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it's only marginally better off sending it via money transfer like skrill etc etc ..as they have UPPED rates to about 4-5 % .. i worked it all out a while back for my mother as she has to send money over to pay bills into a Spanish bank account

but you may be lucky to fine a money transfer site that will do it for less BUT you have to remember exchange rates are always inflated by any exchanger so they don't lose money ... You need to trawl around to find them, to look at rates . At the time i done all the major ones and they were all the same rates upped to 4-5 % it's become a cartel . I think on a transfer of about 200-300 it is no different than letting the banks do it

it all depends on what size of money you are talking about - if it is a nest egg or life changing amount .I would set up a offshore EURO account or you could probably open a Irish EURO bank account , making the money very accessible to get into a branch and withdraw it in euro or transfer the money when the RATE is acceptable to exchange

the exchange rate is not going to fluctuate that much when it first came out it was 0.65 having a high of around 0.85... The bottom is failing out of the Euro especially if we leave , next year . As above, if you are looking at exchanging the money for a better rate from now to the referendum it is not going to fluctuate that much on a few grand -- it would be nothing really

it will most certainly not hit 0.80 again
 
Spook187 said:
Gotta love these skinflint threads lol just to gain a few pence.
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Actually for these sums of money you could be talking hundreds of pounds. :p


Not sure where 5% comes from, places like UKForex are small percentages off the exchange rate.

For example, as of now Yahoo has the EUR-GBP rate of 0.7337, UK Forex will transfer your money at an exchange rate of 0.776. They make their money on the fact you are transferring tens of thousands/millions so you get far better rates than a bank will give.

Kermit, yep that's basically how it happens. You agree on an exchange rate (which may be better by ringing up than online confusingly). You then have a few days to transfer to their account in country, then a day or two later they transfer from their UK account to yours. There are plenty of big companies that offer this service so you're pretty safe, I think many of them are authorised/registered with uk regulators as well, companies like UKForex, Transferwise, XE etc..
 
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Amp34 said:
Actually for these sums of money you could be talking hundreds of pounds. :p


Not sure where 5% comes from, places like UKForex are small percentages off the exchange rate.

For example, as of now Yahoo has the EUR-GBP rate of 0.7337, UK Forex will transfer your money at an exchange rate of 0.776. They make their money on the fact you are transferring tens of thousands/millions so you get far better rates than a bank will give.

Kermit, yep that's basically how it happens. You agree on an exchange rate (which may be better by ringing up than online confusingly). You then have a few days to transfer to their account in country, then a day or two later they transfer from their UK account to yours. There are plenty of big companies that offer this service so you're pretty safe, I think many of them are authorised/registered with uk regulators as well, companies like UKForex, Transferwise, XE etc..
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They're all pretty much regulated under FCA which means client funds are segregated from their own.

Anyway the way to get the absolute best rate is to open an account with Interactive Brokers. It's actually meant for tradings stocks/foreign exchange/commodities etc. but allows you to change pretty much at the spot rate - rate will be better than any of the transfer companies. Probably not worth doing if it's a one off though. If you invest in stocks etc. anyway then it might be worth looking at :)
 
Never understood the point of the market having a quoted exchange rate if money never changes hands at this rate. Why don't all currency exchanges take place at the quoted market rate and then the people performing the transaction take a fee or service charge? Would make it much easier to compare services that way.
 
Kermit said:
Can't see the benefit of an Irish euro account. The money in the Spanish account is the same currency and accessible eaily enough when we're in Spain and via internet banking.
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the point of putting it into a Irish EURO account is that you will have a branch in the UK - you then go to the branch take the money out when the exchange rate is good and then change it up at the post office which charges you nothing for exchange ( i think there is limit to exchange 1-2.5k at a time )

you will only pay a one off - transfer fee at the bank ..thus not paying a financial services exchange rate ..which is always very POOR

also by having a EURO account if you ever decide to go to Europe again - it would be worth holding on to some EURO's and you will never pay exchange rate again ..while at the sametime earning interest on a Euro savings account ( Irish banks have terrible interest rates though but all the big banks have euro accounts some might let you open one many won't )

no matter what finical service you use to exchange it will be over compensated to take into account fluctuation a mere few points in the rate to them is millions even billions over a period of time

if it is a small amount you just take it out from the Spanish account in euro - i forget the limit you can carry through customs - it may be around 10k ... just declare it and bring it back to the uk via travel then exchange at the post office when the rate is good ... any exchanger will give you below actaul value ... the post office is always been good and better than most places
 
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stevearno said:
it's only marginally better off sending it via money transfer like skrill etc etc ..as they have UPPED rates to about 4-5 % .. i worked it all out a while back for my mother as she has to send money over to pay bills into a Spanish bank account

but you may be lucky to fine a money transfer site that will do it for less BUT you have to remember exchange rates are always inflated by any exchanger so they don't lose money ... You need to trawl around to find them, to look at rates . At the time i done all the major ones and they were all the same rates upped to 4-5 % it's become a cartel . I think on a transfer of about 200-300 it is no different than letting the banks do it

it all depends on what size of money you are talking about - if it is a nest egg or life changing amount .I would set up a offshore EURO account or you could probably open a Irish EURO bank account , making the money very accessible to get into a branch and withdraw it in euro or transfer the money when the RATE is acceptable to exchange



it will most certainly not hit 0.80 again
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Best of luck opening a bank account in another country. :p

Also it WILL hit 0.80 again at some point that's the cyclic nature of the markets. Good countries raise interest rates but then have inflation.

Strong currency + inflation is bad for exports so people (markets) complain countries with lower inflation and weaker currency benefit and become stronger increase interest rates and get a stronger currency.... rinse and repeat.
 
The post office doesn't have the best CASH exchange rate let alone electronic exchange rate, which will be far better than any cash exchange rate. There is a reason the Halifax clarity card is recommended on here, exchanging cash is one of the worst ways of doing it!

Just use a company like UKForex or Transferwise. You'll get much better rates and it'll be much easier. It's what they are designed to do.
 
stevearno said:
I would set up a offshore EURO account or you could probably open a Irish EURO bank account , making the money very accessible to get into a branch and withdraw it in euro or transfer the money when the RATE is acceptable to exchange
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LOL that make no sense - she's got money in a spanish EUR account and wants to convert it to GBP so you suggest moving it to an Irish EUR account - how does that help? Its still in EUR in another country (albeit one slight closer physically - as if that makes any difference)
 
Note: old thread

Just wanted to report that transferwise is absolutely brilliant.

Had to pay 500 EUR to a bank account in Portugal to rent an apartment.

Would have cost me £450.96 if I'd used my bank (Natwest), with transferwise it cost me £421.03.

A tidy £29.93 saving.
 
joeyjojo said:
Note: old thread

Just wanted to report that transferwise is absolutely brilliant.

Had to pay 500 EUR to a bank account in Portugal to rent an apartment.

Would have cost me £450.96 if I'd used my bank (Natwest), with transferwise it cost me £421.03.

A tidy £29.93 saving.
Click to expand...

Ive used Transferwise before and it is definitely a great service. Highly recommend it.
 
Slightly related. Ive got a wedding to pay for next year and the venue have said if we pay in cash we don't have to pay the 10% VAT . Its looking like it is going to be about 9000EUR. What would be the cheapest way of getting that much currency?
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Slightly related. Ive got a wedding to pay for next year and the venue have said if we pay in cash we don't have to pay the 10% VAT . Its looking like it is going to be about 9000EUR. What would be the cheapest way of getting that much currency?
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Short answer: a broker.

Long answer, see the several recommendations here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange#larger

(edit: article is about sending money, but the brokers listed surely do forex too)

P.S. that sounds pretty shady though tbh, avoiding the VAT.
 
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