Atlantic Xpat

Dear All,

What's the collective 2021 wisdom on the best funds transfer service UK to Canada. I'm talking hundreds of dollars not thousands. With online ordering less reliable these days, family in the UK are having me buy Christmas presents locally & will reimburse. Usually I used Amazon vouchers as an easy way to send funds (they buy me amazon vouchers in lieu of sending money) but this time I would prefer the cash. What is the simplest (For aged parents) and lowest cost service that avoids my bank (Scotia) charging me handsomely for the privilege of receiving money on my behalf?

TIA,
AX

dbd33

What I do, and I accept that this may not suit everyone, is to have them send cash. I stick the cash in a drawer and use it when next in the UK. No banks involved.

Bit of a bother when they change the notes and you have a handful of nothing but that happened only once over thirty odd years.

BristolUK

Transferwise, now just Wise.

My Bank here doesn't charge to receive deposits. Works out about £2 for every £500 or so I send myself and a good rate too.

ChrisBan

Yep Wise, formerly known as Transferwise is certainly my favoured option for transferring both ways.

Gozit

Another +1 for Wise/Transferwise. I use it multiple times a month to send money from US->Canada, Malta, and Aus, and back again.

Atlantic Xpat

Thx all. I'll go check out Wise.

JamesM

Is Wise good for larger sums? Thousands not hundreds of thousands.

BristolUK

I believe so. I once posted somewhere in previous TW threads wondering if the fee - as a % - could be a greater sum for bigger transfers (eg compared to someone else's fixed fee) and a regular user said he still found it cheaper.

Not sure when that was and I can't remember the poster other than him being a regular on such threads..

Siouxie

Perhaps this post/thread? Transferring money from house sale

BristolUK

Yes, that's the feller. Hurlabrick (how could I forget that name?)

I swear, Siouxie, sometimes you must have potions and magic spells finding stuff like that.

Atlantic Xpat

Update to say that I tried Wise with a nominal amount from my newly resurrected UK bank account. Worked fine. Scotia didn't charge for the privilege of receiving money on my behalf!

BristolUK

So your relies can pay into your UK account then (and you do the transfers) rather than them pay to your Wise account which may throw up further authentication requirements for them.

Atlantic Xpat

Yes, that's right. They can manage bank transfers to a UK bank account OK. Getting them to sign to Wise might be a step too far. Plus it keeps my UK bank account active.

JamesM

Wow! Wise is amazing! Did a transfer today for a few k's. It was super easy to use and efficient.

BristolUK

It's been a BE fave for a good few years now. I've been using it monthly for over 5 years.