fulwood

I just read Sir Richard Branson has formed new company that claims to save you money when transferring from one country to another. it is called TransferWise. I can't put url as we are not allowed to. Might be handy for someone.

Jerseygirl

BE allows you to post a URL.

tallperson

Sadly they only have a few currencies atm not including CAD.

NiHao

Thanks Fulwood, hadn't heard of them before, will bookmark for future use.

bigglesworth

There are several companies like this and many different businesses eating into the banks foreign exchange margins.

Currencyfair have been around for a while, charge a bit less and give a slightly better rate.

The currency brokers are fractionally more expensive, but possibly slightly more secure

Pulaski

You can, they can't (would be advertising).

There is also xe.com, which is one of relatively few of the on-line remitters that is fully authorized to provide services to residents of the US. Xe.com belongs to Western Union, so is a well established and reputable company. .... And I should point out that xe.com is MASSIVELY cheaper than Western Union! Xe.com is also cheaper than the banks - no wire fees at either end if you place the order correctly, and a very significantly better exchange rate.

bigglesworth

I don't know what they are like for smaller currencies, but for pound Euro and sterling dollar their rates are some of the worst I have seen apart from the High Street banks.

Buying Euros they quote 1,6152 against 1,64 for Currencyfair and 1,6375 for Rational. Dollar rates were even worse.

Englishmum

Another 'thumbs up' for XE - The World's Favorite Currency and Foreign Exchange Site (Many expats who post on BE use xe for international money transfers).

We've been using them for years now - at least a decade if not longer - to transfer money in various currencies to/from the UK,to/from the USA, to/from Singapore and to/from Switzerland.

It initially took a few days to set up an account with xe (including a telephone interview with them) as they check that you are not a money launderer ) and our first transaction with them was a small amount of money to test it out. It worked seamlessly so we've used them ever since - and it all goes through quickly too.

bigglesworth

Tara, I was a professional currency trader for twenty years.
Both prices I gave were trading prices. Currency fair charge 3Euros per transfer. Rational are brokers and charge me nothing usually. Currencyfair quotes were for 1000 sterling, as was exchange4Free. Rational was for £5000 but exchange4free will not quote above$3000.

I have no axe to grind here, but exchange4 free are VERY expensive.

feelbritish

If you are an HSBC Premier Customer and have more than $25 000, go to your personal banker who will arrange a much better rate than the high street, called "Treats" We have been into bank today to discuss this. This is if you bank with them in both your country of residence and UK.

bigglesworth

When we left the UK four years we spoke to HSBC about this. At the time the rate HSBC quoted was still 2 or 3 percent worse than we could get with the currency brokers. And at that time I believe we had to deposit £35, 000 (I may be misremembering and it may have been £25,000) interest free. It did not add up by any stretch of the imagination.