Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

Hello Forum,

Quick question, I am immigrating to the US in August, and financially (lotsa debt still) will have to send money back to the UK monthly.

What is the best way to do this? Does anyone have any opinions, or information? I bank with Barclays, and have an account at NatWest and RBS. But none of them have US locations, or services. . . HSBC is very *international* but that comes with a glamourous price tag. So I am just wondering what everyone does, if they have financial commitments ticking over in the UK!

I've read that people use exchange sites like MoneyCorp, Torfx.com, and FirstWorld.com are those really the only options?

Thanks!

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

Hopefully a moderator will move this to the appropriate forum... since it's a financial question and not actually an immigration-related question.

Ian

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

www.xe.com is popular round here, as is http://www.ukforex.co.uk/

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

No, there are hundreds of options.

People mention those options because they are generally the best one for rate/cost.

You can just do a bank to bank wire transfer every month if you want, but you might have a fee to send and receive at either end if you do that. Hence why people recommend these exchange services.

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

Which is the most appropriate forum for this discussion? (as I'm hoping that this question has already been answered there several times over) I've spent the best part of an hour trawling the forums, and I'm certain I'm missing something obvious, but no advice on the best bank (read: easiest) with which to do a US --> UK or US --> UAE monthly wire transfer.

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

The sticking point for most of these discussions seems to be the fees involved in the transfer. If you don't care how much you pay for the transfer, then all are equally "best" and "easy".

Ian

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

As Ian said, by and large any established bank will be much of a muchness - they all follow the same patterns/protocols for money transfer; its the fee's that are important. As someone mentioned above, HSBC is very "international", but because they are so mainstream can get away with charging high fees for the convenience.

It's really no hardship to set up an account with Xe or similar, and once that is done, transferring is easy.

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

Thanks Dan, Ian. I've spent the best part of a day researching this so here's my two-cents:

1) If you need to get money somewhere else quick and fast, Western Union (and others) are your friend. It does cost and depending on where you're transferring to there are maximum and minimum amounts

2) If fees are your concern head for xe and xoom, as the folks here say both of these provide an easy to setup service with xe seemingly geared more towards sums =>$1000 and you can negotiate a fixed rate if you transfer regularly through them (though I didn't see this part well advertised)

3) If you just want the money to go from your US bank account to your UK bank account (and that's it), and you don't mind paying $30 - $50 for the privilege each time, then some of the major banks in the US will let you do so. However! Who allows you to do it online (which is usually the only option with banks who do not have branches in your state) varies greatly and varies with the type of account you have. What I do know is this:

HSBC Premier: if you are a Premier account holder then $50 is not really going to hurt much anyway. More to the point (as if to add insult to injury for the rest of us) you can do fee-free transfers to non-HSBC accounts worldwide. And of course the same applies to HSBC accounts in your name

HSBC non-Premier: You can do fee-free transfers to another HSBC account worldwide in your name (the advisor I talked to in the UAE said it had to be in your name, if anyone hear's different please shout). CAVEAT: as much as they want to be the "world's local bank"; they're not, there are still some countries where they aren't geared for this

Citigold: From Citibank. Same as the above, free transfers (up to 8 I think), to any international bank account. And the same to Citi accounts

Any other Citibank checking account: Fee-free transfers to another Citi account using Citi Global Transfer (didn't specify if it had to be in your name or not - might not be). Operates in 26 countries and "selected locations" in the US. In other words if you need to do it over the counter and there are no branches in your state you're out of luck. However it looks like you can do these transfers online using Citi Global Transfer.

4) Smuggle wads of cash out of the country in your underkeks. If you want to go all "Great Escape" you can even sew in a secret lining into your cami-knickers. I do not recommend this as it is highly illegal. The smuggling part, not the sewing.

If like me you want a portion of your wage to go to the UK to cover payments you have going out there, then first of all remember that if you have any investments, ISAs and the like YOU MUST read up on FBAR and FATCA...so tempted to call it FATCAt. Secondly the best option is XE if you want to bank very locally in the US and you don't want to be tied into one bank globally for wealth redistribution.

Myself I'm going for the Citi option. Why? I hear you ask. Especially when I don't have any accounts with them already? It's a matter of button-presses. I want to get paid into one account in the US, transfer to another Citi account in the UK and have the money there the same day, and then not worry about it because a regular transfer setup in my Citi account in the UK will redistribute my wealth to my other UK accounts, who will in turn via the magic of existing direct debits and standing orders fund my regular £50 to Oxfam. Or, err, similar. Also they made it incredibly easy for me to open an account in the UK and though I couldn't do so for the US right now the process seemed equally painless.

Thanks,


Naveed

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

I frequently need to do the opposite. I would be happy to be your counterparty and provide the necessary GBP in exchange for your USD.

Obviously we would need to have some sort of safeguard or escrow arrangement, but I need USD and I know someone else who may shortly need a more substantial amount.

Can you leave contact details.

Re: Moving funds from the US to the UK
 

I want to ask one question that, what if we investing some money in real estate business in Miami and now want to convert in UK? Please provide me some solution for that. Thanks in advance.