would highly recommend xe..if you are looking to go that way

Likewise. ^ We have had an account with xe.com for several years. It's something of a nuisance to set up, and can't be done instantly, but they are legitimate and consistently offer an exchange rate of less than 1% off mid-market.

I'm sure there are other services just as good but I can speak from personal experience with this one. As has already been said, it's obvious from the spread on the buy/sell rate posted at banks that anybody wanting to exchange significant amounts of money should avoid them.

I would do my exchanges at the HSBC (being from Canada).. I think currency amounts above $10,000, you would get a special rate.