zany

Let me explain how this $20.00 loss each time was discovered. The bank in the UK wired the pension which for arguments sake we'll say $1,000.00. The bank made a declared charge of $30 for doing so.

What arrive in the U.S. bank was $950.00.

The U.S. bank made no charge to receive the funds.

Being $20.00 short I contacted the sending bank and they investigated and said
when we remit US Dollars to the USA, the US Government levy a flat $20.00 fee per payment when the funds stay on US soil.

Hope this helps clarify what is happening.

BigDavyG

Prob not as regular a transferrer as you, but completely agree.

ian1976

I remember reading somewhere that there can be wire transfer fees, the way to get around it was to use EFT instead. Not 100% sure on this though.

zany

From what I'm gathering from people I'm talking to and on this forum, its not the banks fault - they're not taking the money the U.S. government is. The disturbing thing about this is that its taken without reference to the owner of the funds (not declaring themselves) like electronic piracy.

penguinsix

From what I've gathered, Fedwire is for large transactions between banks. We're talking millions between bank X and bank Y. I think the average Fedwire transaction is about $3.5 million or so, and they moved about $400 trillion last year.

What I think some people are saying is that your bank (or you) shouldn't be using a system (i.e. your bank) that is charging you a Fedwire fee. I think there are plenty of other banks out there that you could use that would not be a part of the Fedwire system for a simple transaction like this or there is another solution.

As you mentioned, it's going to get costly if you stay with this system.

chicagojlo

Are you using two banks on the CHIPS system? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearin...ayments_System
That may reduce the charges. If you are having your payment directly deposited into your US account you might want to consider switching to having it deposited in the UK and transferring it yourself.

The charges are being levied by your bank not the government. The bank may be telling you that so you'll continue to give them your business, but it's not true.

zany

I hear what your saying but I have just had another email in from an independent currency broker (very reputable) who has been doing some further research and says this is a federal reserve charge levied by ALL banks in the U.S. and that the banks do not profit from this at all, but, unfortunately because this is a federally applied charge there is no way to circumvent it.