janetilett Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 HelloThe cheapest way for me to put money in my French Bank is to buy Euro travellers cheques and send them to France. This is free. However, today my post office told me they are phasing out Euros travellers cheques as they are not being recognised in France much anymore!!!Do any of you know another way I can send money to France with no exchange fees?janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I was surprised because a) I thought they would cost more and b) they were disappearing. Seems I am wrong on both counts. That aside you may find the following link helpful.Money Supermarket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Free they certainly aint, I fear that you have fallen for the Post Offices publicité mensongère, "commission free" but a very poor exchange rate.Frankly short of walking into your bank and asking for a cheque to be made out in Euros without even knowing what the exchange rate is (as I did when I snapped up my property) I doubt that you will find a more expensive way fo transferring money than your "free" Post Office travellers Euro cheques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetilett Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Well... there's only a few pence in it... Getting travellers cheques is certainly cheaper than the €30 euros I get charged by my french bank each time I send sterling cheques to them. When I'm sending £50 - £100 each month to keep my french bank account ticking over, I'm not really worried about a few extra pence in the exchange rate when I buy travellers cheques. I have found my method the cheapest by a long long way.. unless anyone on here can tell me otherwise.... not sure there is a cheaper way, if there is please enlighten me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinabee Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Try www.currencyfair.com Once you have set up an account, you can transfer any amount and the only fee is a €3 transfer. The rates are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 [quote user="tinabee"]Try www.currencyfair.com Once you have set up an account, you can transfer any amount and the only fee is a €3 transfer. The rates are very good.[/quote]Having used Currency Fair extensively since they were recommended to me I can second what tinabee says. The only fee really with CF is the 3€ for the exchanged currency to be transferred to your French Bank; and as your French Bank will be receiving Euros there is no further charge payable.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyphilpott Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 www.xe.com make no charge for transfers and the rate is OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Ok Jane I can see that in your situation, not being present in France and sending small amounts, that travellers cheques would be far better than any method that I use.My favorite methods are to fill the car and trailer with stuff to resell in France whenever I visit the UK, and ordering stuff from E-bay etc for friends, paying with my UK card and them paying me in Euros.I am hoping with the changes happening to the banking systems that one day soon internet banking transfers between UK and French accounts will be easy and cheap(er). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I use http://transferwise.com/ and because I "joined" some time ago I only pay a £1 fee on transfers up to £2000. That fee only covers up to £300 now and on for example £1000 the charge is £4.50. I've always got the rate it says on their website (interbank rate) or better and the only downside is a delay of some five working days to funds arriving in my French bank. The matching delay is (obviously) short when the pound dips and long when the pound rises. Something they don't mention is that they need a copy of your passport when your transfers will exceed £5000.For me it has worked very smoothly indeed, but I keep the sums transferred relatively low, waiting for one to land before making another.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 [quote user="suein56"][quote user="tinabee"]Try www.currencyfair.com Once you have set up an account, you can transfer any amount and the only fee is a €3 transfer. The rates are very good.[/quote]Having used Currency Fair extensively since they were recommended to me I can second what tinabee says. The only fee really with CF is the 3€ for the exchanged currency to be transferred to your French Bank; and as your French Bank will be receiving Euros there is no further charge payable.Sue[/quote]Having recently used currency fair for the 1st time I can only agree with the other 2 ladies , I got the best rate of exchange I have ever had all for a fee of 3e and service very good . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kong Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Try www.caxtonfx.com fastpay. Minimum £100. Good rates and no fees.jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I transfer mine bank to bank online with no problem at all. I chose to send euros from the beginning so I know how much I am getting. The rate is good. I pay a small fee and it takes me 10 to 20 seconds to complete the transaction and it arrives the next day. I dont think you could get much simpler. I cant be doing with third parties where you have to transfer your money first before it gets sent. Noone does anything for nothing even if they infer they do. They are not Charities or doing you a huge favour. They are doing it to make money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 There's an old saying "No such thing as a free meal".You will more likely find that those companies that charge give a better rate than those that don't. Some may only charge three or four Euros per transaction but it all adds up. These companies are not charities, they are in it to make money. What they offer changes day by day which is why I thought the link was quite good because it lists companies that sell Euro Travellers cheques which was what the OP asked about.Yesterday, when I looked, those companies offering free (no commission) cheques were selling at between 1.163 and 1.176 when the rate was 1.199.Today the Currency Fair rate is 1.196 when the inter bank rate was 1.202 (at the time I looked) and they charge three Euros. Nat West are free but the rate is 1.142 and as you go round the market place so the deals vary. So it pays to shop around and also not assume the company you used last time will give you the best deal next time. Strangely enough the best ever deal I got was by negotiating with Banque Populaire. No charged plus under half a cent off the inter bank rate. Mind you the next time I went I couldn't get near that type of deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="Quillan"]There's an old saying "No such thing as a free meal".Nat West are free but the rate is 1.142 and as you go round the market place so the deals vary.[/quote]Whilst there are people around who think that banks are benevolent societies they will continue to get away with this type of con. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="HEZ"]I transfer mine bank to bank online with no problem at all. I chose to send euros from the beginning so I know how much I am getting. The rate is good. I pay a small fee and it takes me 10 to 20 seconds to complete the transaction and it arrives the next day. I dont think you could get much simpler. I cant be doing with third parties where you have to transfer your money first before it gets sent. Noone does anything for nothing even if they infer they do. They are not Charities or doing you a huge favour. They are doing it to make money.[/quote] Hez how do you get the euros in the first place ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="Benjamin"][quote user="Quillan"] There's an old saying "No such thing as a free meal".Nat West are free but the rate is 1.142 and as you go round the market place so the deals vary.[/quote]Whilst there are people around who think that banks are benevolent societies they will continue to get away with this type of con.[/quote]The answer of course is for the UK to join the Euro then it wouldn't be a problem. You would just pay five Euros or less to move money across. Of course the UK is not in the Euro so you have to live with this, you don't have a choice and it's them (the banks etc) who control the price and cost. The bigger question perhaps for those that need to move their money is what do they think is a fair price keeping in mind the right of companies to make money.Some times a company will make a ridiculous offer because they really don't want to do something even though 'the market' dictates that they should. Perhaps some of the 'high street' banks think this way. I have seen and indeed done it myself in the past on the basis that I didn't really want the job but I had to be seen to bid BUT if the people are that stupid to accept the over inflated price then it makes it worth while doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="Pads"] Hez how do you get the euros in the first place ? [/quote]Presumably the same way I used to: ask my UK Bank to do a euro exchange of my funds and then a SEPA transfer to my French Bank, for a total cost of £9. BUT this would be done at their-rate-of-the-day, albeit with no further cost on arrival here in France. What CF gave me was a chance to choose my own rate of exchange with one fee of just 3€ for whatever amount I then transferred out to my French Bank, with no further charges.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Was their rate of the day alot less than the real rate of the day? I only once tried to send via my bank in that manner and couldnt believe how much I lost , I went back to the bank and asked how much the difference was between the days rate and the rate they gave me and no one in the bank could tell me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="Pads"]Was their rate of the day a lot less than the real rate of the day? [/quote]As it was explained to me by them ... my UK Bank based their rate for the day - which didn't seem very much to change during the day - on the InterBank exchange rate early on in the day. Their cut was then roughly about 0.006 points. As an example, if the InterBank rate opened at 1.2004 then my Bank would offer 1.2004 - 0.006 = 1.1944 plus their fee of £9 to effect the exchange and transfer. Not bad at all providing the exchange rate didn't change dramatically during the day, when they would still be doggedly quoting much the same rate as in the morning. This is where exchange brokers come in as they are more flexible as to fluctuating rate changes compared to Banks. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote user="Pads"][quote user="HEZ"]I transfer mine bank to bank online with no problem at all. I chose to send euros from the beginning so I know how much I am getting. The rate is good. I pay a small fee and it takes me 10 to 20 seconds to complete the transaction and it arrives the next day. I dont think you could get much simpler. I cant be doing with third parties where you have to transfer your money first before it gets sent. Noone does anything for nothing even if they infer they do. They are not Charities or doing you a huge favour. They are doing it to make money.[/quote] Hez how do you get the euros in the first place ? [/quote]I am presented with the option to send euros or sterling on the page I send the money , in my online account. It is up to me. I send euros so I know from the start what rate I am getting and how much I will receive. It's just a matter of ammount and click, send as my french account is already saved there. Easy. I made the mistake once of sending sterling and the ammount I recieved wasnt as good. Presumably done at the french end or somewhere in between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Do you mind me asking which bank you use? ..As I dont think mine gives me that option.... although I havnt done it that way for years so may go back and check to see if things have changed.The rate you get is close to the real rate ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pads Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Just checked my bank ..who do now do direct payments in euros to my french bank they were offering 1.147 + £9.50 charge . rate at the mo 1.196 So will not be doing that .I got 1.208 when the rate was 1.212 last week + 3e charge with Currency fair . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetilett Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Okay thanks.Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Question to HEZ.[quote user="Pads"] Do you mind me asking which bank you use? [/quote] That is a most pertinent question since UK banks tend to charge a fortune for transfers. Someone has quote 9 pounds from their bank, mine charges 15 and I know another that charges 25pounds!!Bank transfers UK to anywhere else therefore have to be treated with caution unless you know what the charges are. In comparison France to the UK is very competitive - especially for smaller amounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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