Transferring large sum of money - how to get round transfer limit?

[Bridgeman]

As the exchange rate is improving slightly we are trying to think ahead to when and if we transfer the money from the sale of our UK house to Oz. We have in the past used HiFx for a large sum but as we have a transfer limit of 10,000 with HSBC we are wondering how we would get round this when transferring the proceeds of our house sale to HiFx as they give a limit to how long they will hold the exchange rate and you need to get the funds to them on a certain date.

 

Have tried calling the bank, but they advised us to write to our branch instructing them to move the money but again the post to the UK takes ages. (They first told us the only way was to go into the branch with our ID!! - I told them if they looked at their screen properly they would see I was in Australia!)

 

How have people managed this in the past?

[Guest]

You should be able to do a CHAPS transfer - the bank will charge for it £15 or something around that but you can transfer any amount of money and it arrives the same day.

 

Alternatively is it a daily £10,000 limit? We have a £10,000 limit on our Nationwide account and needed to transfer £40k to a solicitor when we were buying a house and they just told us to do 4 separate transfers as there was no daily limit I'd let HIFX know but so long as they all have the client reference on I'm sure that would be fine.

 

I am surprised HSBC haven't advised you better, maybe time to change banks?

[oscarcat]

HSBC UK is not my favourite bank for a number of reasons - badly designed and poorly functioning web site, inadequate and sometimes unintelligible customer phone help and restricted hours.

 

Re exchange companies, I've used HiFX but have found TransferWise to offer better deals. Give them a call - you'll speak to a courteous, knowledgable and above all helpful person on the other end.

 

Should stress that TransferWise claim to beat the high Street banks exchange rates and extra hidden costs. Read the recent news item where they staged a march through the City of London ridiculing the banks - whose silence in their own defence was deafening!

 

But shop around in advance and get as many 'dummy run' comparisons as possible. At the end of the day it's the actual amount you end up receiving for any given sum exchanged that matters. Promises of discounted fees, better rates are meaningless. The crucial issue is the sum you actually end up with and when.

 

I should have that daily limits isn't just a UK thing. There's a limit - 40,000 AUD on how much Transferwise in Oz will accept. Best to talk to all the exchange companies to clarify these matters.

 

An interesting point would be to find out from returnees to the UK how they managed to send all their assets back to the UK? Does anyone kow the cheapest way?

Edited November 10, 2014 by oscarcat
sent before finished

[miw54]

As the exchange rate is improving slightly we are trying to think ahead to when and if we transfer the money from the sale of our UK house to Oz. We have in the past used HiFx for a large sum but as we have a transfer limit of 10,000 with HSBC we are wondering how we would get round this when transferring the proceeds of our house sale to HiFx as they give a limit to how long they will hold the exchange rate and you need to get the funds to them on a certain date.

 

Have tried calling the bank, but they advised us to write to our branch instructing them to move the money but again the post to the UK takes ages. (They first told us the only way was to go into the branch with our ID!! - I told them if they looked at their screen properly they would see I was in Australia!)

 

How have people managed this in the past?

 

Hi

We bank with Nationwide in the UK and they have advised that we can transfer money by SWIFT directly to our bank in Oz and there is no limit at all. It costs £20, regardless of the amount sent, which is deducted by the UK bank and the Commonwealth charge $11 for accepting the international money transfer. You can do it all yourself on line as long as you have the receiving bank's SWIFT code. Hope this helps

[Bridgeman]

Yes, HSBC would also do this for us, direct to our bank account in Oz. However, the exchange rate they would give us is so much worse than if we use one of the currency exchange companies such as HiFx. It makes a big difference on such a large sum. We are still going round in circles with the bank and have been given so much wrong information. Our problem is getting the money to HiFx within the time limit they set after you have agreed an exchange rate. HSBC are insisting the only way they would transfer the money to a third party in one go is if we give them a Letter of Authorisation, by going into the bank personally (not happening obviously!) or sending by post. We are looking now at sending a letter by courier - would still work out much cheaper than letting HSBC do the transfer.

[miw54]

Hi again

We have a Foreign Currency Account with the Commonwealth Bank and when we transfer the money from UK we do it in £ sterling so that we don't have to use the UK bank exchange rate. We can then leave it in the FCA until the time is right to change it to Australian dollars. There is no charge for this and the Commonwealth also give an excellent rate of exchange similar to what you would get with any of the other trading companies. It might be worth asking your Australian bank if they operate anything similar. Other than that, what about using Moneycorp ?

[LKC]

We phoned and asked them to increase the limit for a short time. It has never been a problem.

[oscarcat]

miw54 and LKC - I beg to differ.

LKC - the daily limit cannot be increased by a mere phone call. It's set in stone. Anyway we are talking here of those infrequent, pbrobaly once in a lifetime instances where a family's entire assets have beeen liquidated with a view to being converted into a foreign currency at the least possible expense,

miw54 I think you will find that the Commonwealth Bnak, like any bank, in Oz or in the UK, extracts a massive fee/charge, call it what you will. Don't be beguiled by the smiling, friendly front. It's a bank for goodness sake. All you have to do is crry out a real time comparison as to the actual costs to you in moving xGBP to Oz at any given time using TransferWiswe, HiFx, Moneycoprp (which seems to have wangled its way into pomsinoz as the preferred currency exchanger - it's not the best) and your UK and Oz banks - ignoring the retrictions of the daily limits. You'll find the banks cost you teh most.

 

The issue therefore remains. Apart from setting up multiple accounts in both countries , has anyone found a way to overcome the daily limits (which increasingly seem to be an artificial device created by the banking industry for its own profit). Sensible and researched answers would be good.

[Bridgeman]

Yes, I don't know if it is just a UK thing, or just an HSBC thing. After doing some research I have discovered that the transfer limit is up to the individual bank and that HSBC are one of the worst. Some banks will allow 50,000.

 

Ironically I have just transferred a large sum of money from ME bank in Australia to another bank in Australia. I also had a transfer limit of $10,000. I phoned them and asked if there was any way round it and they said 'No Problem' - told me to download a Direct Credit Transfer form from their website, to fill it in, sign it, scan it and email to them and they would action immediately. The money will be in the other account in a couple of days. I would award them a gold star for excellent customer service.

 

On the other hand we have had nothing but misinformation and poor advice from HSBC. I will be looking to see if I can switch to another bank (after I have my money of course) but don't know how easy this would be not being in the UK.

[oscarcat]

Yes, I don't know if it is just a UK thing, or just an HSBC thing. After doing some research I have discovered that the transfer limit is up to the individual bank and that HSBC are one of the worst. Some banks will allow 50,000.

 

Ironically I have just transferred a large sum of money from ME bank in Australia to another bank in Australia. I also had a transfer limit of $10,000. I phoned them and asked if there was any way round it and they said 'No Problem' - told me to download a Direct Credit Transfer form from their website, to fill it in, sign it, scan it and email to them and they would action immediately. The money will be in the other account in a couple of days. I would award them a gold star for excellent customer service.

 

On the other hand we have had nothing but misinformation and poor advice from HSBC. I will be looking to see if I can switch to another bank (after I have my money of course) but don't know how easy this would be not being in the UK.

 

It's interesting if individual banks have the power to set their own limits (and thus have use and control of your money for a period of time during which interest earned is kept by them). This is just so wrong on so many levels.

 

It's even worse (and the cost to you even greater) if a permanent international move is contemplated and all your assets are converted to a lump sum which has to be changed at some point to the currency of the destination country. That's when delays, charges, poor exchange rates can cost you thousands.

 

Has anyone actually done this recently and recorded what alternatives they considered and the reasons for coming to the choice they did?