z0s0

Good news then! Sounds like it was regulatory issues they had then. I imagine being a "3rd party wire service" is a pretty big deal for a non-bank institution.

Loco Pedro

I've used XE for several years but I've just done a test quote with both and on a £5000 to euros trade, Oanda wins as follows:
XE - 6141.79 for £5016.00 - no fee
Oanda - 6173.30 for £5000 + £16 fee

davidtheprof

yep, Oanda wins for larger amounts, with very good FX rates but a fixed fee.

z0s0

I'm surprised there's so little in it, actually (0.5%). How did you do the quote? Log in to XETrade and start the transfer process?

Loco Pedro

No, I logged in and took a quick quote. I'm half way through reading the Oanda Risk Disclosure Statement and I must say it is rather intimidating.
How long have they been going ?

z0s0

I just logged into my XEtrade account (which I never actually used once I saw their rates), and they seem to be about 1.26% worse than OANDAs offered rate. So at 5K that's equivalent to a £63 pound fee vs OANDAs £16. Obviously this gets worse as the size of the transfer grows.

Not too bad, but 1.3% certainly isn't insignificant. Seems to be better than it was when I signed up for XETrade 3 years ago.

IIRC OANDA has been doing FX trading for > 10 years, and retail transfers since 2008.

Loco Pedro

I just did another test and the result on £5016 was a difference of 130 euros. Strange ! XE's figure was very similar to yesterday, but Oanda's was 100 euros more.

davidtheprof

Oanda is using real time rates, and the pound shot up over a cent yesterday. Not sure if other companies are slower to adjust rates....

z0s0

You should always do your trades during hours when the FX markets are open. They will let you do it on weekends, but at significantly worse rates. So weekends = a bad idea.

Loco Pedro

...but the rate was better today !!

davidtheprof

sorry, was thinking pounds to dollars, not Euros...

anonimouse

In these uncertain times, I would use the bank, more security for the sake of a hundred or two.

I did a bank transfer to UK last week through the bank, a company I have used many times, no names mentioned, wanted to me to pay funds into their spanish bank and then obtain contracts online to do the deal, Too risky in this climate me thinks. You have to accept, it costs more here to transfer.

Best to be safe.

z0s0

I get a fantastic rate into EUR, thanks to OANDA. I don't have to accept that it costs more - because it doesn't.

And, frankly, I have more faith in their continued existence than most Spanish banks!

jackytoo

Agree! For large amounts your UK banks will probably match the rates advertised if you negotiate.

z0s0

I do find it odd that people on this board seem to want to justify their decision to use a bank whilst ignoring the fact that the security it provides (real or imagined) comes at a premium.

If that feeling is worth the cost to you, then by all means use a bank (or UK post office, etc).

But banks are well aware of the value of their brand in these transactions and charge accordingly.

They have absolutely no reason to match the rates on offer elsewhere for the kind of retail sums we are talking about (i.e. < 1M €). Why would they?