brit_usa2014

Hi all,

I have a couple of doubts- I transferred some funds from my UK bank account to USA bank account (Internal Transfer- without using a 3rd party)

While transferring, I had to pay £22 as my UK bank charge. I then had the option to pay all charges which included a "Foreign Bank Handling Charge" and that was £8.50 (the 2 payments had been debited from my UK account)

I thought that was it and all charges were paid- wrong, yesterday when I checked my US account I could see that $16 had been debited from my account as a "Wire Transfer fee".

I called the branch, and she told she would credit it back when I explained to her (although she didn't seem too happy), but for future advice can anyone explain to me what they mean by "Pay all charges" and "Wire Transfer Fee".
I would've imagined that "Pay all transfers" would mean exactly that...

Or am I missing something?

Guindalf

"Pay All Transfers" would apply to the UK end of the deal only, I would imagine. It's definitely not unusual for fees to be charged by the receiving bank and the UK could well not know what they may be in advance.

Bottom line, not surprised at all.

BunnyGirl

No idea what your bank's fee processes are, surely that's for each bank to decide, but it's normal for there to be a wire fee if you sent the funds that way. That's why you'll see lots of people on here recommending NOT to send by wire transfer...

brit_usa2014

Hmm, actually one other thing I remembered- last time I paid just £22 and did not use Pay All Transfers (the £8.50), and was still debited $16.

So this time I thought instead of my US bank showing a -ve sign on my back account I would pay the £8.50 (so a total of £30.50) to avoid the $16 being debited... but was still debited!

Pulaski

I am not sure what you mean by an "internal transfer". With the possible exception of Citibank, I don't believe there are any retail banks that operate a "single legal entity bank" in both the US and the UK. HSBC PLC owns a bank headquartered in NY, but it is a separate legal entity from the British HSBC. RBS owns Citizens Bancorp but again it is a separate entity from RBS in the UK. Santander's UK bank is merely a fellow subsidiary with Sovereign (IIRC) under ownership of the Spanish parent.

So how did you think you were making an "internal transfer"?

lansbury

Often the transfer goes similar to this:-

1) Your UK bank transfer the money to an intermediary bank in the US, who handles their business. Your UK bank charges to transfer the money.

2) Intermediary bank in the US received the money from the UK, and transfers it to your US bank. They charge a fee for the transfer.

3) Your US bank receives the incoming coming money sent by wire transfer. They charge to receive the wire transfer.

Pay all transfers covers 1 & 2 it doesn't cover the receiving charge at your US bank.

Most currency brokers that I have dealt with cut out step 2 and send the money straight to your US bank. Saving you that fee.

$16 seems a bit steep for a charge at the US end. My credit union account charges $8, my account with Chase has free incoming/outgoing wire transfers. You can save the wire transfer fee by using a currency broker who allows you to specify transfers by ACH, not by wire. US banks do not charge for ACH receipts, as far as I know. The only downside ACH transfers are slower than wire transfers.

brit_usa2014

Sorry if my post sounded confusing- when I meant Internal Transfer I just meant I just logged onto my banks website and added my US bank as beneficiary (I did not literally do an internal transfer), and did not use someone like xe.com..

brit_usa2014

Thankyou Ian, that somewhat explains it- and yes, I too think that $16 is bit too steep which is why I am planning to use xe.com (as recommended on here) from now on, but just wanted some clarification on this!

Pulaski

$16 is actually quite a bargain. It is not uncommon for US banks to charge $25-$35 to receive a wire.

Michael

According to MyBankTracker’s October analysis, all of the domestic wire transfer fees at the 10 biggest banks have remained the same as last quarter — $15.50 for incoming and $27.40 for outgoing transfers. The average also stayed the same for both outgoing and incoming foreign wire transfers at $47.50 and $18 per transfer, respectively, at the 10 banks in America.

Domestic and Foreign Wire Transfer Fee Comparison at Top 10 U.S. Banks

Therefore ACH is the only way to go (usually free) if you can wait for your money for a few days.

Pulaski

Interesting. I have seen $35 most commonly, for international wires, and mostly received wires IIRC. It might be a little more than your source because they're in business accounts.

lansbury

I've been lucky then, never paid more than $10 for an incoming wire transfer.

md95065

At the end of the day all international wire transfers cost you money.
Some of that cost shows up in the form of explicit charges such as the ones mentioned in this thread, and as some of it is built into the exchange rate.

What really matters is how many dollars you end up with in your U.S. bank account, not whether you paid any explicit fees to get the money there.

Pulaski

Exactly, but compared to sending a traditional wire "bank-to-bank", using a remitter you win on both fees (greatly reduced, or none), AND you get a much better exchange rate than banks offer, especially on small to mid-sized transfers (less than $50k).

scrubbedexpat091

My bank in Canada seems to be a bargain as well.

Incoming from international banks:

Under $50 free.

Over $50 $15/USD or CAD depending on incoming currency.


Outgoing:

$20 and up depending on country, add $25 for select countries.

If you do it yourself via online banking it's $13.50 for up to $2,500 CAD per day, but is only available to 120 countries.