lizzyh

HI
I am trying to find a thread about transferring funds from Uk to US, specifically , how uselesss and not helpful Nat West are !!. XE Trade any good?

Ray

many people here use XE ...for years ...myself included
setting up is a bit of a drag ,...but all smooth then

Bink

I agree with Ray. Bit of a pain to set up but I use it frequently and have had no issues whatsoever with it.

GeoffM

Another vote from me, usually 1-2 transfers a month UK-US.

Pulaski

I use it, never had any problems. Just be sure to select the "credit by ACH" (or is it "direct transfer"?), and NOT credit by wire, otherwise your bank is likely to stick you with a wire fee.

MarylandNed

Yes, ACH/EFT is the method to avoid wire fees.

I use XETrade and have been very happy with the service (I mostly use it to shift money to Canada). It is a slight pain to set up the account initially but that is for security reasons. You don't want to make it easy for anyone to set up an account that takes money out of your bank account!

Mr Weeze

I use it too - I would agree, it is a laborious process to get it set up, but once you have it up and running it is very easy to use.

agentred

Yep I've used XE for years and recommend it, good rates and fast transfers.

robUK81

I've used them a few times recently and I must say I agree with the sign up process being a bit of an effort but once signed up its a breeze.

I use the ACH/EFT option and send XE the funds using Faster Payment Service. The transaction usually completes in 2 business days.

Best of all the rates are good and I don't get hit with transfer charges at either end

HerrChina

I put my larger foreign exchange transactions through Hargreaves, Lansdown. Its spreads are considerably better than those of the retail banks. I suppose its charges could be just a little lower though. Otherwise I use my UK bank: and, find that by dealing direct with its foreign exchange department, I can sometimes offer its dealers a bargain at my preferred rate rather than the bank's. Occasionally, my offer is accepted. Thus, some of us may fare better by using a bank's dealing spreads as a guide, and against which to propose precisely what we wish to do. Beyond that, it's useful to realise that most banks will, for a fee, deal, even for modest retail customers, in currency-swaps, outright forward transactions, futures, options, etc

lizzyh

Thanks so much to you all. I did manage to conclude the trade today, so we shall see what transpires. Bit of a palava to set up as is the consensus of opinion, so we shall see.

Thank you all again for your advice and comments

Pulaski

Are you talking about German banks? British banks in my experience have no interest in negotiating until you have at least £10,000 to exchange and transfer, and until you get to £50,000 the rates are unattractive compared to online exchanger-remitters such as xe.com. I only once moved more than that, and xe.com's rate was still better than my bank was prepared to offer.

HerrChina

In my experience, the foreign exchange departments of British banks are more amenable to the private retail customer than the German ones. And it seems to do with getting through to the right person. For instance, if the customer liaison officer, contends that the bank can deal solely at the contemporary prescribed rates, a determined customer might be able to convince such a clerk to put his proposition, there and then, direct to the dealers. They do have some leeway, you know. The smallest amount in which I have dealt in this manner was a little over $US 80 000, and that with one of the biggest UK banks, five-or-so years ago

Pulaski

You're talking in a mixture of code and blather. Maybe you're talking about merchant or private banks, or at least the wealth units of major banks. (?) However I sincerely doubt that Barclay's, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, etc. has any interest in negotiating FX rates for £5,000 exchange-transfers for regular customers, whether cheeky or otherwise, of their high street branches.

Pulaski

OK that makes the picture clearer. From ten years posting on BE I don't recall ever hearing of a BE poster/ member ever having more than a single transaction of that size (being the proceeds of a house sale). Your advice and experience of negotiating multiple transactions of $80k and more likely has relevance to few if any BE poster-members.

BTW I notice that you became bashful about self-disclosing as a "cheeky chappie", and edited your post to remove that reference, but it was nice of you to come back and clarify (edit your post) to explain that $80k is not one of your "larger transactions". .... I would guess that if you asked most people here about a transaction that is "not one of their larger transactions" you'd be talking about a $1k-$2k transaction, or less.