SB_Travlr

My apologies in advance if this is OT, or in the wrong forum. I just have the feeling that FTers might know the answer...

Here's the situation. My family is in England, and I have been a US resident for many years. It's now fallen to me as executor to sell the family house in the UK, and the funds will then be sent to me in the US. I was assuming that a bank-to-bank wire transfer was the best/most cost effective way to go (I have bank accounts in UK and US) -- but how do I ensure that I get the most favorable exchange rate, and avoid high commissions/fees/other bank charges? Given UK house prices ( ) it's likely to be a large enough sum that a few cents difference per $ could be, um, noticeable. And that's even after the UK government has thrown a big party funded by my contribution to the inheritance tax.

I went to xe.com to check exchange rates, and see that they offer a service called XETrade which will clear currency transfers via wire from one country to another. Has anyone used this? any caveats or plaudits? Would it be worth the extra effort, or should I just be grateful for bank-to-bank wire transfers that take care of it all without any intervention on my part?

Thanks for any insights or experiences you can share, pro or con.

SB_Travlr

ttt
Can anyone help with this?

TeaMountain

I have just opened an account with XE Trade but not yet initiated any trades.....i am waiting to find out more about them.......have you had any experience yet with this company ???

thank you for any insight you can offer

a warm smile

from Providence RI

Fredd

FWIW I have used them with success in two transactions so far over the past couple of months.

SB_Travlr

Thanks for the feedback, Fredd. I've googled and searched for any complaints or problems with XETrade services, and (remarkably) haven't found any. I'm even delving into BBBOnline and the FTC...

I may do a smaller trial transfer first and see how that goes, then decide what to do.

SST

I've used XEtrade for several years to send money to Canada. The rates are definitely superior to my banks. It took a little doing, mailing ID back and forth to Vancouver, etc., but it works fine to transfer money from my checking account here to a checking account in Montreal. It works via EFT, and takes only about 2-3 days, without any wire charge.

I, too, wondered about them, but found some info online (?) that made me more confident. In the end, I feel pretty certain they do a good job.

BTW, the dratted Patriot Act now means you have to provide a couple or three different IDs and they give you a problem if your accounts aren't identically named (Joe SST vs. Joe S. SST and that sort of thing require explaining). I have no idea whether they can accomodate you transferring money to some ELSE's account or not; all my experience is from me-to-me.

Give them a call to clear up questions; they answered mine. And do post here and let us know your impression, or if you find something better.

SB_Travlr

Helpful feedback SST -- thanks. I'm leaning towards signing up and doing a smaller "test-run" transfer to see how it goes. Now I have to find out if my UK bank/offshore acct setup will work for this type of transaction...

jabrams72

The other possibility to look into would be someone like HSBC or Citibank who exist (albeit not as one entity) in both places. While with a small sum, I know HSBC eats up far too much in fees, if you have 'active accounts' with both and let the money sit there for a couple of weeks, you might be able to get them to waive fees. (I think from the US, their limit is minimum $250,000 in accounts/mortgages/etc with them, but I might be mistaken on this). If you go in and talk to a branch manager and tell them that this will be a regular occurence or some such (claim multiple properties to sell, etc), they will probably walk you through this and be happy to help. Then just go to another branch and close out the account...

jamescoop

I have tried www.xetrade.com, www.transfermate.com and citibank who seem to take quite a while at sending payments as I send regular payments back to the states for contract work. I found transfermate to be faster and the rates also seem to beat the others each time.

Banks dont appreciate the small guys business, thats why they charge more than companies seem to be charged!

expatnow

Thanks James
Opened an online account on the transfermate.com website last night, got a call back this morning and have already used them. well impressed, hammered the bank.

slawecki

so, how many percent off bank rate was the cost. was there a transfer fee, was there a transaction fee?

Fredd

As a satisfied customer of XE.COM for several years (I'm guessing Transfermate is quite competitive and similar), I can relate that they take a cut off the mid-market rate, i.e. the actual exchange rate figure that sits in between the spread of the typical bank's buy-and-sell rate. I don't know if that's what you're referring to as the "bank rate" but you can find the "mid-market" rates here.

In other words, there's a significant saving, well worth setting up an account with one of these outfits if you're exchanging significant amounts.

No transfer fees, no transactions fees. The fee is in the additional 1/2 to 1% (depending on the amount of business you do with them) they tack on that mid-market exchange rate.

It does take several days for our funds to be electronically transferred from the bank account in one country into the account in the other country - I don't know if the outfit is making a profit by holding the funds in reserve for a bit - but it's been dependable.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,
Fredd

slawecki

very good rate. i regularly paid 100.5% current bank exchange rate plus a $10 wire transfer fee. would fax the check to the trader, and the transfer would hit the next day, in most cases. never could understand how they made money.

they may have to hold your funds to confirm their existence.

Fredd

I assume they make their money on volume.

Wire transfers can cost money. Banks are known to waive them if you're a big customer. If you're transferring a large enough sum, it may also be worth the wire transfer fee to get it immediately.

DIFIN

I send money quite often to China. I use my Stateside bank and they do not charge me any fee as I am a long term client.

What the banks give you may not be 100% of the going exchange rate but close enough.

Also the amount of my transactions may not be as large as yours.