Transferring money from uk to Aus

[Hippityoputous]

Hi.

I has an account on here years ago to get help for my PR. I got locked out of my email one day, hence I can't recover the password..

Planning to transfer around £35k to Australia. I know generally people advise not to use banks and to use a moneycorp.. etc.

It's quite hard to see the hidden costs. Does anyone know what the actual damage would be in dollar value (roughly) for using the bank rather than a moneycorp.?

 

Thanks in advance

Pat

[Marisawright]

It varies from bank to bank but their fees can be large.   

If using a service like Moneycorp is a bit daunting, don't let it worry you.   Moneycorp do have an online service but I just rang them up and they were very helpful (and I got to talk to a real person who does the work, not some call centre dufus in India).    I've heard good things about a company called Transferwise too, but I always stick with Moneycorp because they looked after me so well. 

[Hippityoputous]

Thanks for response M.

 

I get that they are a legitimate company and all the noise around what good experiences people have with them.

 

I'm interested in the actual difference in money transferred. If it's 0.5% then I won't bother, for example.

 

Has anyone done a comparison with bank rates?

Cheers

[Marisawright]

4 minutes ago, Hippityoputous said:

I'm interested in the actual difference in money transferred. If it's 0.5% then I won't bother, for example.

Has anyone done a comparison with bank rates?

The easiest way is to ring or drop into your bank and ask them to work out what figure you'll get in Australian dollars - make sure it includes their exchange rate and all their fees.   Then on the same day, ring Moneycorp and ask them for a price.    That will tell you what the difference is between your bank and Moneycorp, which is the only thing that really matters

[Hippityoputous]

In the same way that 99% of the questions asked on the forum could be answered by going out and doing the research yourself.

I had a specific question on the approx % variance between the 2 methods of transfer. I understand if you can't provide any answers, but would appreciate it if someone else can share any insights.

 

Cheers Pat

 

[rammygirl]

Problem is that most banks won’t give you a fixed rate, you just get what it is when they do the transfer.  Seriously always better to use a forex.  Register with a couple and compare the rates on the day, or rather see what you will end up with at the end!

I just transferred some money and actually ended up with the one with the fee (TransferWise) giving me more dollars than the one that was fee free as the exchange rate was better. About 0.65% better.  Even with 35k that can mean over $100 more.  Worth it I think!

Seriously quick and easy to do via a forex.  TransferWise is quick and easy and although registered with three forex companies it consistently gets me more dollars in the bank, even with a fee, and the money arrives within hours.

 

 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

The only member who could give you the exact figure is @Susan Watts and that is because she works for Moneycorp.

Even if a member had recently exchanged money using a bank or forex the rate could be different 

Forex companies and banks use to be able to advertise their comparison rates, I’m sure some law came out stopping this. 
‘Like Marissa said the only way to find out is to contact them direct. She wasn’t being awkward but the rates change all the time, also Moneycorp price match so if you find a forex company who offer a cheaper rate, chat with Moneycorp. 
 

[Ausvisitor]

The problem with this question is that the answer is (and always will be) "it depends"

Who do you bank with?

Does your account have special perks that allow cheaper transfer of money?

Has the rate changed recently and have the bank and Forex both kept pace?

The real issue (and I know because I tried it) is that getting the answer out of your bank is near impossible, so it's also very difficult to actually make the comparison. As exchange rates change throughout the day as well (on large transfers like yours) even doing the research doesn't guarantee you'll get that rate an hour later when you ask them to do the transfer

[rammygirl]

48 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

The problem with this question is that the answer is (and always will be) "it depends"

Who do you bank with?

Does your account have special perks that allow cheaper transfer of money?

Has the rate changed recently and have the bank and Forex both kept pace?

The real issue (and I know because I tried it) is that getting the answer out of your bank is near impossible, so it's also very difficult to actually make the comparison. As exchange rates change throughout the day as well (on large transfers like yours) even doing the research doesn't guarantee you'll get that rate an hour later when you ask them to do the transfer

Exactly. Banks will not commit. Forex companies will lock in a contract. You could win or lose depending on the movement of the rate.  The quicker the trNsfer the better in a way. Lock in a rate you are happy with then stop looking.........

On larger transfers it can make hundreds of dollars difference. 

[Hippityoputous]

Thanks everyone for your replies. There's a lot more variables than I thought there might be.. I will start comparing.

[Marisawright]

@Hippityoputous - yes, it is a pain in the neck.  That's why I tried to say, ask your bank "how much would it cost me to transfer this money today?", then compare that with what Moneycorp or Transferwise would cost on the same day - it's the closest you'll get to a comparison.

But the bottom line is that those companies will always cost you less in fees than the banks and they aren't hard to use at all, so you might as well.

[Ausvisitor]

I just did a quick comparison of moneycorp and transferwise (i have accounts at both) and as of 10:50 today the quotes I got for transferring £100K to AUD was as follows

TRANSFERWISE - $193227

MONEYCORP - $191240

So today TW was better than MC by $1987 or to put it another way thats like the exchange rate going up 2c in the pound. 

I know a lot of people are currently thinking that if the rate went up to 2:1 they would exchange some cash; however this shows that at 10:50 today if the transferwise rate had been 1:1.98 then it would have resulted in the same dollar amount in your account as a MONEYCORP transfer at 1:2 sometime in the future

Of course this will all change in the next hour as each company updates the rates dynamically throughout the day

[NicF]

10 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

I just did a quick comparison of moneycorp and transferwise (i have accounts at both) and as of 10:50 today the quotes I got for transferring £100K to AUD was as follows

TRANSFERWISE - $193227

MONEYCORP - $191240

So today TW was better than MC by $1987 or to put it another way thats like the exchange rate going up 2c in the pound. 

I know a lot of people are currently thinking that if the rate went up to 2:1 they would exchange some cash; however this shows that at 10:50 today if the transferwise rate had been 1:1.98 then it would have resulted in the same dollar amount in your account as a MONEYCORP transfer at 1:2 sometime in the future

Of course this will all change in the next hour as each company updates the rates dynamically throughout the day

And if you phoned them both you would probably get a better rate again.  When we moved we were advised to open accounts with several Forex companies and play them off against each other.  We didn't in the end - we only opened one with Moneycorp but my husband got a better rate than the advertised rate simply by phoning and asking.  We were transferring a large sum of money from our house sale so it was worth getting every extra percentage point we could.

[Hippityoputous]

On 19/02/2020 at 20:47, Marisawright said:

@Hippityoputous - yes, it is a pain in the neck.  That's why I tried to say, ask your bank "how much would it cost me to transfer this money today?", then compare that with what Moneycorp or Transferwise would cost on the same day - it's the closest you'll get to a comparison.

But the bottom line is that those companies will always cost you less in fees than the banks and they aren't hard to use at all, so you might as well.

Thanks Marisa. I had misinterpreted your first message, I realise now it was sound advice. 

I'll use a moneycorp or the likes.

 

Cheers

 

[Hippityoputous]

On 19/02/2020 at 20:59, Ausvisitor said:

I just did a quick comparison of moneycorp and transferwise (i have accounts at both) and as of 10:50 today the quotes I got for transferring £100K to AUD was as follows

TRANSFERWISE - $193227

MONEYCORP - $191240

So today TW was better than MC by $1987 or to put it another way thats like the exchange rate going up 2c in the pound. 

I know a lot of people are currently thinking that if the rate went up to 2:1 they would exchange some cash; however this shows that at 10:50 today if the transferwise rate had been 1:1.98 then it would have resulted in the same dollar amount in your account as a MONEYCORP transfer at 1:2 sometime in the future

Of course this will all change in the next hour as each company updates the rates dynamically throughout the day

Yeah worth using then for sure.

 

And if the difference between 2 forex companies is that significant imagine how much less you get with a bank.

[Susan from Moneycorp]

Hello everyone - Happy Friday and a great weekend to you all ~

Sue from Moneycorp (Australia) here and it's really heartening to read all these messages.... I love it when people are so informed and genuinely want to help others through the many mazes of moving from one country to the next - I think as expats we all have so much knowledge to give.

The experienced voices above are right:  Non-bank registered Foreign Exchange companies like Moneycorp, Transferwise, Western Union, CurrencyWise etc will always give a better rate than Banks.  They will also make fee-free payments to your nominated beneficiary (banks typically charge between £25-35/$25-45 to make an international payment) and the margin they take tends to be around 0.75/1.00% compared to a bank who - in my experience - take around 3% minimum. Sometimes as high as 5%.
Banks have been able to get away with charging these margins until companies like Moneycorp came into the market to challenge them.
As you know, the Foreign Exchange and Payments space has been undergoing a great deal of change in the past 5years, especially in Australia in the wake of the Royal Commission investigation into Banking fees & charges.

Moneycorp is regulated for Poms by both the Bank of England/PRA/FCA and Royal Bank of Australia/ASIC.
Like every Financial Institution we have to be completely  transparent on our pricing and processes - and at Moneycorp we also undertake to be audited twice per year by KPMG as we believe we should be the Industry benchmark and the people to set the precedent in industry standards.
All business must be based on trust and ethics.

With the price of currency changing in the money market (on average) twice per second - of every second of every day - there will always be continual movement in both directions when booking a trade - the one thing we cannot control - but we can all control our fees and charges: our dealing team are always on hand to talk to new and existing clients and really welcome the opportunity to do so, so that you can get a Live market update. If you'd like to have a chat please call them on:
(02) 8228 1490  (Aus)
(203) 589 0176  (UK)

You can reach me at anytime on 0414 838586 or susan.watts@moneycorp.com