ajhurley

www.transferwise.com

Excellent, shows you what you save versus doing this with a bank and very quick to use.

loy loy

I just looked at that and they have a much better rate than the one I used this week. I got 1.71 and they offer 1.2 But it's not regulated by the FSA. I guess it's a risk you take.

InVinoVeritas

Quite a spread between 1.71 and 1.20,

bigglesworth

To be fair, it does look as though the banks are trying to pump it around. (assuming thre was a typo)

loy loy

Oops, yes 1.17 it should have read.

Wasn't a bank, it was currency transfer specialist, who I use every month, that's a big difference in rate. But without regulation I'm not sure id risk it.

That currency fair says it's regulated by the Irish bank but then it says it doesn't keep the money in Ireland, so if your money goes missing, then what. I guess I'm just bit too safe.

TinaBee

For deposts into CurrencyFair in sterling, the money is placed in a separate individual account (i.e. only for your money) in the Bank of America N.A., 5 Canada Square, London. You are provided with the IBAN for the account at that bank in order to make transfers.

loy loy

OK, but what I mean is, if anything should happen to the Bank of America, then what.

InVinoVeritas

I like your thinking!

bigglesworth

Well, if it is deposited in a Bank regulated by the FCA, which I believe the BoA is, then it will benefit from the statutory guarantee.

(Just make sure it is not the Merrill Lynch part. I worked for them for ten months, and my salary was paid by a different Merrill Lynch every month. When it got to 10 I thought enough was enough!)

loy loy

Maybe, but the website of that company says it is governed by the bank of Ireland. So they probably wont get involved. It's not registered with the FSA (that company) so you might get your money back eventually, you might not.

I don't know, I'm just guessing.

It's way too confusing to me.

I spoke to my trader about it and he was weary, but I guess he would be, potential client loss n that

I might call them to discus sit all

TinaBee

Did a transfer today. I arranged the transfer from Nationwide at 10:30 this morning. The deposit cleared into my CurrencyFair account at 12:13. I requested a rate a few points above that on offer at 12:15. The rate was matched at 12:19. I transferred the funds out at 12:24. Based on recent transactions, the funds will be in my CA account tomorrow. So if the Bank of America were going to go bust they'd need to be quick about it

Tweedpipe

Just got 1.19 a few moments ago with an FSA registered FX company.

bigglesworth

1.2023

FriendlyExpat

Beware this advice - it may be fee free - but it is NOT "loading charge" free - in fact the rate you get is relatively poor.

InVinoVeritas

I'm sorry but you are quite wrong - I use this service regularly and I can guarantee there is absolutely NO transfer fee and the exchange rate used is normally within 1% of the mid-market rate.

For example, I did a transfer from GBP to Euros yesterday and I got a rate of 1.1966 - I calculated this rate by dividing the number of Euros received by the number of GB Pounds.

The mid-market rate yesterday was 1.20866 so this equates to a margin for the bank of 0.075%. There are no other fees and the money arrives instantly.

I have also done transfers to Asia and the same rates apply ie always less than 1%. If you are transferring between two accounts held in the same currency but in different countries then it is 100% free.

This rate is for HSBC Premier customers only who have bank accounts in two or more countries.