Author Topic: Transfer money from US to UK  (Read 4637 times)

Johnny72

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Transfer money from US to UK
« on: January 18, 2016, 03:34:29 PM »
Hi
I am looking into transferring savings from the USA to my account in the UK. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this with minimal fees. The amount will be a few 10k or so, maybe more. Looking to take advantage of the good exchange rate at the moment and investment opportunities that have arisen there.
Thanks

cerat0n1a

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2016, 04:14:47 PM »
Is this money in a US bank account that you want to end up in a UK bank account? (Great exchange rate for $ holders just now, certainly compared to 2014).

For >10k, you definitely want to use a specialist company, that is FCA regulated in the UK - all about the exchange rate rather than the fees at this size.

Check out TransferWise, Currencies Direct, FCExchange

This page does a pretty good job of summarizing the current options.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange

Sean Og

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2016, 05:45:56 PM »
TransferWise get a thumbs up from me.

Have used them to transfer USD to Ireland and my brother has used it in the other direction.


Johnny72

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2016, 07:32:38 AM »
Yes, this would be a transfer from a US acc to UK. Thank you for your suggestions.
J

ZiziPB

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2016, 08:10:58 AM »
The simple way to do it is to have your bank wire the funds to your bank account in the UK.  My bank charges a set fee for an international wire ($30, I think).

cerat0n1a

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2016, 10:54:01 AM »
The simple way to do it is to have your bank wire the funds to your bank account in the UK.  My bank charges a set fee for an international wire ($30, I think).

Simple, but the exchange rate offered by your bank will almost certainly be worse than that from a specialist provider and you will end up with fewer £ in your account than you would do otherwise. I could transfer money free of charge between an HSBC account here and one in the US, but the exchange rate wouldn't be that great. As the OP is talking about tens of thousands, it's worth his while shopping around for the best rate.

I read on the BBC that this is the lowest the £ has been since 2010 against the US$, so perhaps a good time to do this (or at least, better than last year :-) )

Kwill

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2016, 04:21:15 PM »
The simple way to do it is to have your bank wire the funds to your bank account in the UK.  My bank charges a set fee for an international wire ($30, I think).

Simple, but the exchange rate offered by your bank will almost certainly be worse than that from a specialist provider and you will end up with fewer £ in your account than you would do otherwise. I could transfer money free of charge between an HSBC account here and one in the US, but the exchange rate wouldn't be that great. As the OP is talking about tens of thousands, it's worth his while shopping around for the best rate.

I read on the BBC that this is the lowest the £ has been since 2010 against the US$, so perhaps a good time to do this (or at least, better than last year :-) )

I wish I'd read this sooner. I just sent money via my bank to pay for my move, not all that much in the grand scheme of things, but still . . . . Good to know for later.

Ursus Major

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2016, 11:01:22 PM »
FWIW I use xetrade ( xetrade.com / xe.com ) to transfer money to and from My European bank account to my U.S. bank account.

tetlee

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2016, 11:04:44 AM »
I use Transferwise and think it is great, I've sent just over £60k which they claim saved me £2k on using my bank*. I've never had a problem with them and you get mid market exchange rate and a 0.5% fee.

Transferring from USA -> UK this week it completed in less than 2 hours.

If you use my referral link you'll get your first transfer for free:
https://transferwise.com/u/f962

eljay

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2016, 11:16:51 AM »
FWIW I use xetrade ( xetrade.com / xe.com ) to transfer money to and from My European bank account to my U.S. bank account.

Another vote for xetrade - used it successfully several times to transfer money from my UK to US account.

Johnny72

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2020, 12:47:47 PM »
I thought I would resuscitate this topic since I didn't make the transfer (waited for good Brexit news, ffs). Some good recommendations in 2016 - but wondered if anyone has any updated information on this subject.

reeshau

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2020, 01:18:53 PM »
I use OFX to bring money between the US and Ireland.  (via their UK site)  No fees for transfers over $1,000.  If you are using ACH, the first transfer may take some time, but subsequent transfers are next day.  (2 days, really, as it takes a day for my bank here to send the SEPA transfer)

Johnny72

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2020, 03:55:58 PM »
My apologies. The original post was about transferring to UK (can't remember why, or maybe a typo). Now interested in transfer from UK to US (yes exchange rate bad but I fear it will get worse). Looking at around 10k GBP. Also, if anyone has any theories on where the rate might go in the next few months, that might be fun.

reeshau

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Re: Transfer money from US to UK
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2020, 06:03:39 PM »
My apologies. The original post was about transferring to UK (can't remember why, or maybe a typo). Now interested in transfer from UK to US (yes exchange rate bad but I fear it will get worse). Looking at around 10k GBP. Also, if anyone has any theories on where the rate might go in the next few months, that might be fun.

Yes, I use OFX both ways.

As far as rates, I would just say don't do it around the next Brexit deadline--as if that weren't obvious.  The USD is pretty strong right now vs. the Euro; I find myself unable to pull the trigger below 1.10 or so.  We had a good ramp up going until the central banks had to all go back to stimulus mode.

 

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