Transferwise - an interesting study

[PaulT]

http://tinyurl.com/pjzvq8j

Do click where it says 'click here' to see the detailed breakdown.

[suein56]

I see they didn't include CurrencyFair in their study, which is a shame, as that comparison would have been of real interest to me.

Sue

[PaulT]

Sue CF are in direct competition with them so you cannot really expect them too.

Think they have shown that the basis that TW and CF operate on are very similar so all you have to do is go on to the websites and compare the two and select the one that gives the best rate.

[Hoddy]

There was an item on Moneybox Live yesterday on Radio4 about this way of transferring money. It looks very interesting doesn't it ?

Hoddy

[Tancrède]

I am evidently more than usually moronic today.  I cannot find anything to click, or any kind of 'study'  -  apart from a list which spelled out in painful detail the obvious truth that changing currency through a bank costs money.  

And I went to bed with every intention of listening to Moneybox Live, but only succeeded in being conscious for the Shipping Forecast at 06.20 before jumping up to water the garden.

I see from the Transferwise site that they are a 'totally new way to beat the old system'  -  but am still utterly at a loss as to know what this totally new way actually is.  Cowrie shells ?

And if it is as good as the puff suggests, why aren't their rates as good as plain old currency brokers (like e.g. HIFX whose services I used yesterday) ?

I have no particular brief for HIFX, but if anyone wants an 'introduction', I will happily oblige and we will both get a £20 Marks and Spencer voucher as a reward.

[PaulT]

Underneath the table it says:

To see the a full breakdown of the results, click here.

Clicking on 'here' takes you to:

https://transferwise.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-real-cost-of-money-transfer.png

Very good rates shown up front and fast.

When I used FX dealers such as HIFX they did not offer their best rates to start with unless I bartered.

[PaulT]

Oh, I do not receive any commission I am just a happy client. Obviously, people are free to choose which company they use but I would have thought it smart to know exactly what is out there.

[Tancrède]

[quote user="PaulT"]

Clicking on 'here' takes you to:

https://transferwise.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-real-cost-of-money-transfer.png

Very good rates shown up front and fast.

When I used FX dealers such as HIFX they did not offer their best rates to start with unless I bartered.[/quote]

Thank you, that is extremely interesting.  Having just done a transfer per HIFX I regret not bartering.

The disconcerting detail of the whole operation was that the CA teller insisted on asking me what I was transferring the money for.  I found this frankly difficult to answer.

The money was here, and I wanted it to be there.  What more is there to be said than that ? 

It is very rare for me to have a flash of inspiration but  -  Whitsun looming  -  the Spirit gave me Utterance.  I said  I am so troubled by the persistent rumours that CA is insolvent that I wish to transfer this money somewhere safer.

That seemed to suffice, and I offer it as a OSFA solution to this piece of impertinence.

For those happy few with different banking arrangements, one could substitute 'France' for 'CA' with very much the same effect.

[mint]

G; do look at these people as well:  currencyfair.com.

Once I'd used them, I 'd never looked back.  Best of all, long opening hours and there is always someone on the end of a phone, someone knowledgeable and polite, and you don't hang on at a prime rate line, vainly pushing buttons to try and get a person to speak to you and have your ears assaulted by ghastly noise which is meant to be music to keep you entertained at huge and disproportionate cost to yourself.

I instantly turned by back on banks and traditional type currency exchange companies.