Transfering between banks in different currencies?

[Joe Black]

Any suggestions on the cheapest bank to bank way of transfering between one currency/country and another, e.g. EUR-GBP, GBP-EUR, from one current account to another.

Citibank used to be quite good for this but now seem to have upped their margins.

[backlight]

I use www.ozforex.com

Really good customer service, no fees, and low margins!

Can't ask for much more really.

[Joe Black]

Thanks backlight, an interesting link. Surprised though that given the number of people we're meant to have on here working in foreign climes that no one else has posted what they consider 'the best deal' (perhaps everyones keeping their secrets to themselves ).

Anyway, while having not tried them yet - will have to investigate further the hows/whens etc (Citibank has an advantage here as it's realtime) - I did play around a bit with their quotes and did a quick comparison with Citibank when I was logged on. Some interesting numbers:

Citibank - EUR > GBP
10K 1.4559
28K55 1.4416 (seems a switch point to lower rates, circa GBP 20K)
50K 1.4416
100K 1.4345

Oz/UKforex - EUR > GBP
10K 1.4411
28K55 1.4380
50K 1.4366
100K 1.4355


Seems Citibank have upped their margins, but only on transactions below a certain level...

[lexington_spurs]

try http://www.currencyuk.co.uk/

[backlight]

Seems that Oz/UKforex has the better rates.

Your right transfers are not real time, but their system is pretty good. Basically lock in the rate on the site, transfer the funds to their account and then they transfer the funds to your overseas/foreign currency account.

It would be good to see what others are using - always good to see if there are better deals out there

The other thing to keep in mind is Oz/UKforex have real time quotes where other sites often do not. Banks often set thier rates for the day.

[XLMonkey]

I use xe.com, similar model, works pretty well (although it takes a few days to transfer) and is much cheaper than bank transfers

[williamdavis]

I've often thought of using such brokers, but was worried about handing over what I think are large sums of cash to non - bank type companies.

Mind you saying that Northern Rock have scuppered that piece of thinking.

Are there larger risks with brokers?

[XLMonkey]

not particularly - provided that they are regulated by the FSA (all UK-domiciled exchange brokers are), then they are as safe as a bank is.

Mind you, that's not necessarily saying that much.....

[Joe Black]

I've often thought of using such brokers, but was worried about handing over what I think are large sums of cash to non - bank type companies.

One of the reasons I guess I've kept with Citibank over the years. That and the fact their rates for smaller amounts previously seemed as competitive as for larger ones, plus the benefit of realtime transfer.

Having looked at the links, for me - though may not apply to others - seems they're still one of the best of the bunch. For small amounts, which I want to use straight away, their rates are not as good but it is realtime, i.e. transfer some funds and 5 secs later pay bills, or turn up in Belgium/the UK and take money out via a cashpoint or at a branch straight away.

For larger, i.e. investment type amounts, then the rates seem not far off or appear to even beat the others when you get over the €50K point.

[williamdavis]

They sound pretty good, just one last question, do you have to bank with citibank to use their FX bureau? Or can anybody use them and get the same rates. I have accounts with LTSB and HSBC and have no more room in my wallet for another plastic card.