jenny and charlie

We use Moneycorps and found them very good.

Herman

I used Moneycorp or Currencies Direct and usually trade one off against the other until I am satisfied they are giving me the best rate. Always worth calling one, getting a rate, calling the other telling them the rate they have to beat, then going back to the first and telling them the new target for them to beat. You can save a lot of money with a few calls.

wetwang

I use Escape Currency of Aylesbury. I had to send details of my bank accounts/RIB numbers which they keep on file. I think they have my pasport details too.
If I need cash I do an internet transfer from my UK bank to them and last week within 4 days I had the Euros available in my French bank. (paid £15 for express service).
The rate was 1.11 but it was only for 3k. My last transfer was at 1.52 but that was 2 years ago. Those were the days

Andrea50

Lots of different companies seem to be doing this. Have just got back, totally whacked, from scouring the Brittany countryside for a house. It's so beautiful there, we were based at Huelgoat (more later, and we have some funny stories but I'm just too tired at the mo!!).

Agent we bought through suggested Globex, have just spoken to them, they offer best rates I have had so far, all very simple, have just filled in forms, I thought HiFX were good, these guys are better.

Happy Wednesday to all.

Andy

hitchw

Fair enough they have to wait for the cash to hit their account, but that sounds like ages. normally i do direct transfers, but even if i do internet payments that only takes 2 days tops to reach them and then they have the funds out same day! when i do direct transfer, if i do it in the morning the funds arrive same day to the account!

hitchw

sorry didnt mean through your broker meant through my bloke at RationalFX

MikeandLiz

Hello,

we usually use Moneycorp but as with all these money exchange cos. you will get a slightly better rate than the banks which is only significant for larger amounts of transfer. Otherwise, just use your bank - there's no contract to complete each time and transfer is quick.

billy4ray

Hi, we use Barclays Bank owners aborad transfer service for our day to day small amounts of money exchange as there are no charges for this service. through them I have set up a direct debit to send a fixed amount each month, but then just a phone call to them if I want pay an additional amount. The exchange rate isnt too bad as they pay about 2 cents below the rate, and its in the bank 3 days later maximum.

Hawthorn

I am looking to transfer funds to France soon as have just signed up for a property. I saw an article in the Sunday newspapers about exchange rates so thought I would share the info with you. The paper reports the cost to transfer 50,000EURO, all costs included, as
Lloyds TSB: £43,761
HiFX via the Post Office: £43,289
Worlds First: £43,066
I've yet to see how easy this might be - I have a feeling that a transaction through the Post Office might be simpler than Worlds First, but will see how it goes. Their advice is to avoid the banks....

greghal

hawthorn

it is so hard to compare currency brokers without actually getting a rate yourself, as they will quote everyone a different rate and i suspect they will have an idea when a journalist calls in. The postoffice is basically HIFX anyway.

The good news is that you should be getting a better rate at the moment, i sent a smaller amount to Euros yesterday morning at 1.1760, the best we've seen for a while

Hawthorn

Just an update - I went to the post office (not a main one, though, only a sub-post office) today to see what could be done and they didn't do HiFX, only Moneygram. The exchange rate is 1.12 as opposed to HiFX online at 1.18 (a difference of £2270 on 50,000euros). In addition, Moneygram charges £160 per transaction, but completes the same day. So, I will not be using the post office service, unless an urgent payment needs to be made. Just goes to show - don't believe all you read in the papers!

greghal

Hawthord, that is a cery big gap, 1.12 is errible. For a fair comparison yu will need to login to your HIFX site, as that .118 displayed on frontpage is the interbank rate, where the market trades at, not what you will receive

Hawthorn

Thanks for that info - I thought the amount quoted would be the amount quoted! Trust me to be so naive! Anyhow, I've just logged into the HiFX pages and cannot see where the current trading rate is that can be obtained. I've got to go to work now so will investigate further later.

greghal

Hawthorn have you had any joy so far, if you want a recommendation i use Cornhill FX www.cornhillfx.com always give me a tight rates and funds usually arrive same day. I buy EUR and AUD so now have quite a good relationship with my broker there

Hawthorn

Hi greghall

I ended up fixing the rate for a forward buy with HiFX - I heard that the BoE had authorised another huge round of quantitive easing so panicked and fixed it that day. As it is, the rate hasn't fallen considerably, but at least I know that I can afford to buy the place at the rate fixed. I'll certainly look into your suggestion tho, thanks, as I have a lot of money to spend in the renovations over the next couple of years.