Sending Money Abroad

arctik

arctik

arctik

Associate
Joined
26 Oct 2016
Posts
27
Location
Scotland
Hi All,

I buy goods from China, containers at a time.

Currently I send money to my supplier through my bank, where they lump charges on and I'm always getting a lot less than the actual exchange rate. I know I can get a better deal elsewhere but have no experience using any alternatives. Any recommendations?

Cheers
 
Another rec for transferwise. Used them for an apartment deposit when we went on holiday. All went smoothly and far cheaper than a bank transfer
 
I recently came across Revolut that should do what you need, no idea how it comes to Transferwise. It's also FCA regulated which basically means your money is protected, like any highstreet bank.

Basically it lets you open wallets in various currencies and transfer money between them at the interbank exchange rate without any fees, which is basically as good as it gets - type 1 gbp to usd in Google, and that's basically the rate they'll convert at. The free version will likely be enough for what you need.

I used it the other week to convert some money into Euros then do a SEPA transfer for free to another Euro account. NatWest would have charged me £10 just for the SEPA transfer alone - I was only sending about £15!
 
Pho said:
I recently came across Revolut that should do what you need, no idea how it comes to Transferwise. It's also FCA regulated which basically means your money is protected, like any highstreet bank.

Basically it lets you open wallets in various currencies and transfer money between them at the interbank exchange rate without any fees, which is basically as good as it gets - type 1 gbp to usd in Google, and that's basically the rate they'll convert at. The free version will likely be enough for what you need.

I used it the other week to convert some money into Euros then do a SEPA transfer for free to another Euro account. NatWest would have charged me £10 just for the SEPA transfer alone - I was only sending about £15!
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I transferred £200 from my Cypriot bank account to my UK bank account this way the other day with zero fees. Worked a treat.
 
Begbie said:
I transferred £200 from my Cypriot bank account to my UK bank account this way the other day with zero fees. Worked a treat.
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CYP to GBP? Or do you have a GBP denominated account in Cyprus?

If the former then there likely were "fees", they're just in the spread you were charged. Banks generally add a bit of "margin" to a spread they quote to customers when you make a transfer like that.
 
dowie said:
CYP to GBP? Or do you have a GBP denominated account in Cyprus?

If the former then there likely were "fees", they're just in the spread you were charged. Banks generally add a bit of "margin" to a spread they quote to customers when you make a transfer like that.
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Cypriot bank account, so Euros.

No fees at all, deposited 200E to my Revolut card then transered into £ and then a transfer into my bank of Scotland account. All for free, and a good exchange rate.
 
Begbie said:
Cypriot bank account, so Euros.
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lol,yup sorry... am half asleep, I can't believe I even wrote CYP as that disappeared before my time (though am familiar with the currency code form an old, old system I used to work on).

No fees at all, deposited 200E to my Revolut card then transered into £ and then a transfer into my bank of Scotland account. All for free, and a good exchange rate.
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ah well that is different, you said before that you transferred from your Cypriot bank to your UK bank... that wouldn't be for free - with Revolut of course it is much, much cheaper (just as it would be with transfer wise)
 
I’ve looked into a lot of these services and even asked a similar question on here a while ago.

Transferwise is the best I’ve found so far, I’ve probably transferred £20k back and forth in various currencies and it’s always fast and reliable. They keep you updated at each step which is reassuring too.
 
Uk forex is another good option to check. See which has the cheapest rates, when I was transferring large sums I found the to be better than transferwise.
 
dowie said:
lol,yup sorry... am half asleep, I can't believe I even wrote CYP as that disappeared before my time (though am familiar with the currency code form an old, old system I used to work on).



ah well that is different, you said before that you transferred from your Cypriot bank to your UK bank... that wouldn't be for free - with Revolut of course it is much, much cheaper (just as it would be with transfer wise)
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Are you drunk :p

I said 'this way' with a quote from Pho who done similar.
 
You can try the brokers : HiFX, CantonFX, Western Union Business Solutions, Hermex FX, Indigo FX and countless others based in London - play them off against each other until you get the best rate, depending on your bank and how large your transfers are - your bank may even match or beat those too.

If you want to get the absolutely best exchange rate - open an Interactive Brokers account for your company - deposit GBP, buy USD at pretty much spot rate - then withdraw to your USD account and transfer onwards from there. No bank or broker will give you as good of a rate. But they do have minimum activity requirements, if you don't meet them or don''t have $100k on deposit you'll be paying $10 a month. And deposits / withdrawals take a few days, can't be withdrawn instantly.
 
Revolut is a good shout.
Always been good for personal but they do business too now.
You can also pay debit card too (for smaller purchases only I guess?) and get the protection that offers
 
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