Foreign currency exchange rate

UK residents seem to have alot of choice in places to exchange currency. I was wondering would anyone know if there is there any company in Ireland other than the banks to change my euros as heading to America soon. I find the banks give very bad rates and I feel I have been ripped off enough this year by them!!!!

i believe you can still find independent brokers just like in the UK such as crown currency in the UK, you might even be able to use UK companies.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Do you have an account in the US?

Generally all forex brokers are rip offs. They all hide fees, and there's no transparency in the exchange market. Among the very few that are both honest and reasonably priced, most of them have restrictions when it comes to working with deliverable assets (that is, sometimes the money you're buying is only virtual until you buy back into your home currency).

There is only one okay option, using Interactive Brokers, but it requires a US account to receive the money into, and considerable effort to get the account set up. I recommend IB only if you'll be transferring large amounts, or frequent transfers.

bureau de change is a ripoff here

I have often pondered this, but could you ask people in the line at the bureau de change if they are selling dollars? And offer the xe.com rate.

candyflipper said:

Generally all forex brokers are rip offs. They all hide fees, and there's no transparency in the exchange market.

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Thats abit harsh, i work for a forex broker and i pride myself of being honest and transparent in all i do. I agree there are alot of cow boys in the market share companies but to tarnish all FX companies with the same brush is unfair.

having said all that, to get the best out of fx broker you need to go to right one for your requirement. As there are brokers that are designed for small transactions (under €7k) medium transactions (€7-500K) and large transactions (500K+).

One thing i would never recommend is to use a breaue de change (esp in airports) as they are most uncompetitive.

Hans said:

I find the banks give very bad rates and I feel I have been ripped off enough this year by them!!!!

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What do you mean by 'very bad rates' ? What are you basing your expectation on ?

FX is a commercial retail product, priced at cost plus margin. The cost is, or should be, the same for all retailers, so it's the margin that offers the value for shopping around. On small amounts (e.g. < EUR 1000), the differences will be small so the cost of shopping around for the best margin may not be worth the potential saving.

If you have an issue with the cost price, what are you basing your expectation on ? Some random mid-market wholesale rate mentioned on the radio, something on some website who you have never bought from ?

a good way of working it out would be find out what the interbank rates is from XE and adding or subtracting a percentage off that rate to work out a realistic exchange rate

for example

----------------------------Spread from bank ----------- Spread from FX broker

exchanging less that €5k ----------- 2%/3%--------------------2%
between €5k and €10K --------------2%/3% ----------------1.5%-2.5%
between €10k and €30k -------------- 2% ------------------- 0.8% / 1.5%
between €30k and €100k ------------ 1/2.5% ----------------- 0.5/ 1%
between €100k and €500k -------------0.5% ------------------- 0.2/0.5%

so if the interbank rate (Xe rate) was selling euros into dollars 1.4740 as it currently is and you are looking to sell €20K you are likely to get an exchange rate of around 1.4445 at a bank and between 1.4622 and 1.4518 at a fx broker.

Of course these figures are not set in stone but if you use them as a starting point you wont go too wrong. You can of course obtain preferential rates at a bank or at a broker but all depends on your situation and who you are.

Also not all banks and FX brokers are upfront and honest about the rates you will actually receive but if you get a comparison trading quote you will soon find out who will give you the best rate.

Boros said:

Thats abit harsh, i work for a forex broker and i pride myself of being honest and transparent in all i do. I agree there are alot of cow boys in the market share companies but to tarnish all FX companies with the same brush is unfair.

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There's a common scam that almost all forex brokers pull - the wire siphoning scam. Here's how it works:

The broker does not charge a wire transfer fee, and they publish this on their webpage to attract clients. Then the broker goes to a bank, and opens an account that's free to the broker, but set up in a way that the bank pays itself by doing a money grab on incoming and outbound wires. The broker effectively subcontracts the bank to handle clients money at the cost of the client, without telling the client.

Then when the client sends a wire to the brokers bank, less money arrives. The broker points the finger to the bank, saying that's not "OUR" fee, that's the banks fee - which is technically correct.

Boros, chances are you're working for a broker that does this.

hi candyfipper

this is not something i was aware of, i helped set up a broker recently and this is defiantly not something that happens here. There is a charge by all banks for a garanteed same day payment (CHAPS) of around €30, but alot of banks now offer a free faster payment service.

A problem like this i am aware of is that with USD payments. All USD payments have to be sent through a nominated American bank even if its a payment going from a USD account in Dublin to another USD account in Dublin. And what happens 40% of the time the clearing bank (nominated bank) take around $40 handling fee for the pleasure. Which you cannot get back.

currency.ie are based in dublin
always call all the banks anyway to see what they offer too

i agree with mooney always get a few comparison quotes what ever you do, very much like car insurance the companies/banks may try and better each other

I think that there are many brokers who will give you higher price for your Euros than most of the banks. But before you exchange your currency make sure that you are getting the best price. Compare between other brokers and exchange with the one who gives you the best price.

If you're not in a rush to make your payment you can put an order with the likes of currency.ie, that way you order an exchange rate that hasnt even landed yet.

Boros said:

hi candyfipper

this is not something i was aware of, i helped set up a broker recently and this is defiantly not something that happens here.

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Where is "here"? Since this site is a British one, I'll use a British example. CMC Markets will tell you that they take no fee themselves for wiring money to them. That's because they are doing a wire siphoning scam. You wire money to their EUR denominated Natwest account, and Natwest (who the consumer does not have a contract with) will do a money grab to pay for their services to CMC Markets.

not all FX brokers do this scam candyflipper but i am sure alot do