Money transfers to Spain
 

:confused:HI ,I was just wondering what companys most people use for this.?
As there are so many companies out there offering their services How do you choose.:(

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

We often use HIFX and find them helpful and efficient :):)

http://www.hifx.co.uk

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

We use WorldFirst who are excellent and don't charge commission. We have used MoneyCorp but they send money via banks who do charge (en route).

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

We use HIFX and they have given us good service. On the one occasion the handling bank charged us HIFX refunded staight away.

I also use their corporate exchange office nearly every week in my work capacity and find they give excellent, reliable efficient service.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

we used Currencies Direct, had no problems at all.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

i always use rationalfx i have compared rates in the past with all the above companies and they have always come in with a better rate. there is no right or wrong way of choosing one company over the other, the way I would do it is by registering with a couple of companies as this is generally free to do and play them off against each other. this way you know you are getting the best rate. I have used the same dealer for a long time and he always keeps me informed of the markets. if you want his details feel free to pm me. couldnt recommend them higher.

best of luck!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

We have found UKFOREX OR OZFOREX the best, if you go onto the website you will see the rate you actually get, not the interbank rate that is usually shown on other web sites, and when you contact them by phone they tell you the rate you can get which is always a lot less favourable.
With the company I have mentioned you get it all up front.
What you can do is register with UKforex get a quote on line, then call others and see if they can offer you any better deals, but at least you will have a concrete figure to work from, not some interbank rate.
You can get quotes anytime and as many as you like as there is no phonecall involved (they call you if you press the "proceed button".
Watch the news when a big announcement is coming and watch the changes in real time.
Open a word document and paste the quotes, then you will have a record.

I dont know if I would be allowed to post a few on here, or if it is against the rules of the site. If anyone can inform me, please do so.

Regards,

JLFS

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

now more confused than ever :rofl:

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Ask your bank, we got a better and quicker deal than with any money movers.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Currencies Direct for me and never had a problem, always v helpful on the phone and quick with emails, transfers etc.

And avoided any receiving bank charges? Well done!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Lloyds to Bancopopular no receiving charges. ;-))

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We have just started to use Ratioanal FX we also have accounts with Caxton Moneycorp and HiFX but just now RX have given the best rates. Here is the amazing bit I bought some currency at 11.00 last Tusday morning and it was cleared ready for use in our bank in Spain at 14.00 Tuesday afternoon. HiFX are pretty quick too but not as good as this.

PS. No receiving charges either.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Beware of the wire siphoning scam. Most FX brokers have a trick to charge you their bank fees w/out your knowledge or consent. Here's an article on how it works:

http://money.wikia.com/wiki/Legal_scam:_Wire_Siphoning

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

It depends upon how much money you need to transfer!
If it is a large amount needed in one lump sum, then an money transfer service is what you need.
If it is a large sum, and you can access it over a few days/weeks, or if it is just for everyday living expenses, I would use Nationwide.co.uk
They do not charge for credit card or debit card transactions in the E.U. They also do not charge for withdrwing your money from ATMs.
They give you the Visa Corporate rate on all transactions, which is always higher than all other brokers/banks.
i have been using their flex account for a number of years now, it must have saved me a fortune!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

I think if you look at that article it is more to do with brokers for speculatnig on currency, ie spreadbetting companies rather than brokers who trade for deliverable currency

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I wouldnt get into this conversation with him, there was a whole thread of it and regardless of anything you say, he will just keep on banging on about it!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

And being charged pounds on his credit card for bloody tapas in another thread. lol

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Just can't win with some people!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

thanks for the advice!!!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Generally, yes, but the pitfall is not exclusive to speculation. CMC Markets offers deliverable assets (and also serves speculators), and they run the wire siphoning scam. Although it's less common among the companies not offering leverage, most of those companies simply offer unfavorable rates.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

steph, im afraid there is no comparison site, because it is a live market the price is always moving and brokers will generally offer different clients different spreads anyway, ie if you pretend to know your stuff and tell them you are comparing you will get a better rate!!

Ive send money to Europe and oz for a while, so ive spoken to a fair few companies

I'm afraid there is no quick way to do it apart from speaking to them. In terms of large or small, there are benefits to both, I used to use the largest, but switched to a smaller company now and get better spreads and service, but thats just my personal feeling!

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

There is no right or wrong way to do this. In my experience, the bigger companies always seem to take a larger margin which in my humble opinion goes to their costs, whereas the smaller companies seem to offer better rates and give a more personalised service. company I use may not be the biggest hitter in the uk, but I have never been quoted better elsewhere. and funds are always there same day.

Re: Money tranIsfers to Spain
 

I have used moneycorp, currencies direct and others who haven't incurred charges but now I have discovered the 2 best ways.

1. Travelmoneyservices.co.uk if you want more than the interbank rate for forward buying. The risk here is you are committed even if the rate improves beyond what they give you.

2. My favourite. Open a Nationwide flex account in the UK (need a UK address).
You can then use your debit card to withdraw free from ATMs and pay the cash into your Spanish bank. (I have withdrawn from a CAM ATM and then walked to the counter there and paid into my account!)

Paying for goods is also fee free and the point is for both cash and purchases you get the visa exchange rate which is same as the interbank for over £500000 whatever amount you transact. (Even motorway tolls are converted at this rate with no fees)

I don't know anything to beat it. Even the money saving expert endorses it.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

jynecol. Forgive me for being cynical, but the issue with mystery shoppers is that the Brokers will probaly have an idea whi they are when they never actually trade!!

Brian 2dean In terms of being the 'best' the short answer is no! Most companies will alwayd tell you they will give yuo the 'best rate' but as the market is always moving it makes it very difficult to compare.

In my experience when you get a good relationship with a broker they will keep the rate tight to the market for you and give you a quick and efficient service

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

By design, these FX companies have made it a point to make comparison shopping impossible.

What type of asset are you starting with?

If you're starting with US dollars, then the best option is clear: get a Charles Schwab "invest first" visa card, because the account is free, and they use the wholesale interbank rate. Visa charges Schwab 1%, but Schwab eats that loss rather than passing it on to the customer. On top of that, the credit card gives the card holder a 2% rebate on all purchases. Wholesale interbank rates still factor in some profit for the central banks, but the 2% rebate most likely more than offsets the central banks margin. The only way you can lose is if you take a cash advance from an ATM, which starts the interest clock on the spot. However, you can get around that as well if you make a small purchase first, and then pay a huge amount so you have a credit to draw from. Make sure there is no cash advance transaction fee before you do that though.

Note that there does not exist a euro credit card that is comparable to the Schwab card.

So if you're starting with euros, then you're left with lousy options. You either use a forex broker geared for speculation trading that offers deliverable assets and the best rates (rates good enough to measure the spread in pips). Or you go with a FX broker that targets those just looking to convert real money (a service designed precisely for what you're trying to do), but get hit with fees and poor exchange rates to boot (which are sometimes hidden, and high enough that the margin is measured in percentage).

Finding an FX broker geared for speculation with deliverables seems more tempting on the surface, but then you must deal with a minefield of wire fees and risk getting hit by the wire siphoning scam. Plus the speculation brokers that offer deliverables are ironically not competent enough to publish that fact - forcing you to contact a salesperson at every broker you're considering using for this purpose.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

why would he be starting with US dollars:confused:


more likely British pounds

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Expats have can have any currency, depending on where they worked most recently; USD, EUR, or GBP in particular. Which is why I asked. But I would agree, it's most likely British pounds, in which case it's as bad as trying to sell euros.

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Nobody wants US dollars, the Euro is the in currency.

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Please be aware there are a number of posters on this thread posting from the same IP addresses. I am presently trying to sort it out

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Actually a lot of traders in China want US $. They don't even want CAD$.

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You are having a laugh ?

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Someone recommended ukforex here, as well as on another expat site. They have a reputation for being one of few brokers that is "transparent", so I looked into it.

Results:

Yes, they appear to offer more transparency than the competition. They give a quote that meets the bid and ask half way on the front page to give you a good idea of the rate, and then once you have an account they quote a rate with their profit margin, based on the volume.

Looking at the numbers: The realtime EURUSD rate that was trading was 1.4152 at around 9pm GMT on 11th of Aug. (verified on a site that offers realtime FX spot trades). The effective quote given by ukforex at the same time on a volume of $10,000 was 1.3973.

The bottom line: if you bought 10,000 USD using ukforex at around 9pm GMT on 11th of Aug., their take is $129.39.

IMO, $129 is unreasonable to buy $10k. That's not to say it's not competitive.. it is competitive because competition is lousy. Eg. I know of a bank that has about the same amount in overhead to change half that volume, and that bank was claiming to charge strictly the interbank wholesale rate with no retail markup.

Ukforex gives a number you can call to haggle, so it would be interesting to find out how much slack they give their sales people.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

You can use the figure you get on the UKFOREX quote to haggle with other companies, because as I said before, you have a good reference to the amount that you can achieve, without committing yourself.

Also if you do a lot of transfers it is best to spread them around various companies, especially if it is the same money going backward and forward.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

I found a comparison site worth checking out:

http://www.sendmoneyhome.org/

I'm surprised there are any brokers open enough for a comparison site to be able to operate. There aren't a whole lot of choices right now, but hopefully this tool will catch on and gain some ground.

If you set the form up to send a small amount from the UK to the US, there are five results (not bad). If more is sent, it exceeds some minimums and 8 comparisons are made.

Sending a large amount from the US to Spain gives 7 choices.

These figures would be good to have on your screen when calling Ozforex to negotiate.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Are you obsessed with money transfers? :lol:
Seriously, are you in the business?

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

I maintain a wiki on the subject:

http://money.wikia.com/wiki/Moving_Money

So I try to stay current. I would love to get some contributors, so I would have less work to do.

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I think you are confusing the question by talking about real time trading figures.
Real time trading has nothing to do with money transfers, and there is always a great difference in pips between the 2. The main reason being that real time trading is a gamble but transferring money is not.

But dont forget in real time trading no money is actually transferred, you risk the money you are willing to lose, and you could lose a packet because of the use of leverage.

Using leverage you can trade with 100k of euros with only 400GBP.
you are talking about a whole different ball game here, not a way of transferring funds.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

Of course there is a correlation between market value and what Joe Shmoe is offering. Joe Shmoe is watching the market too, and taking care to add a margin.

Simply comparing John Doe's deal with Joe Shmoe's does not reveal the market value of the assets because your measuring instrument is too blunt. You might know that broker A is better than broker B, but unless you look at the realtime market, you still don't know how much value you're giving up in a trade with broker A.
You're talking the speculation trading on a margin. There's only a gamble if you're trading non-deliverables with the brokers money on a margin account. The realtime market prices that I compared ozforex to actually came from a broker that offers deliverables w/out leverage. In this case, CMC Markets.

You get much more resolution in your comparison if you compare the loss of value in each trade, not just the net.

As I said in an earlier post, there are FX brokers that offer both non-deliverables with leverage, and deliverables as a separate product. It makes perfect sense to look at the spot rates on deliverables, because that's real money if you want to withdraw it. If you like the realtime market rate on CMC markets, and you're trading 10k in assets, you can buy other assets (one-way), and have the new currency delivered. (That's just an example, I do not recommend actually trading with CMC Markets because they siphon wires).

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But this must all be done in the right time zone, READ HERE or his two previous threads for complete info on the subject of getting the timing spot on.

Re: Money transfers to Spain
 

I agree to a point that the realtime trading rate has a direct correlation, everyone is buying at the same rate. I think what JLFS means is that you cant compare the spreads that gambling sites charge compared to deliverable. At the end of the day the speculative companies take on the position whether deliverable brokers dont, so they have to charge a much larger spread to make their profit. It is a completely different industry, just all pricing off the same market