Money transfer abroad

This article addresses the main reasons for making a money transfer abroad and how you can obtain the best exchange rate.



The main reasons for making a money transfer abroad are:



Buying an overseas property

Paying a mortgage or bills overseas

Repatriation of income

Sending money to a friend or relative

Buying a boat or other large good from overseas

Business requirements such as importing or exporting goods and services.



The costs



If you are planning to transfer money abroad there are two important factors you must consider when choosing which money transfer broker or bank to use to make your money transfer abroad. The transfer fee and the exchange rate will greatly affect the cost of your money transfer.



Transfer Fees – Fee’s can be applied at either the sending or receiving end of your transaction. Most currency brokers will send your money for free whilst the banks tend to charge £15-£30 per money transfer. Regular monthly payments overseas through a high street bank can cost up to £360 in transfer fees alone!! If you are sending regular money transfers abroad it is important to get free transactions



Exchange Rates – The large the amount of money you send abroad the larger the impact the exchange rate will have on your conversion.



For example, with a pound to euro money transfer exchange rate, at the same point in time currency provider A offers you a rate of 1.13 whilst currency provider B (a bank) offers you 1.10.



Exchanging £1,000 Provider A’s rate of 1.13 equals 1,130 Euros and provider B’s rate of 1.10 equals 1,100 Euros. If you used provider A you would receive 30 more Euros.



Exchanging £10,000 Provider A’s rate of 1.13 equals 11,300 Euros and provider B’s rate of 1.10 equals 11,000 Euros. If you used provider A you would receive 300 more Euros!



Exchanging £100,000 Provider A’s rate of 1.13 equals 113,000 Euros and provider B’s rate of 1.10 equals 110,000 Euros. If you used provider A you would receive a whopping 3,000 more Euros!!



From the example you can see that it is vital to get the best exchange rate. We have found time and time again that foreign currency brokers offer far more competitive exchange rates than the banks. If you use a foreign currency broker to make your money transfer abroad it can help you to save you thousands of pounds.



Exchange rates do fluctuate 24 hours a day, so when you compare one currency provider against another make sure you do so at the same point in time.



There are so many different factors which cause exchange rates to move therefore making it impossible to predict when to buy or sell in order to get the best possible exchange rate. It can be a risky game waiting for the exchange rate to go up if you are against a deadline for a property purchase. As easily as rates can move up they can also fall, therefore it is essential for you to give yourself plenty of time and begin to monitor exchange rates well in advance of your transaction deadline so that you can hopefully achieve a rate that you feel happy with. If you leave it until the last minute the rates could fall and you would have no choice but to make your money transfer abroad at a far poorer exchange rate than you had planned or budgeted for.



Use a currency broker to make a money transfer abroad



For all money transfer requirements it is better to use a currency broker to transfer money abroad than your bank. Banks offer uncompetitive exchange rates, charge hefty transfer fees and offer an overall far poorer level of service.



If you use a currency broker you will be assigned a currency expert to help guide you through your entire transaction, they will monitor the exchange rate on your behalf in order to help you achieve the best possible exchange rates.



Currency brokers can also offer you tools such as forward contacts and stop loss orders to help protect you against negative exchange rate movements.



At compare currency we have compiled an international payment comparison table which includes information on the UK’s leading money transfer providers. You can compare each provider in order to find the best one for your requirements.





More details:

Money transfer abroad

Send money abroad

Commercial exchange rate