markaspden

Hi i need some help from all the expats out there.
I am selling my house in england and ned to find out the best way to get the money sent over to my american bank account.

Ray

xe.com is popular

Pulaski

+1

ANye

I suggest you shop around for currency transfer quotes as most banks charge commission when you send money overseas and make sure that you get the best exchange rate from an FCA authorised foreign exchange provider. Typically, a foreign exchange broker's rate can be up to 4% better than the banks.

Most foreign exchange providers can help with one-off or regular payments and you may find that in some cases you can have your money transferred to your UK account within 24 hours.

Bob

What's the best though, time/cost/rate?

Plenty of recommendations on BE from various services.

XE do get mentioned a lot though, especially as many seemed to have stopped servicing the US since last summer with the new banking regulations.

audi4t

I have investigated the simplest way of getting money from the UK to the US, for my UK pension, which I am now eligible to collect.

I will be receiving a significant lump sum and an ongoing monthly payment.

The way I did this was simply have my former UK employer initiate a direct deposit to my US bank, using just my US bank routing number and my account number. The deposits will be made in US dollars.

You do not need to use the US bank IBAN number since this is not a wire transfer, it's a simple direct deposit.

I see no reason why your bank in the UK cannot arrange a direct deposit to your bank account in the US.

Pulaski

There's no such thing as a "US bank IBAN". IBANs were a European invention, that is such a good idea that it has gained traction and spread East into central Asia and the Middle East. But apart from the Dominican Republic and the French Caribbean territories, IBANs have not made it across the Atlantic yet.

Bob

They have in Canada though, or at least the missus' bank have them in Canada. Weirdly enough they don't for down here though.

Pulaski

Maybe it's not a Canadian bank? .... But no, Canada has not yet adopted IBANs. That said, most, if not all of the "big five" Canadian banks have branches in London, and perhaps also Dublin, so undoubtedly will have some a/cs with IBANs.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter...Account_Number

audi4t

My point is you don't have to use a third party to transfer your money from the UK to the US.

A major factor to consider is what exchange rate is being used by your bank vs the exchange service. The difference could be significant on large transactions.

I opted for direct deposit since wire transfer fees are relatively high.

kansanbrit

I recently used www.thefxfirm.com

All went smoothly and I got the best rate I could find.

Pulaski

Agreed, you don't have to but it is rare for a bank to come even close to the rate charged by the on-line transfer companies, at least unless you're transferring tens of $,000's. The difference is often in the 3-4¢/£ range. Also using an on-line company you can completely avoid the wire fees - the debit is a direct debit, which banks don't charge for, and the credit is a domestic ACH credit, again with no charge.

Bob

Best, is all subjective though.

It's already been mentioned, for some it's speed, others is rate or fee and some it's predictability.

Usually you do get a better rate and no fees from the services though as bank rates are generally pretty poor.

wuthering

We'll have to be doing this in a few months' time, so I started looking into it early. I spoke to a company called UKFOREX, and they were quite helpful, if a little confusing. So it might be worth a call to see if they're any better than the other options.

Long and short: no fees to transfer large sums of money and if you aren't happy with their exchange rate they will 'work with you' to make it better (read: push back on the rate, no matter what!).