withabix

HiFX are fine.

They will call you if there are any issues whatsoever with your banking details.

Better exchange rate than your UK bank.

Souvy

I get charged $15 by Scotia every month when I get paid (via electronic transfer). I bitch at my banking officer and it gets refunded.

Having a healthy bank balance with Scotia, lots in RRSP with Scotia and a couple of easily transferable mortgages possibly helps

beckiwoo

Did you do this all online or did you call them to arrange the transfer?

I might try a small amount like you did as a test

BristolUK

The website suggests it can be done on line.

Just out of curiosity I had a look and the $/£ rate quoted is the same one as on xe.com. and that's the rate I get when I withdraw on my UK card, which I can do at three nearby banks

The fees for that are about £5 for every £100 worth of $$.

The HiFX site says flat fee of £9 for under £3k and free for over £3k.

So, for me, a cash withdrawal from my UK account up the road is better value if up to about £200 and above £200, HiFX might be better depending on the fee charged at the receiving bank.

beckiwoo

I see what you are saying with withdrawing the cash

I'll have to check how much my 3 banks charge to receive the money

BristolUK

From the amount you mentioned though HiFX (or similar) would definitely be the way to go. A better rate and free.

Unlikely a receiving fee would cancel those two advantages.

I do remember there was no receiving fee when I did the transfers to the PC account. Perhaps they just charge if its a deposit in foreign currency, after all they have to work on it then whereas the work has already been done and paid for by the fee (or free for over the £3k) at the starting end.

Maybe one day I'll have a tidy sum to transfer again and find out

bert07

We were able to fully open the hsbc account in Canada from the uk (even had the debit card posted and in our hand before we left the uk) - HSBC in Canada are not that great so we didn't keep the account as our main one for long but it was very useful for getting us sorted as we got there.

Neither hsbc or td have charged any receiving few to us.

For transferring money we have used Transferwise a few times for $1000 here and there and had no issues at all. In the account within 4 days as cleared funds.

For a large lump sum we used globalreach who were superb - on the phone for everything and step by step guidance, they also worked with us to get the best exchange rate (this was a bonus for them as it made them more money so it worked both ways). I found them very professional and would def recommend.
Google for fx transfer companies and it will tell you what to check (I can't remember the exact terminology to search for off the top of my head) and search for to increase the security of your transfer.

I personally wouldn't be transferring bank to bank (have offer a "preferential" rate for direct transfer uk to Canada but it really isn't that good a deal compared to the fx firms), cheque, PayPal for large sums as you will be paying thousands in fees/poor exchange rates. I would also be tracking the exchange rate now to monitor spikes.

bert07

Also, I find Transferwise and other fx firms are about the same for exchange and fees so I use their app all of the time for an accurate quote on how much I will get when comparing it to banks and PayPal etc

Gozit

I used Paypal once for a CAD-EUR (CAN-MLT) transfer, then my Maltese bank card got compromised via PayPal on xmas day, not a fun thing to wake up to. So since then I shut the Maltese paypal (I use paypal here as I sell stuff on eBay and buy stuff with it), last transfer I did with CIBC's International Money Transfer, which was good in a pinch but I am not sure on the exchange rate. It was basically 1.50 CAD = 1 EUR. I transferred 150.00 CAD and got 100.03 EUR in my account on the other end.

I signed up for a transferwise account for kicks, so we'll see. Haven't got a need to transfer any cash as yet but will test it out when need arises A little wary on uploading a copy of my passport or driving license to it as it says though.

bert07

I haven't had to upload any documents to Transferwise I don't think (maybe it happened in one of those memory block moments!) ...we did with global to ensure we weren't money laundering so it's fairly normal to do so I believe.

Make sure you check to the actual exchange rate (xe) and not the banks advertised exchange as that may distort things as well.

beckiwoo

Ive just had to upload a document with proof of address on hifx as it had my old address on it.

One thing i was confused about was that it asks for the SWIFT/BIC code of the bank which i have found (11 letters/digits) but where does the branch code go for Canadian banks? Is it part of your account details?

Lifebeginsat36

Hi Bert,

Can I ask how long it took? We leave our house on 10th Aug?

Thanks!

Hurlabrick

I did it all on-line myself. My Canadian bank knew what I was trying to do and made sure they gave me all of the stuff I needed (TD Bank).


I have in the past made similar transfers to my sister (USA), which is quite a bit more complicated. In that instance I sent a scan of the details she gave me to HiFX and they set the payment destination up for me (and yes, it worked perfectly).

bert07

I want to say about a month but you can do most of it here and then have the card delivered to Canada address (they fedexd it to the uk). They have some info online about it, I think oh spoke on the phone with them initially.

bert07

I googled it for my bank at the time I think - I remember a lot of swearing and ringing the fx group as all the phrases were so confusing.