Money issue.
 

To cut a long story short, I need to get some money to my sister in the UK. I was hoping to get her the money from my Barclays bank account but because I don't have the pinsentry thing or a phone banking number they won't let me transfer the money. I think it is stupid that they don't let you do it online!

So now I have to transfer the money from my US bank account, I have never done a money transfer before what is the cheapest/easiest way to do it.

I will be transfering around $500.

Re: Money issue.
 

XE.com?

Re: Money issue.
 

I don't know about it being the cheapest, but the easiest/fastest is to simply go into your local bank branch and do an international wire transfer. I have used XE.com twice now, and both times its taken about 7 business days for the funds to arrive in the UK account. Versus, simply doing an international wire, the funds arrived in about 24 hrs.

Re: Money issue.
 

Yeah, use XE.com. It'll take a day or two to set up an account (you need to provide proof of identity for the money-laundry regs which you can do by uploading scans of the required docs to their secure FTP site) and you may need to do some talking to your bank about setting up the transfer to XE's factors (Custom House), but once that's all done it's pretty easy, and generally they offer very good rates. There's been a recent thread about them here.

Re: Money issue.
 

Xoom.com ?
don't know about them etc but it caught my eye the other day. $5 to send dosh.

Re: Money issue.
 

Not used Xoom, but with XE you don't pay any extra for the standard service as they make their money on the difference between the rate they buy at and the rate they sell to you at, which is still usually much better than what a conventional bank would offer.

Another method I've used is PayPal, as I have two PP accounts, one linked to my UK bank a/c the other to my US. This is doable, but the rates suck and it was a lot slower than XE.

Re: Money issue.
 

If it's not a huge amount you could send it with paypal, my mother sent me a small amount that way.

Re: Money issue.
 

I use Xoom to send money to my daughter in the UK. It costs $5 per transaction which given the 9 hour time difference usually arrives in her account the next working day.
Never had any problems with xoom.

Re: Money issue.
 

xe is the best option, but it takes time to set up...if you're in a rush, either your bank or xoom.com would be good options, xoom is probably cheapest though, especially for this kind of sum of money.

Re: Money issue.
 

Just to update... I ended up using Moneygram at Walmart, it cost $9 and could be picked up in te UK instantly (well 10 mins later). It was really easy to do.

Re: Money issue.
 

I just had a quick look at the website.. where do they have locations in the UK, to pick up the money? Is it in ASDAs?

Re: Money issue.
 

They certainly used to have an agreement with the Post Office and you could send and receive through any post office. Not sure if that's still the case.

Re: Money issue.
 

When I looked at the moneygram website they quoted me something like $30 just the do the transfer!!! A far cry from the $9 that Walmart charged. I thought there would have been a pick up in ASDA too because they are owned by Walmart but ASDA do not do it.
My sister collected the money from the Post Office, all she needed was her ID and the reference number they gave me in Walmart... I actually found the process very easy and I didn't think the $9 charge was bad at all, considering it is pretty much an instant transfer.

Forgot to add, Thomas Cook Travel agents are also listed as Moneygram agents so she could have collected the money there too.

Re: Money issue.
 

$30 is about what I would have expected from someone like Moneygram or Western Union but perhaps you got lucky and got some promotional rate from Walmart - or perhaps Moneygram have decided that it is better marketing to charge low fees and make up the difference by using a really bad exchange rate ...

Re: Money issue.
 

Whether it be a small or large transfer ensure that you look at using a currency exchange specialist. No fees and a great rate of exchange will save you money.

Re: Money issue.
 

Me and my partner send each other money if we need to using paypal, its fairly cheap to do and they convert the currency. I think it costs $2-$3? Plus we both have Iphones so can do it all through the App.

Re: Money issue.
 

How urgent is it? You could send a Barclays check... could be there in a few days, and paid in a couple of days after that.

I know what you mean about the whole PINSentry thing - it's been voted most secure online banking but in turn it's also perhaps the most inconvenient.

Re: Money issue.
 

It's already been done...

Re: Money issue.
 

Well great minds think alike... I know I brought my cheque book over and I know it is in this house, somewhere, but where is the million dollar question. I have not used it since I moved here.

BTW do you have Pinsentry? Can it be used in the US or would the american ISP be an issue?

Re: Money issue.
 

I have PINSentry and .... I think I used it on my last trip to the States. I'm pretty sure an international ISP wouldn't be an issue. I think that's the whole point of PINSentry - it is such an inconvenient PIA that security is high so they are less likely to worry if you are using anywhere in the world (does Barclays have your US address?)

Re: Money issue.
 

No it is still linked to my old UK address.

Re: Money issue.
 

Hi Ash, We used pin sentry two weeks ago in Florida, works fine abroad just put your card in and it generates codes to access higher levels in your account. you can access your account without it but you cannot set up new transfers and payments without using it.
They will only send the pinsentry by post to your accounts address and I have a feeling before long you will also need it to access your online account.

Re: Money issue.
 

We use Xoom.com all the time....it's fast, easy, and that $$ is in the account pronto.

Re: Money issue.
 

Thanks for the info, I guess I should probably just order one and have my sister mail it over.

Re: Money issue.
 

Western Union money order no set up probaby a $2 fee buy it at a Safeway the rates are cheaper or a Rite Aid/CVS stick it in the regular mail in the morning and it shoud be there by Friday if not earlier, or send it express for Wednesday....easy no online set up fee's and sounds like a lot less hassle. :)

Re: Money issue.
 

Might not help much as your with Barclays but my wife and I have Citibank accounts both in the UK and US. Its simple to transfer money between accounts - the exchange rate is pretty impressive (usually just a fraction short of the currency conversion that day) and the money arrives instantaneously. Its free from UK > US but think it costs $10 to go US > UK.

All I would say about that is that Citi US are really helpful and nice to you. Citi UK is the worst bank I have ever used with awful customer service and so many unusual hoops to jump through for the most simple of tasks. BUT, we transfer money every month so once everything is set up, we never need to call them and its a simple process.