latone

Hi there, i'm migrating to the usa next month whats the best way to convert my pounds to us? should i wait till the end of the month, do i gat a bankers draft? how do i get the best rates? is xe.cam legit? my bank rates seem so low and i need to get as much for my money as possible,will the tragedy in spain affect the pound or dollar? any advice please???

BritGuyTN

xe.com is legit

the two free ways they can send cash is via electronic funds transfer or bank draft


if you don't want to send a big lump sum then break it down into a number of transactions - since there is no charge you won't get penalised

i find if you send it via a standard wire from a uk bank

1. You get fleeced on the rate

2. the uk bank fleeces you on charges

3. the us bank fleeces you on charges

overall you get fleeced as the charges alone (excluding crappy rate) can add up to nearly 50 quid

BrigieDarling

xe.com Looks OK!

I've been looking for a way to send funds monthly to keep my tapes coming!

scrubbedexpat099

Loads of options, depends on how much.

You need somewhere for it to go of course, a US account.

And they charge for all sorts of things that they would not in UK

A less competitive market I guess.

http://www.hifx.co.uk/index.asp is one, best to get quotes from a variety. Halifax were ok for a few thousand but they all change.

latone

This may sound stupid but is there a way you can convert your money and take it over with you other than cash, can xe .com change your money and make out a bankers draft to you, i don't have a us bank account yet and so i'd need to take my money with me,preferably not in cash.

Manc

But Amsterdam uses Euro's now..............

Ray

Be careful about bringing amounts in over $10k they have to be declared...thru a bank is not a problem... another way is to open a pound and dollar account with citibank

abb

open us dollar, citi bank currant account and saving account.
best option and no worrys, and if you transfer more than £25000
you get better rate.
I think XE com is a Canadian organisation and i have heard a lot about these type of organisation from canada, that makes me to have a second thought!!

scrubbedexpat099

I have all my UK stuff on line, so matters not where I am.

To access my US account online I need a SSN, hopefully next week.....

saraliz

Any high street bank will be able to give you a banker's draft in US$... the exchange rate they give shouldn't be too bad. I ordered one today from HSBC in Australian dollars - I got the same rate xe.com shows.

latone

saraliz hi can i ask which bank give you same rates as xe,my bank
accounts are offshore (isle of man)

Joe Public

I opened a Citibank acc in UK and in US ready for our move. Only problem was it was CITI in NY and completly different to CA, who would not take out of state checks when we came to rent a house We stll use it for moving money around, although it does have 'in and out' charges to consider when moving larger amounts to another currency.
But we can withdraw dollars from our UK Citbank acc with our cashcards at no cost

BritGuyTN

you can also open a dual currency account with Natwest

the conversion rate is generally a cent or so below the xe rate

not sure how much they charge for transfers or drafts though...

i like the fact that they can give you a mastercard chargecard iUSD, so if you are having a pain in the arse with credit, you can buy stuff without being penalised on currency fluctuations