jenniferpa

Hi, I'm new here. I have read a lot of the threads on moving money from the UK to the US, and am seriously considering using XE.COM. However I have encountered a problem with their online registration and I'm wondering if anyone has any input.

Specifically, I will shortly need to move approx £150K to the US (an inheritance). I have been resident in the US for 24 years and I don't have a UK bank account. All of the UK based money transfer services that I have looked at require you (on the face of it) to have a UK residence. XEtrade seems to require you to have at the least a UK bank account (it says Required: The details of a bank account in your name which you will use to send us funds. ) Now this is a problem - the funds will/are being held in a nominee account by the solicitors. Now that might be adequate for this process, and I will contact them tomorrow to ask, but has anyone here had personal experience of doing this? Either with XE or using another system?

Many thanks in advance

Jennifer

Elvira

Why not email them your query now? They will respond very quickly, if my experience is anything to go by.

jenniferpa

Well I'd rather do this by phone and their customer service desk isn't open at the moment. Also, I want to check exactly what kind of account the money will be coming from which means I have to wait until tomorrow to speak to my solicitor.

scrubbedexpat099

Well you could just get your Solicitor to remit the funds to your US acount in US Dollars, xe.com may be marginally better in the exchange rate than the big banks, but its not mega, and you could loose the difference and more in the timing anyway.

I used to get anal about it, but just now get Nat West to do it, less hassle.

YankeeDaz

I use XETrade, but I also have a US and UK bank accounts.

With XETrade you buy US currency and pay for it with your UK bank account. Once a deal has been completed XETrade just need a reference and a payment.

I think you only need a UK bank account because the transfer can happen both ways, ie sell US currency and place it into a UK bank account.

You should be able to open maybe an online UK bank account, though £150k IMHO is a bit too much to be experimenting with, so maybe the solicitor should just wire it using their best rate.

XETrade also has a daily deal limit, currently at $20000 I think, which will be another hurdle, though this can be changed if you speak to them. Not sure how high though.



HTH
Darren

NC Penguin

It sounds as if an account in someone else's name is where the UK funds will be coming from. Why doesn't he/she open an xe.com account to transfer the funds to you? That would work, wouldn't it?

rew1000

[I'm yet another XEtrade fan...]

I don't believe you'll need a UK bank account, or need to know details of your solicitors bank account, or get them to deal with XEtrade.

I imagine XEtrade will want details of *a* bank account as part of their "know your customer" requirements, and clearly they need to know where to send the money.

How it would work:

1. You book a trade on the website (e.g. sell 150000 GBP, buy USD).

- when you book the trade you'd state that it was on behalf of a named third party, and name the solicitors -

2. They give you a reference number.
3. You instruct your solicitor to transfer GBP to XEtrade's UK bank account, quoting your reference number. They have a limited amount of time to do this (a couple of days) after you book the trade, so it would be worth making sure your solicitors are ready to go before you book the trade.

- the money has to come from an account in the name of the third party you've stated -

4. XEtrade transfer USD to your US bank account.

The only complication I can see is if you need to transfer an indeterminate amount of money (the lump sum + interest that's been accumulated). You might want to establish with your solicitor an exact amount before you book the trade.

YankeeDaz

Don't forget the XETrade daily trade maximum though, which will make this impossible.

Elvira

No it won't. It just needs a prior arrangement.

(We have used them to transfer a 6-figure sum, and I know others have too.)

YankeeDaz

Really? Well that's excellent news! I was ready to break mine into a fair few chunks over a fair few days.

I take they just need a few days warning then, to up the limit?



Darren

penguinsix

You know, maybe you should tranfser £1000 through XE and £1000 through your bank and really get a rundown on the fees, exchange rates, and process involved. Might give you a better idea on how long it takes and exactly what is needed.

My own view is unless you need $300k US in the US today, I'd keep it in the UK and take advantage of the continuing falling dollar, which I think will continue to decline at least through the rest of the year.

meauxna

That's what I'm thinking.. an awful lot of work the other way.

Elvira

Could be worth it though, for a large sum.

XE Trade beat bank rates every time, IME.

jenniferpa

Thanks for all your thoughts on this. I'm waiting for a call back from my solicitor (ho hum). I really don't want to leave the money in the UK long term: I have no ties there now (hence the inheritance) and nor do I have a bank account there (and having looked in the past is is fairly difficult to set one up with no residence etc in the UK). I don't have any problem moving it it multiple amounts, except that I can't help feeling that that could, possibly, end up costing me more money. On the other hand, I appreciate that fiddling around with it may not save me much. Does anyone have a rough idea of how much better XE trade rates are over high street bank rates. If I'd just be saving, say, $500 I might not worry too much about it, but if it was closer to $1000 I probably would.

Jennifer

lapin_windstar

Or you could change it into $ now and spin a roulette wheel for much the same effect!