Best way to transfer British savings into american

[vvvVein 7]

If im looking to move less than £25000 which is the best way to transfer by british funds into an american savings account. I plan to move half of it initially and the other half when my savings pay out in august.

Is there an english bank that offers a better exchange rate than the rest? Or some third party method?

I was told by my bank to simply pay it into the american account online, so i will be at the mercy of their exhcange rate and 15 pound fee.

[stevensane 10]

I am interested in answers to this exact question. I have limited funds and really do not want to be at the mercy of high exchange rates.

[h13rma 35]

I have always used XE.com for currency transfers paying maintenance and the like.

[Owen_London 65]

There have been plenty of threads about this on the UK part of the forum. Have a look through, then check the rates offered for the amount you have to transfer.

As far as I know, you will find it difficult to avoid the wire fee.

I have seen recommendations for:

hifx.com (not available to US residents, though)

xe.com

USforex.com / UKforex.com

Also these two, but I think it was them who wanted too much ID information from me to be convenient:

currenciesdirect.com

moneycorp.com

I have personally used hifx.com from the UK, and USforex.com from the US. USforex gave me the best rate when I transferred money about 6 months ago.

[Vanitas 310]

There have been plenty of threads about this on the UK part of the forum.

Yup. But this OP constantly fails to use the search function.

[nobbie 105]

I used hifx and you will get a much better rate than from a bank and no fees.

[Vanitas 310]

That being said, a word of caution.

If you have a Credit Union account (like myself and the other half do) then you may find they have different procedures to straight-up banks. Namely we have to send stuff to a central account and have the forwarding details for our specific account attached. They also don't take straight international transfers, you have to transfer to a bank first.

[vvvVein 7]

My partner has a credit union and bank of america account that we want toc lose down, but from what your saying i guess we should leave it open for the transfer?

[Vanitas 310]

Depends on the CU's policy on international transfers, but you may have to.

[urbangirluk 73]

Try Post Office money transfers

[US/UKHubbyUKWife 1]

Heard good things about https://transferwise.com/en

[urbangirluk 73]

Heard good things about https://transferwise.com/en

That looks like a good rate, I've always used the Post Office as they charge no fee but you get more for your money with these even with the fee.

[Owen_London 65]

That looks like a good rate, I've always used the Post Office as they charge no fee but you get more for your money with these even with the fee.

Indeed. Plenty of places have no fees and no commission, but instead recoup their money with a really poor exchange rate.

What you need to compare is how many actual dollars you get.

[Kiwinyc 62]

I have been using Transferwise for the last 5 months. I do compare with other services and transferwise has consistently had a better rate and 0.5% fee, so I've used them 4 times now and they're fast (faster than they say they will be) and I'm satisfied I'm getting a good rate and low commission. No, i don't work for them. But if you're interested in using transferwise, will you let me refer you?

[stevensane 10]

I have been using Transferwise for the last 5 months. I do compare with other services and transferwise has consistently had a better rate and 0.5% fee, so I've used them 4 times now and they're fast (faster than they say they will be) and I'm satisfied I'm getting a good rate and low commission. No, i don't work for them. But if you're interested in using transferwise, will you let me refer you?

So with one of the other services I have come across you have to be in the UK when you make the transfer. This is not the case with transferwise?