Foreign Exchange

[shanagarry]

What/who/where are the best Foreign Exchange facilities (Sterling to Euro) for regular transfers - without fees

[Farol]

What amounts and frequencies are you looking for?

[e-richard]

I've used XE-Trade satisfactorily on numerous occasions and each time, compare with others before trading. Usually XE-trade win on rates.
I've transferred to and from US/UK/EU.

What I liked was that you can set it all up on-line and trade on-line.

Dunno about setting up standing payments - is that what you were looking for ?

[shanagarry]

Monthly - £2,000 to £4,000 to €uro

[cereza]

A friend of mine has 2 Santander accounts - one in the UK and I in Portugal - and he just switches free of charge. He says the exchange rates are ok. I've no experience of it personally but maybe worth a look

[shanagarry]

A friend of mine has 2 Santander accounts - one in the UK and I in Portugal - and he just switches free of charge.

I tried that with Barclays - only to be told they are different companies and all transactions between them are 'arms-length' and subject to standard terms and conditions of international transfers.

I spoke to Premier FX this morning and they quoted a rate of €1.1925 against the Barclays rate of €1.2022. I wondered if there is any particular organisation that is consistently better than the rest?

[cereza]

Yeah - we all know Barclays in Portugal is nothing to do with Barclays UK but Santander is a Spanish bank and totally different. My friend transfers money all the time as I said at no cost. I just tried to be helpful.
Up to you

[shanagarry]

That's very helpful - thank you.

I bank with Barclays in the UK and Santander here - need to review that.

Thanks again

[steve]

As a long standing customer of BPI I simply pay in a sterling cheque each month and get the exchange rate on the day with no additional charges. The money is clear in one week although I can draw on it before that and pay charges. I suspect that it is necessary to have deposits or investments with the bank- which I do- to get this treatment but I may be wrong. As I understand the position the problem with UK cheques is that the UK bank can withdraw the money after the cheque has been cashed and the receiving account credited and this is why it is normal for banks here to require 21 days for clearance of a UK cheque. If they are going to let you have the money before that time they need to be sure that you are a good credit risk or that you have adequate other funds with them to cover the position if all goes pear shaped.

[md 600 driver]

i use bpi too i got a call once from the london branch of bpi that if i wanted i could pay in pounds and they would credit my account in euros they sent me some envelopes to post cheqes to london dont know if it was a good deal but you could ask

[Ma-Ja's]

We have always used World First and have arranged transfers both ways and never had a problem with them - they are very competitive with their rates as well. Their website is http://www.worldfirst.com

[shanagarry]

Great answers - lots to go at - thank you all

[SAM SPARKLE]

Another one you could try is http://www.torfx.com - have used them several times always competitive.

[Farol]

I would recommend Moneycorp http://www.moneycorp.com/Personal/Inter ... transfers/.

They are geared up for this sort of thing and you can even set future rates if you want to. Options also allow you to set the amount tranferred in pounds or euros which is a good idea as it guarantees that the right amount is transmitted regardless of exchange rates on the day.

[sam]

I use Foreign Currency Direct's Regular Payment scheme - there are no fees or transfer charges. They have 4 transfer dates a month and will convert whatever you have in your account that day. I have a set monthly Standing Order with my Barclays UK account, and can vary/stop payments as required. Has worked well so far, always been helpful and was easy to set up. Exchange rate on 21st July 2010 was 1.1613