Turn euros into pounds, the best/safest/fastest way?

[shlomo]

Just now, reddog said:

Hello, but why did you withdraw all of the money in cash?

 

Could you not open a bank account in the UK, and use a money transfer service, which has a low compression to transfer between the 2 accounts (don't ask me which one, I don't know).  I think these services have a commission under 1%.

 

What you are doing actually looks suspicious, even if it isn't.

It is suspicious 

[reddog]

Is 20k Euro really enough to get people worried if you have an electronic transfer record?

[r2d26po]

9 minutes ago, sammersmith said:

The problem when buying houses is there are AML checks and they are not standardized. This is particularly true when there is a mortgage on the property as that's another stakeholder who will have requirements to satisfy.

There would be no mortgage on the property so to speak as I'm paying cash the 25% shared ownership upfront then paying about 200 GBP per month of monthly occupancy charges to a housing association. (Looking forward to staircase to 50% of ownership by 2024 then 75% ownership by 2027).

12 minutes ago, shlomo said:

Your account will get frozen, Computer software will pick up what you are doing

How sure are we of that?

10 minutes ago, reddog said:

Hello, but why did you withdraw all of the money in cash?

Because I didn't know better? Pardon me for not coming from a well money educated high class family.

11 minutes ago, reddog said:

Could you not open a bank account in the UK, and use a money transfer service, which has a low compression to transfer between the 2 accounts (don't ask me which one, I don't know).  I think these services have a commission under 1%.

I have attempted the bank transfer route first as I have a Lloyds account, every exchange rates I was given were piss poor.

12 minutes ago, reddog said:

What you are doing actually looks suspicious, even if it isn't.

I've got nothing to hide, so to speak.

[r2d26po]

12 minutes ago, shlomo said:

It is suspicious

Then I suppose you're done with the thread. Please move on.

[Lucky Larry]

20 minutes ago, r2d26po said:

Would you please be kind enough to elaborate slightly more on that, like more in layman's terms and simpler English? Thanks.

buy gold with euros , sell gold in UK for £'s 

a 1oz britannia coin has a face value of £100 and is legal tender ie it has to be accepted as the same as £100 in notes by customs . There will be some loss on the buying price and the sell price but the price of gold could rise or fall as well . There is always some loss when changing one form of money for another , I bank with BNP Paribas as well and their exchange rates are a rip off , almost as bad as airports

[reddog]

2 minutes ago, r2d26po said:

 

I have attempted the bank transfer route first as I have a Lloyds account, every exchange rates I was given were piss poor.

 

But when you say bank transfer, do you mean high street bank to high street bank?  That will probably be bad.

 

I believe there are services where you transfer in Euros to the transfer company, they convert to pounds, and then transfer those pounds to your UK Bank.  The advertising point is that they have lower commissions.

[r2d26po]

1 minute ago, Lucky Larry said:

buy gold with euros , sell gold in UK for £'s

That's exactly what I initially thought, in fact it's even how I have discovered this forum existence a few weeks ago, doing a soft Google search on Gold (back when it hit 2k USD), alas the HPC forum admins took forever to validate my account.

3 minutes ago, Lucky Larry said:

a 1oz britannia coin has a face value of £100 and is legal tender ie it has to be accepted as the same as £100 in notes by customs .

So a 1oz Britannia coin has a face value of 100 GBP at resale time no matter what the gold market prices are. Gotcha.

4 minutes ago, Lucky Larry said:

There will be some loss on the buying price and the sell price but the price of gold could rise or fall as well .

That's what I originally had on my mind, buy 20,000 EUR worth of Gold at the current market prices, wait for the gold market prices to rise and resell at 20,000 GBP if that's even doable, the generated profit will be eaten by the conversion but I could nearly attempt a 1:1 conversion. Is this even doable?

7 minutes ago, Lucky Larry said:

I bank with BNP Paribas as well and their exchange rates are a rip off , almost as bad as airports

That is correct, they are a wonderful bank to work with, I have zero complaints from them after nearly 12 years using it as my main bank... as long as you do everything in EUR or within the SEPA Eurozone, otherwise they are a nightmare to work with.

8 minutes ago, reddog said:

But when you say bank transfer, do you mean high street bank to high street bank?  That will probably be bad.

Yeap, that's what I meant, like from my BNP Parisbas branch to my Lloyds branch. The rates were atrocious.

9 minutes ago, reddog said:

I believe there are services where you transfer in Euros to the transfer company, they convert to pounds, and then transfer those pounds to your UK Bank.  The advertising point is that they have lower commissions.

The problem is that I have already withdrawn the funds in cash, re-injecting them in my French account makes little sense at this point considering I had to withdraw 1,500 EUR no less than 14 times... and it would most likely trigger money laundering things here in France.

[reddog]

Why not put the money back in the bank you got it from.  They should have a record of withdrawal, so you could explain where you got it from.  Obviously looks a bit of an odd thing to do, but should be ok.  Or maybe transfer over in 1,500 euro increments as you put the money back.

[r2d26po]

Just now, reddog said:

Why not put the money back in the bank you got it from.  They should have a record of withdrawal, so you could explain where you got it from.  Obviously looks a bit of an odd thing to do, but should be ok.  Or maybe transfer over in 1,500 euro increments as you put the money back.

It's something I could definitely arrange doing but doing so, wouldn't be of much help into getting it converted at a 1:0.86 ratio into GBP by mid May, let alone getting it across the channel.

[rantnrave]

Wifey and I cashed in her overseas pension and found the best exchange rates by far were travellers cheques! Amazingly, we could order them one day, then cancel it for free if the exchange rate moved in our favour too. Went to my local high street bank in the UK to pay them in and some poor chap had to watch as we manually countersigned a five figure GBP amount in batches of £20 cheques... Had to show our passports at both ends of the process and that was it for paperwork and checks.

[r2d26po]

Oh well, came here seeking answers, got many but alas did not find the proper one yet.

[Lagarde's Drift]

1 hour ago, reddog said:

Is 20k Euro really enough to get people worried if you have an electronic transfer record?

Yes. 20 million is probably fine though. 😀

[Lagarde's Drift]

7 minutes ago, r2d26po said:

Oh well, came here seeking answers, got many but alas did not find the proper one yet.

You've been given multiple correct answers. 1-2% through bank transfer is possible. Oh btw, you will never get the interbank rate which is what is on Google, I had assumed you would know that but perhaps not.

[Lagarde's Drift]

21 minutes ago, rantnrave said:

Wifey and I cashed in her overseas pension and found the best exchange rates by far were travellers cheques! Amazingly, we could order them one day, then cancel it for free if the exchange rate moved in our favour too. Went to my local high street bank in the UK to pay them in and some poor chap had to watch as we manually countersigned a five figure GBP amount in batches of £20 cheques... Had to show our passports at both ends of the process and that was it for paperwork and checks.

Very interesting but would still trigger AML if you then tried to get a mortgage with that sum.

[byron78]

2 hours ago, shlomo said:

No, It is difficult to hate a clown

I think the Polish and Czech are really pissing off Russia

Perhaps Putin still thinks Bozo is in his pocket?

He might be right tbh. Sanctions so far have been pathetic.

[r2d26po]

3 hours ago, Lagarde's Drift said:

You've been given multiple correct answers. 1-2% through bank transfer is possible. Oh btw, you will never get the interbank rate which is what is on Google, I had assumed you would know that but perhaps not.

Ah that would explain a few things then, so 0.86 is not for us mere mortals? Just between banks?

As for the 1-2% I'd have to re-inject the funds in an EU/FR/EUR account first and that might trigger a thing or two as well.

[Lagarde's Drift]

3 minutes ago, r2d26po said:

Ah that would explain a few things then, so 0.86 is not for us mere mortals? Just between banks?

As for the 1-2% I'd have to re-inject the funds in an EU/FR/EUR account first and that might trigger a thing or two as well.

Bloody hell if you were going to move some funds across borders I'd expect to do some research before making a move. Your statement above just confirms my suspicion, you're either a bored troll, a total noob, or genuinely dodgy.

https://www.xe.com/blog/money-transfer/what-is-the-interbank-exchange-rate-and-why-does-it-matter/

Edited April 9, 2022 by Lagarde's Drift

[r2d26po]

2 hours ago, Lagarde's Drift said:

Bloody hell if you were going to move some funds across borders I'd expect to do some research before making a move. Your statement above just confirms my suspicion, you're either a bored troll, a total noob, or genuinely dodgy.

Thanks. I believe we're done here. /thread

[Confusion of VIs]

12 hours ago, r2d26po said:

Hi, new on the forums so I have no idea whether this is the right place to post but here goes;

I have about 20,000 euros in cash that I have withdrawn from my EU bank account in smaller amounts over the past 6 months, the idea is to convert those to British pounds so I can come up with a 25% shared ownership down-payment, however to most of the banks I have talked to in France or Belgium, the exchange rates I have been given were not exactly interesting.

One has advised me to even come with the euro cash and cross the English channel with it, but by law we are not allowed to bring in more than the limit of 9.999 euros at a time as I understand it without declaring it at the customs (and paying fees on it?).

Now to be perfectly clear, I'm not asking advice on how to break the law, rather instead asking what is the best legal way to do proper currency exchange without losing too much in the process, legally without authorities raising an eyebrow.

Also in case that makes any differences, the purpose for the money transfer is to acquire 25% of shared ownership into my own first flat up in Scotland, while being aware that shared ownership isn't exactly the safest way to get into the real estate market due to the scheme's caveats and flaws, but it is what it is...

Please advise accordingly.

Thank you for your time.

There is no way you are going to be able to convert a 20k wad of cash into pounds and use this for a deposit. The onus is on the conveyancing solicitors to verify the source of your funds and you will not be able to demonstrate it is clean. 

Also you will get a worse exchange rate than you would have got from any number of money transfer services. 

I would suggest putting the cash back in the accounts it came from and using Wise or Revolut to make the transfer.

 

 

 

[r2d26po]

1 hour ago, Confusion of VIs said:

There is no way you are going to be able to convert a 20k wad of cash into pounds and use this for a deposit. The onus is on the conveyancing solicitors to verify the source of your funds and you will not be able to demonstrate it is clean.

While 20k cash seems to be "a lot" at first, one has to remember these 20k were savings over the span of roughly a year and half, an uneven mix of part time "blue collar" jobs and unemployment/disability benefits stacked up altogether. I cannot fathom how would I possibly have the ability to demonstrate it is clean money.

1 hour ago, Confusion of VIs said:

Also you will get a worse exchange rate than you would have got from any number of money transfer services. 

I've looked into it earlier, using Xe.com at 0.834383 GBP, a 1000 EUR transfer yields about 834.38 GBP, it's trash. Also I remembered I had the Wise app on my phone, at 0.834350 GBP per euro, an identical 1000 EUR transfer yields about 830.53 GBP, trash as well.

I've been reading things left and right the entire afternoon to the point I got a headache, looks like Monday Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the worst days of the week to do international exchanges while Thursdays and Fridays should be preferred.

 

1 hour ago, Confusion of VIs said:

I would suggest putting the cash back in the accounts it came from and using Wise or Revolut to make the transfer.

It's either that, using Wise or else use the gold method which if the gold prices goes up, I might be able to generate a small profit, profit would be then used to cover the EUR<>GBP depreciation (am I using the right word?), I'm sure you get the idea.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Lagarde's Drift]

2 hours ago, r2d26po said:

While 20k cash seems to be "a lot" at first, one has to remember these 20k were savings over the span of roughly a year and half, an uneven mix of part time "blue collar" jobs and unemployment/disability benefits stacked up altogether. I cannot fathom how would I possibly have the ability to demonstrate it is clean money.

I've looked into it earlier, using Xe.com at 0.834383 GBP, a 1000 EUR transfer yields about 834.38 GBP, it's trash. Also I remembered I had the Wise app on my phone, at 0.834350 GBP per euro, an identical 1000 EUR transfer yields about 830.53 GBP, trash as well.

I've been reading things left and right the entire afternoon to the point I got a headache, looks like Monday Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the worst days of the week to do international exchanges while Thursdays and Fridays should be preferred.

 

It's either that, using Wise or else use the gold method which if the gold prices goes up, I might be able to generate a small profit, profit would be then used to cover the EUR<>GBP depreciation (am I using the right word?), I'm sure you get the idea.

Thank you for your insight.

 

You would've probably been ok transferring from your European bank and just paying the spread and fees. You account statement would demonstre the income over time and less suspicious than a wad of cash.

Im not sure what exchange rate Ur expecting, the above sounds about correct.

[MonsieurCopperCrutch]

16 hours ago, r2d26po said:

Hi, new on the forums so I have no idea whether this is the right place to post but here goes;

I have about 20,000 euros in cash that I have withdrawn from my EU bank account in smaller amounts over the past 6 months, the idea is to convert those to British pounds so I can come up with a 25% shared ownership down-payment, however to most of the banks I have talked to in France or Belgium, the exchange rates I have been given were not exactly interesting.

One has advised me to even come with the euro cash and cross the English channel with it, but by law we are not allowed to bring in more than the limit of 9.999 euros at a time as I understand it without declaring it at the customs (and paying fees on it?).

Now to be perfectly clear, I'm not asking advice on how to break the law, rather instead asking what is the best legal way to do proper currency exchange without losing too much in the process, legally without authorities raising an eyebrow.

Also in case that makes any differences, the purpose for the money transfer is to acquire 25% of shared ownership into my own first flat up in Scotland, while being aware that shared ownership isn't exactly the safest way to get into the real estate market due to the scheme's caveats and flaws, but it is what it is...

Please advise accordingly.

Thank you for your time.

I cannot believe that questions are still asked like this. There is a free open monetary network that you can interoperate with without recuse between banks and nation states. It's what I and many many others now use. GET OFF TRADITIONAL BANKING RAILS!!!

[Glental]

3 hours ago, MonsieurCopperCrutch said:

I cannot believe that questions are still asked like this. There is a free open monetary network that you can interoperate with without recuse between banks and nation states. It's what I and many many others now use. GET OFF TRADITIONAL BANKING RAILS!!!

Fair enough for a bit of a gamble but how’s that going to help with a house deposit? 

[erat_forte]

Places like CurrencyFair and TransferWise are not a gamble - I believe CurrencyFair is regulated as a bank in an EU country. Very easy to use, the closest to spot you will get - it is a peer-to-peer exchange, and the company makes its money by charging you a modest transfer-out fee (a couple of quid if I remember)

The gamble is shared ownership. It is a scam, a mis-selling, a false marketing, etc.

You do not actually "own" anything, ownership o the property is not "shared, these are not legally meaningful terms and concepts. You pay a shed load of cash to the owner of the house for what is to all intents and purposes a rather restricted rental tenancy.

[r2d26po]

5 hours ago, Lagarde's Drift said:

You would've probably been ok transferring from your European bank and just paying the spread and fees. You account statement would demonstre the income over time and less suspicious than a wad of cash.

I'm not even sure what you are trying to imply here, sadly it appears we are living in a World where everyone is considered guilty until proven innocent and suspicions are being thrown all around while it should actually be the other way around.

It reminds me of the hurdles I experienced when I first got in the UK and the troubles I ran in trying to open a regular bank account (so I could hopefully get UC/PIP rolling in), almost every High banks on the streets told me to literally f*ck off, the only one that accepted me in was Lloyds and even there once I got an account opened there was no chances to even get a measly £20 overdraft from the get-go, whereas here in the rest of Europe one can open a regular account with ease, usually you get a standard £50 to £100 overdraft right on day 1 given you show up with an EU passport, not an Ugandese, Romanian, Albanian or a Moldavian one.

5 hours ago, Lagarde's Drift said:

Im not sure what exchange rate Ur expecting, the above sounds about correct.

To be fair I'm not sure either what kind of exchange rate I am expecting, it's the other additional fees that are pissing me off.

5 hours ago, MonsieurCopperCrutch said:

There is a free open monetary network that you can interoperate with without recuse between banks and nation states. It's what I and many many others now use. GET OFF TRADITIONAL BANKING RAILS!!!

Would you care to elaborate? What are the other alternatives besides the "traditional banking rails"? Thanks in advance.

37 minutes ago, erat_forte said:

Places like CurrencyFair and TransferWise are not a gamble - I believe CurrencyFair is regulated as a bank in an EU country. Very easy to use, the closest to spot you will get - it is a peer-to-peer exchange, and the company makes its money by charging you a modest transfer-out fee (a couple of quid if I remember)

I will be looking into CurrencyFair, as for TransferWise I found them unreliable once you start sending too much money, too often. They will lock your account, ask you for a proof of ID over and over again randomly for no apparent reasons.

37 minutes ago, erat_forte said:

The gamble is shared ownership. It is a scam, a mis-selling, a false marketing, etc.

You do not actually "own" anything, ownership o the property is not "shared, these are not legally meaningful terms and concepts. You pay a shed load of cash to the owner of the house for what is to all intents and purposes a rather restricted rental tenancy.

Shared ownership is indeed not the best way to get started in real estate but it's at least a foot in the door into the real estate market, for someone like me struggling to keep up with tracking my expenses properly, coming from a lower than lower class background (I think in UK you have a term for us, you call us "chavs", right?) and having zero chances to ever owning anything in England (hence why I went to Scotland rather), Shared ownership seems the best way to get into real estate... if not the only way.

This isn't a buy to let investment, it is a buy to live in investment and hopefully staircase to 100% and pass it on to my offspring in 20'ish years.

That being said, I'm opened to suggestions on the real estate front as well.

Have a good one.