Transferring Money To The Us

[Constable]

I recently used my bank (NatWest) to transfer money into a US based trading account. They charged me £27 for the transfer which is fair enough. But what I didn’t realise is that they would completely rip me off with on the exchange rate - they gave me 1.533 when the spot price was 1.57 and didn't go any lower before the transaction was complete. So the transfer really cost me £250 which is a joke.

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers? Is it worth having $ bank account?

Thanks.

[tpbeta]

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers? Is it worth having $ bank account?

I use a Halifax International dollar account and a Halifax International sterling account. You have to keep £1000 in each but you get the spot rate minus 0.5 cents or so.

[Number79]

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers?

Yeah, check the exchange rate first, lmao

[Number79]

seriously though, when you go on holiday you dont get foreign currency from the bank do you? The reason is their horrible rates.

There are firms that do cash transfer at close to spot just as there are firms that deliver cash at close to spot.

[Constable]

seriously though, when you go on holiday you dont get foreign currency from the bank do you? The reason is their horrible rates.

There are firms that do cash transfer at close to spot just as there are firms that deliver cash at close to spot.

Yeah we all know that foreign exchange for hols is a gigantic rip-off - I withdraw cash from cards abroad and it's not that bad. I just assumed that doing a proper international bank transfer would be different. Silly me. I asked the girl who did the transfer and she'd said I'd get the "current market rate". Joke. I've registered a complaint with the bank but they have not got back to me as promised. Surprise surprise. I'm gonna complain to the ombudsman - this sort of thing is nothing short of a scam.

[johnny5thumbs]

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers? Is it worth having $ bank account?

Thanks.

I have a USD a/c with Barclays, and it's still much the same situation as yours - they cream off about 5c on the transfer rate. I phoned up a couple of FX bureaux last year, and their rates ar loads better on larger (ie: house purchase) amounts, but about the same on smaller (USD 2000 - USD 4000) amounts.

I'd def. look into the halifax a/c that tpbeta mentioned in his post - I certainly will.

[Number79]

Yeah we all know that foreign exchange for hols is a gigantic rip-off - I withdraw cash from cards abroad and it's not that bad. I just assumed that doing a proper international bank transfer would be different. Silly me. I asked the girl who did the transfer and she'd said I'd get the "current market rate". Joke. I've registered a complaint with the bank but they have not got back to me as promised. Surprise surprise. I'm gonna complain to the ombudsman - this sort of thing is nothing short of a scam.

Draw it out of the machine No I did not mean that. I meant use the companies that deal in cash, I normally use one called thomas exchange, they deliver cash to the door at rates close to spot.

For transfers there are better deals even closer to spot. I cant vouch for them as it was the first I found on google but use someone like this http://www.worldfirst.com/#tab=videos

[Constable]

Draw it out of the machine No I did not mean that. I meant use the companies that deal in cash, I normally use one called thomas exchange, they deliver cash to the door at rates close to spot.

For transfers there are better deals even closer to spot. I cant vouch for them as it was the first I found on google but use someone like this http://www.worldfirst.com/#tab=videos

It really doesn't bother me for a couple of hundred quid of holiday money. I prefer the convenience of using a card abroad.

[Constable]

I recently used my bank (NatWest) to transfer money into a US based trading account. They charged me £27 for the transfer which is fair enough. But what I didn’t realise is that they would completely rip me off with on the exchange rate - they gave me 1.533 when the spot price was 1.57 and didn't go any lower before the transaction was complete. So the transfer really cost me £250 which is a joke.

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers? Is it worth having $ bank account?

Thanks.

I complained to NatWest who turned down my complaint.

So I got the Banking Ombudsman involved and they have now upheld my complaint and refunded the amount I lost on the transfer.

I think the reason it was upheld was because the person in the branch told me Id' get the "current exchange rate" and not NatWest's own fantasy rate.

Edit: I have since used HiFX which still costs a fair bit but is much better value than using a retail bank.

Edited February 9, 2011 by Constable

[Darkman]

ok so what about much larger amounts? I'll want to transfer around £150K from sterling to dollars at some point. What's the best way to do this?

Obviously a poor rate on a larger amount will HURT :angry:

On a rate of 1.6 for example, what could I expect to end up with in dollars?

Edited March 29, 2011 by Darkman

[porca misèria]

seriously though, when you go on holiday you dont get foreign currency from the bank do you? The reason is their horrible rates.

There are firms that do cash transfer at close to spot just as there are firms that deliver cash at close to spot.

The easy way to get a decent rate is on a card. Debit card for cash withdrawals, credit card for purchases. Much better exchange rates than cash in a bank.

But was the OP really interested in a holiday (or travel) scenario?

[porca misèria]

ok so what about much larger amounts? I'll want to transfer around £150K from sterling to dollars at some point. What's the best way to do this?

Obviously a poor rate on a larger amount will HURT :angry:

On a rate of 1.6 for example, what could I expect to end up with in dollars?

When I had income in $ paid into a $ account, I recollect changing it at a bank switched from tourist rate to money market rate above some transaction threshold. I think that was in the £20-25k ballpark, so at £150k you're well clear.

[Bruce Banner]

When I changed a six figure sum of GBP to EUR, Barclays quoted a really bad exchange rate. When I queried this, they obtained a "special quotation" for me which was less than 10% of the original cost.

[adamLancs]

I recently used my bank (NatWest) to transfer money into a US based trading account. They charged me £27 for the transfer which is fair enough. But what I didn’t realise is that they would completely rip me off with on the exchange rate - they gave me 1.533 when the spot price was 1.57 and didn't go any lower before the transaction was complete. So the transfer really cost me £250 which is a joke.

Does anyone know of a more cost effective way of making such transfers? Is it worth having $ bank account?

Thanks.

Yes I do. http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

Right now Xe.com have USDGBP @ 0.62050 market price, Oanda offer 0.620390. Flat fee 25.00USD

Very good company, very close to market prices.

That rate you posted was very typical from a bank, don't feel singled out as I have had worse quotes. It is a bank's nature to extract hard earned money from people for doing very little.