Sending money from the UK to anywhere y compris LBF

[idun]

I was in the Post Office today and noticed this,

http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/finance/making-payments/post-office-international-payments

 

No fees to pay. No Post Office account needed. You can fix your exchange rates. 0% commission on foreign currency. Arrange transfers on line or by phone (0800 180 4703 or 0044 1753829000). Amounts from £250 to £70,000, must be done by phone for anything over £20,000.

 

I know that some people have mentioned wanting cheap ways to transfer, well the only problem I can see with this is having poor exchange rates.  Just thought I would let people know

 

[NormanH]

Let's try it out.

You send me 20 grand and I'll tell you if it comes through OK [:D]

[Judith]

Caxton FX also do something similar - the catch is in the lower exchange rate offered.  I signed on for both Caxton and PO, monitored the rate over some months, used one once to test, and then used my bank to transfer the large sum I needed here.  I've never bothered with either since - not enought money to transfer now, and I pay the UK credit card bills (incl NW which I have hammered since the change last year) from UK accounts - easier, so less need to transfer across here.

[idun]

To date I have used TORFX for my transfers from France to UK and have been happy with the exchange rate.

It does say that one can agree to an exchange rate, so if that is the case, then if what they are proposing doesn't suit, well it is easy enough to refuse.

NormanH, if we win the grande cagnotte on the euro millions tonight, I will do just that! So you'll have to wish us much good luck![;-)]

[Rob_Bushel]

There are quite a few UK based companies that offer money transfer services with little or no costs, especially for larger amounts, like http://www.foreign-currency-uk.com/ and CurrenysDirect

[Will]

I take it this is not just the 'travel money'/bureau de change service, for which the PO seems to get quite a good press?

When I looked at the Post Office international transfer service, you had to open a HiFX account and transfer the money through that.

I tried asking about it at our local main PO, but the counter clerk had no idea what I was talking about, despite it being advertised on the screen above his counter. I eventually found Idun's link by myself. It now tells you even less about how the service operates than when I found it a few weeks back.

The system we use via another currency broker, dealing direct, seems more efficient and more flexible, and I am sure if you went direct to HiFX you would be able to get at least a good a deal as via the PO, and with less hassle.

[idun]

Someone posted recently saying that there was going to be a charge for transfers under 3000€ with HIFX? (something along those lines), so with a post office hifx contract, might this still be better?

Frankly I don' think that I'll be looking into it as I have been happy enough with my transfer company.

[Will]

Quite possibly if you want to use HiFX, and I know a lot of people like the company.

The broker we use is Foreign Currency Direct, with which Judie used to have a lot of dealings when she was working in French house sales, and is based just down the road from where we currently live. There is no charge for the regular amount we transfer each month to keep the French house going, the company makes its money by giving an exchange rate a couple of points below the inter-bank rate (others may give a slightly better rate, but we are happy with our set-up). We previously used our bank for one-off transfers when needed, for which it charged £10 for a transaction but gave a reasonably good rate, however we had to visit a branch to make the transfer and the branch in Bucks proved far less helpful and efficient than our 'home' branch in Sussex so we changed regime.