scot47

People like to pretend to themselves and to others that they are in control. Hence the obsession with exchange rates and transfer costs.

spouse of scouse

An AU$ to GBP transaction I made fairly recently - I compared, as I always do, the FX rates and fees of my bank and a FX broker respectively. It took about 2 minutes to do. By choosing the broker, £510 more landed in my UK bank account than would have if I'd used my bank. I wouldn't call that an obsession, I'd call it eminently sensible

Ozziechris

When we have moved over the years we just use the exchange rate of the day, it is what it is. When we moved back to the UK 5 or so years ago it was way down around $1.40ish, pure chance. We just transferred bank account to bank account and costs were minimal.

spouse of scouse

For those who think it doesn't matter whether you use a bank or a FX broker to transfer funds, have a look at this. The first quote is from the FX broker I use. The second is from my bank. The quotes were obtained within 2 minutes of each other.

Quote Details
You're Transferring: AUD 300,000.00
Recipient Getting: GBP 171,480.00
Rate: AUD/GBP 0.5716

I want to
Convert
AUD 300000
Into
GBP 164160
Exchange rate: 1 AUD = 0.54720 GBP

I wonder if those who 'pooh pooh' doing a bit of basic research into FX rates and transfer methods would be happy to drop £7,320 on the above transaction. Personally, I think it's a great reward for a few minutes of my time.

Novocastrian

You missed my point. I've no problem with shopping around for the best exchange rate on a particular date. But if you want to spend months worrying about transferring a large amount by waiting for "favourable" rates, go ahead. That part is the lottery.

We used to have a member who lived in Wassaga Beach ON and was an independent FX trader. He disappeared in 2009.

spouse of scouse

I wasn't particularly addressing any of your points Novo, but I do see what you mean. The first and last time I worried about when to transfer, rather than who with, was the night of the Brexit vote. I was due to make a rather large transfer and bought into the 'plummeting pound' hype. Stayed up all night monitoring the exchange rate and sent my transfer at around 4am in the morning, congratulating myself all the way up the stairs to bed that I was bound to have chosen the time when the pound was weakest.

Woke up the next morning and found out how wrong I was Serves myself right and that cured me, now I exhange when I need to.

Novocastrian

Me too. Full sail ahead and damn the consequences.

apskinner

I've been using Halo Financial for nearly 10 yrs, they were 5th on that list of brokers in the original link.

You can set rates of exchange up to 6 months in advance and not have to worry about the fluctuation in rates say while your legals are ongoing on the house sale, of course these rates may be better or worse when the day comes to move the funds BUT you know exactly what you are getting.

You can also do regular payments if for example you are continuing to make payments in one country for things like loans, school fees etc. They don't charge a fee on any transfer over £5k and anything under is £15. Regular payment agreements have no fees.

The biggest challenge I had in moving money from TD Canada to the UK was that there is always an intermediary used by the sending bank which adds fees so unless you specifcy all fees to be paid at source you may find you didn't receive what you expected, thats not Halo's fault, whenever I sent money to Canada I always got what I sent (and managed to negotiate with TD to refund the Wire Fee of $17.50).

I sent some money recently to top up my Cad bank account and it was the best rate I could get from anywhere on that date, but of course sometimes you will find better rates with a different broker.

Hope my experience helps you.

spouse of scouse

Most of the reputable FX brokers offer the same terms as those you've described. It's a good idea to compare different brokers as you say, in my experience a broker will always beat a bank's rates.

Norm_uk

I was a Financial Planner for over a decade and built up good relationships with two companies who can help with this - I recommended them to clients for years and used them myself to move money safely and at lower costs than the banks in most cases.

If you'd like an introduction to my contacts feel free to drop me a PM.

N.

ianandhelena

This tends to be an insurmountable problem with international currency exchange companies.

Bud the Wiser

I have a HSBC UK bank account. Is it worth opening up an international HSBC account ( I'm in the US ) to transfer around $400k ( house sale ) or just use XE or transferwise? Also which would would be best for regular monthly payments under $10k.

durham_lad

I live in England and have a US and UK HSBC account, and the bulk of my income is paid into my US account. It is extremely easy to move money between the 2 accounts but it is still cheaper to use something like TransferWise for amounts up to $15k. However for the big sums I moved over to buy a house I used the HSBC to HSBC method as the price is competitive at sums over $100k.

brits1

Hi we use Ozforex, I always phone and see the current rates and then transfer money from Aus to the Uk and visa versa, we do not have any problems and have used this company for years they also usually have the best rates as I do still phone around. Good luck with everything

Bud the Wiser

Many thanks.

Can I ask what type of US HSBC account you have? From what I've read and understand you need a premium account, which has a minimum deposit of $100k or a S200 fee to open the account. I could, not for the first time, be reading it all wrong.