MielAmande

We're about to move to the UK from the US. I was wondering which companies are worth looking into to transfer money to my UK bank account (about $22,000) to get the most bang for my buck. Has anyone got some good advice/experience? I looked on the separate thread re. money exchange and it just seems to be promoting 'Halo'. Thanks very much!

Englishmum

We've been using http://www.xetrade.com for a number of years now - many other posters on BE do too.

You have to register beforehand though as they need to check that you are not an international money-launderer.

MielAmande

OK, thanks for that, I'll check them out!

bigglesworth

There are a number of transfer companies. All of us who have good experiences with one, will give that one a tick and negative experiences will naturally occasion a black mark. there are RationalFX, Caxton, HiFx. There are peer to peer exchange swaps which you will find if you do a search - Currency fair, and a new one I know little about called Midpoint

Bear in mind however, that the foreign exchange brokers are that - foreign exchange brokers or exchange bureaux or transfer companies. They do NOT offer the same level of protection as banks. (Equally they do not rip you off for 7 or 8 percent of your money, as banks do.)
It is very much you pay your money and take your chance.

I use a foreign exchange broker, calculating that the number of times I would transfer over a given number of years would outweigh the cost of losing the lot if they went belly up. They take about half a percent - some take more, one and a half is not uncommon.
The peer to peer people sound pretty good - I stick with my brokers because I have used them for years, know them personally, and they give me VERY good rates.

Just bear in mind that old aphorism.

There is no such thing as a free lunch

MielAmande

Thanks for both your replies.
I looked at xe trade and am a bit confused. In the FAQ section, it quotes "... However, please note that when sending funds to a bank account, that account must be denominated in the same currency as the funds being sent. For example, if you are sending Euro, the destination bank account must be a Euro account".
Does this mean I can't send the US$ to my UK bank account and receive them in GBP with a fair exchange rate (and no fees)?

bigglesworth

I don't use XE trade (although I may) But the process with others is usually to convert the currency you wish to send into the currency you of the destination account. Then transfer the second currency to that destination account.
Logically, otherwise the conversion would occur outside your control.
So I think you are okay.

I may give them a call myself to see what rates they actually achieve. All they are using on their calculator is a mid rate. It is not clear that that is what they actually transfer, which I doubt. (Maybe it is, but if so, where do they make their operating costs back?)

Pulaski

The whole point of xe.com is that they do the exchange for you, at a better rate than the big banks do. They debit your USD account exchange the dollars for pounds, and send them to your GBP account. You could also exchange USD for, say, Japanese yen, but you could't then have yen credited to your GBP account (you'd need to open a yen account with your, or another, bank). It seems obvious, but I guess some people get confused; I think the idea is so odd that the explanation causes confusion in people who were not previously confused.

gailc

We have used Zoom in the past with no problems. Not sure if there is a limited as to how much you can send at one time though as we have only sent small amounts so far.

Pulaski

xoom.com?

I've used xe.com for transferring UK->US a six figure sum (proceeds of a house sale), with no issues and the same smooth service as for much lesser amounts.

gailc

Sorry - it is Xoom.com didn't think it looked right when I did it - is that the same one? It has been a while since we have used it.
Certainly cheaper than the banks.
That is good to know (transferring larger amounts.