Money transfers from Oz to UK

[beatnik]

I have previously been using Moneycorp to transfer AUD to the UK, and paid $22 fees every time I did this with NAB. Since Moneycorp have changed their accounts to Barclays, I have been charged an additional $51. Last time Moneycorp refunded me this extra amount and requested that NAB charge the fees to them directly next time. However NAB say that they cannot do this and will continue to charge me all the fees!

 

Does anyone know of a simpler/cheaper option to send money back to the UK?

[Guest GeorgeD]

What sort of values are you transferring? Large amounts, or small regular payments?

[beatnik]

I'm looking to transfer about $2000 every 4 months or so

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Have a chat with John (Moneycorp) on here he may be able to help

[runslikeafish]

I've never come across this at all and I've used HiFX and more latterly Travelex a lot. Are you doing the transfers online? If not - try that. Just set up the online transfer - Travelex (or whoever) will give you Aus bank details to transfer to (which you can also do online) and away you go. No charges at any point.

 

Seriously, you shouldn't be getting any bank fees for these at all. If a foreign exchange broker asks you to transfer to a foreign bank (e.g. Barclays) to make the transfer then that's defeating the object!

 

Actually, just typing that makes me think - are you perhaps trying to use your old UK account to do the transfers? That could possibly explain it. Try opening a new account with a broker with an office in Aus (if you open one with Travelex please do feel free to go via the link in my blog below! ) and see if that helps.

 

I'd be interested to hear the reason for the charges if you do find out. My guess, as above, is that you're using a UK based account so you're being asked to transfer the money to a UK holding account. An Aus based exchange account would ask you to make the Aus $ transfer to another Aus bank account. It's certainly the first time I've heard of someone being charged like that.

 

Good luck!

[Liloharry]

I had exactly the same problem with Moneycorp/NAB....I liaised directly with John from Moneycorp too, they refund the extra overseas charges each time but its turning into such a hassle I don't bother using them anymore. I transfer small amounts each time so I have just starting sending directly from my aus account to my UK one. Shame because they are losing customers.

[wakeboard1980]

I used Oz forex when I was there to send money to the UK. I had no issues.

[beatnik]

Thanks for the replies, I've just used travelex to transfer some funds. No fee for my first transfer, but $15 for future transfers below $10k.

[can1983]

I just used my commbank account to santander in the uk

 

As previous posters have said commbank will charge the fee irrespective of who it goes to and its still arriving in a uk account then on to yours.

 

For small amounts (i do $5-10k a time) the saving in a few dollars at best for a slightly better rate offered by mc but you have to send money to a third party account and 'hope' it arrives in yours sometime later. I guess for large sums of money it might be worth it but you still have the risk of sending to a third party account

 

Also i've had quite a few nuisance calls and emails from them after registering but not doing any transfers

[runslikeafish]

Glad you got it sorted beatnik!

 

Can 1983, I've found that a currency broker typically beats a bank's exchange rate by 2-3%. On $10,000 that's a $200-300 difference. Plus the charges are lower. A currency broker will ask you to make a transfer to a holding account in the same currency and country as you're transferring from and they will send the money to the overseas account for you. Depending on the amount of the transfer this second bit may attract a small charge. As far as "hope" is concerned, they are covered by the FSA like banks (or at least the ones with offices in the UK are) so I don't really understand that comment. As far as I'm concerned, it's a "no brainer" to use a currency broker