As you would with any financial services provider, before you use them do your home work. As long as you choose one of the more established players(HiFX, Moneycorp etc...) your money will be just as safe as if you sent it via your high street bank.

Sorry for the long answer, but I hope this sets your mind at rest.

Mark Bodega
Marketing Director - HiFX

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

So Mark are you and all your staff FSA qualified and registered? I am. I trade Bond/STIR/Commodity/Currency Futures for a hedge fund. Can you give me a guideline haircut that you guys would take from spot rate on say £200k? PM me if you don't feel like putting that in the public domain.

Thanks

Chris

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Moved 20k with them yesterday, interbank spot rate 2.1522, got 2.1410 which I didn't think was too shabby.

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

Hi Tangram
Used Moneycorp found them to be really efficent and got a good rate I would definatly use them again

Re: Moneycorps etc
 

(They offered poultry compensation.)

They offered you a Chicken:eek:

Penny :p:D