Best way to transfer money
 

Hello all,

I will be staying in CA for maybe more than 1 year, but having read through most of the articles regarding money, i still haven't got a clear idea which way is the best to bring money from UK to US with least hassel in terms of safety, charges, speed....

questions：

1. traveller cheque, cash or cash order/draft to cash in and open an account in the states? I need some amout to open a bank account there for a start and quite a big amout thereafter(maybe 10000 dollors to cover 2 year).

2. So, bank-to-bank transfer after i am settled down. How much will it cost?(handling, commission....) the most troublesome thing is I may not physically possible to come back UK within 1 year, is it possible to do the transfer without my presence in my UK bank?

3. Should I change sterling to dollors in the UK or US. Which side offers better rate?

Thank you very much for your tipssss :p

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

1. Bring a few grand in cash to open your account

2. $10k in CA ..will not cover you for two years ...
unless thats just for beer and cigs ...
you can phone your bank to do a tranfer

3.UK.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

I used these

http://www.onlinefx.co.uk/

Excellent service. You set up a direct debit mandate with them. Once done you can call them from anywhere in the world. They will take the money from your account and transfer to you.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

Not much good if you need the money all in one go but Nationwide's cash card allows you to withdraw money from any Cirrus ATM (which covers the majority worldwide) with no fee. There is a $500 daily withdrawal limit and the local bank may charge - I know Washington Mutual don't and there must be others too. Your Nationwide account is just debited the exchange rate on the day which I've found to be pretty reasonable.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

Yup, that's the method I used, it's pain-free, quick and simple. Open an account with them if you don't already have one.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

You need to be aware that if you carry over $10,000 into the US as cash you MUST report it to Customs. This is all about anti-money laundering.

If you deposit over $10,000 into a bank account, the bank will report it to the IRS/FBI and they will not tell you they have done so.

If you buy anything using $10,000 or more as cash then the seller has to do the same reporting.

It is a federal offense not to report cash transactions over this amount.

This does not apply to bank drafts or electronic transfers. It does apply if you buy a cashier's cheque using cash.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

These answers really depend on what bank you have in the UK doesn't it, and where abouts you'll be living as to which bank you'll go for when over here....

But $10K won't last you very long in Cali, 6 months rent if your lucky.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

I did the same as some of those above ... I used my Switch card to withdraw funds from my UK account via the ATM's ... I did well exchange rate wise and the fee's from my bank were nominal ..I think it was less than 50 pence per transaction ...

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

i am gettin a clearer image: simple..for small amout(<500) i'd go for paypal, big amout definitely bank wire or money broker(dont really trust them though) :rolleyes:

oh btw, do i need to physically be in the UK to do bank-to-bank wire to US bank? can this be done over phone? if it's this easy, how do they identify me. :confused:

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

depends on the bank don't it...but most would be easy enough, could do it online as well....and it's just like any other time you ring the bank, you have to provide confirmation info, whatever that may be.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

You could also use www.xe.com open an account with them or if you have a HSBC account you can withdraw funds direclty from your UK account. I know this to be true as I have just been to Canada and used this facility.

HTH John

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

[QUOTE=punktux]Hello all,

Open up a dollar account with barclays, it's free. The charge < 1% (the rate is slightly different but close to the days spot rate. (I just did $6500 myself).

Once it's in a dollar account, a simple phone call to barclays to do the wire is easy.... Since it's dollar to dollar - USA banks won't then care it's a foreign currency or foreign bank (you just give sort code and account number). US banks are not good with currency stuff :) - SERIOUSLY - Talk to Barclays, ask for international. They make it real easy and since they are a big bank, the costs are minimal. I've been doing this for years, from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands with my company.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

XE.com is THE shit

Its wuite literally saved me hundreds in transfer fees/crappy rates (even commercial) at the banks

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

I've used xe.com as well to transfer the proceeds of a house sale. Worked really well.

Check with your local UK branch what their requirements are for initiating a transfer - with mine I had to sign special disclaimers for them to accept faxed instructions which they then called to confirm. The ebanking service was only good for setting up 10K per day which doesn't work for large transfers.

Re: Best way to transfer money
 

Had a call from my Son today which basically said 'help'. Transfer is being done thro XE.Com at no charge. Once you got the account set up it is a doddle.