Key Post The best way to transfer large amounts in euro to and from other currencies

You can ring around and get quotes
It was a waste of time ringing AIB. I waited too long. They didn't know what they were at. And anyway, I wouldn't have got that day's rate.
But I could ring a couple of the others and if their rates are better than transfermate , I could open an account with them.

Anyone want to do a bit of mystery shopping and report the rates for a few of them?
 
Are Transferwise advertised savings realistic ?

Hi,

I need to transfer $ to € and was wondering how much better dedicated services like transferwise would be relative to an Irish bank. So looking at transferwise:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4QJxcxANtL2QjBzOWJ0bXJZekk/view?usp=sharing

It boasts that I would save €2,212 on $100k, but looking closer at their figures I notice that this assumes an 'Average' bank rate of 0.76336.
Consulting BOI (https://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/bank/international-payments/daily-foreign-exchange-rates/) I see today's rate is 1.2816 or 0.78027 which is nothing like the 0.76336 transferwise use in their example.

So, what's going on here ?
- Is this just 'creative' use of the term 'Average' bank rate by transferwise
- Or do BOI just offer unusually good rates on foreign exchange ?

Obviously transferwise is still a better deal, but the savings are nothing like they are claiming, unless I have misunderstood something ?

Thanks,

Usjes
 
Usjes said:
So, what's going on here ?
- Is this just 'creative' use of the term 'Average' bank rate by transferwise
- Or do BOI just offer unusually good rates on foreign exchange ?

Obviously transferwise is still a better deal, but the savings are nothing like they are claiming, unless I have misunderstood something ?
Click to expand...
Ring them up and get the actual rate in real time. Compare with the bank - and possibly other similar services to transferwise.

Come back and let us know which works out the most competitive.
 
It is more than a year ago now (it could be two years!) but I did a straight comparison myself by transferring the same amount via my bank and via transfermate to the same target account. Transfermate was definitely and appreciably cheaper. I don't have my findings to hand unfortunately. I could try digging them out but it has been a while since I did the transfer.
 
serotoninsid said:
Ring them up and get the actual rate in real time. Compare with the bank - and possibly other similar services to transferwise.

Come back and let us know which works out the most competitive.
Click to expand...

You seem to have missed the point of my question entirely, I already know which is better. I know the exact rate transferwise will use, the website updates in real-time, I also know the exact rate BOI will use today as it is on their website. My question is about the claimed savings for transferwise vs. a bank.
Transferwise claims the 'average' bank rate is 0.76336 whereas in fact BOI give a much more favourable rate of 0.78027. So the savings would be far less than claimed, so is this because:
(i) BOI give very good transfer rates (are they known for this ?)
or
(ii) the rate that transferwise claims you will get from the 'average' bank is a work of fiction to make their service seem better.
 
Usjes said:
You seem to have missed the point of my question entirely, I already know which is better. I know the exact rate transferwise will use
Click to expand...
You're quite right, I did - as you hadn't listed a rate for transferwise. What rate did they give you?



Usjes said:
Transferwise claims the 'average' bank rate is 0.76336 whereas in fact BOI give a much more favourable rate of 0.78027. So the savings would be far less than claimed, so is this because:
(i) BOI give very good transfer rates (are they known for this ?)
or
(ii) the rate that transferwise claims you will get from the 'average' bank is a work of fiction to make their service seem better.
Click to expand...
Any marketing blurb is likely to be biased. Did you compare with any of the alternatives such as transfermate, currencyfair, etc?
 
I'm looking to transfer regularly to the US (offspring in uni there).

While this thread is extremely informative, it's a little dated. Does the advice still hold, or have there been developments, anyone?
 
Ideally, you should try to find someone in America who is making regular payments to someone in the Eurozone.

Hard to find, but you would save a huge amount of money if you could.

Brendan
 
Revolut is perfect for this. Send a euro SEPA credit transfer to "offspring's" euro bank account. "Offspring" tops up Revolut card in euros, converts into dollars using the app and at wholesale exchange rates, and can then spend in dollars or withdraw cash at ATMs.
 
Revolut looks brilliant, but since 'offspring' is living in US it looks like it won't work.

She would need to have her +353 mobile operational there... can't download the app to a US phone. Limited to SEPA I suppose?

I looked at CurrencyFair, which seems the next best bet for retail level (non-squillionaire) transactions. All depends on whether the receiving bank will charge the same extortionate per-transaction fee as my lovely little state-owned Irish bank.
 
Just a number of points based on my observations

  1. Could the kid use a vpn on the phone to make it look like it's not in the US so app can be installed
  2. if they have an irish sim its only used for registration / login. If not you can register with your mobile number, all the kid needs is the sms code
S
 
Just moved some money from my Ulster Bank sterling account to my AIB euro account and it was very efficient.
I rang Transfermate and they gave me a price and sent me an email confirmation.
I transferred sterling online to Transfermate.
Within about two hours, the money showed up in my AIB euro account.

I got a rate of 1.1079 which isn't far from the ECB official rate of 1.1103 . And a lot better than the AIB rate of 1.094

I also paid a €10 charge.



Brendan
 
I want to move money from my sterling account into euro.

The Anti Money Laundering guidelines are making it more and more difficult.

Transfermate told me that the Central Bank required them to close my account as it was over 12 months since I used it.

I filled in all the forms and sent them the ID documents. I told them the proceeds were the sale of shares in sterling.

They have now called me back and I need to send them the dealing note from the stockbroker and the Ulster Bank statement showing the money.

It would have been far easier just to transfer the money from Ulster Bank sterling into AIB euro and pay the extra and not be wasting my day complying with these silly regulations.

Brendan
 
I too wanted better rates than the Banks offer on foreign exchange, I found Transfermate only stopped short of a blood test with several additional supporting docs required before they would initiate the transfer.

I then tried CurrencyFair and have found them excellent, they are peer to peer, you do not have to accept the rate offered on their main webpage and can nominate your own rate, when or if it gets there the deal will go through.

On my last exchange I nominated my rate at .0025 better than the instant rate, my deal completed in a few exchanges within the hour.

The customer service is also very good, when I opened the account it took less than an hour, I have no connections with them other than seeking out a better exchange rate.
 
Palerider said:
I found Transfermate only stopped short of a blood test with several additional supporting docs required before they would initiate the transfer.
Click to expand...

Since my first post things have evolved to the blood test stage. I have asked for the name of someone to complain to.

I will look at Currency Fair. Thanks for the suggestion.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Since my first post things have evolved to the blood test stage. I have asked for the name of someone to complain to.

I will look at Currency Fair. Thanks for the suggestion.

Brendan
Click to expand...


Imo if you ever have to complain to a higher authority then what's the point, exchange business should be easier to do and it is, elsewhere but fair play to you, for me I'm with Ronseal all the time, every time, I just want it to do what it says on the tin, if it doesn't or if I'm made run around then I take my business elsewhere, let us know how you get along.
 
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