There is an article on this in yesterday's Money Guardian discussing the huge variation in charges. I am assuming it works both ways (euro to sterling and sterling to euro). If you use a high street bank it can cost as much as £40 to transfer £10,000 to a bank account in France, or in some cases both receiving and sending banks hit the customer with a charge.
new entrants into the market now undercut the banks. They don't apply 'transfer' charges and offer better exchange rates. 'The cheapest alternative currently undercuts the most expensive bank by more than £250 on a £10,000 transfer. Someone swapping £100,000 to buy a house abroad should save at least £3,000 by switching the transfer away from the high street'.
They tested all the banks and financial providers on the cost of transfer of £10,000 from the UK into a Euro bank account.
Most of the big banks and building societies offer a range of ways to transfer. These include an International Cheque (cost £10 to £15) which you just send to the foreign bank. There is also the electronic transfer and they researched the cost of these.
HSBC offered the worst rate (Euro 1.40. Travelex was the overall best value. Of the big banks First Direct (ironically, owned by HSBC)offered the highest number of Euros. Lloyds TSB had the highest charge at £30. Halifax was lowest at £17. HSBC also charged £10 to transfer within their own banking group.
Some banks in Europe charge to RECEIVE electronic transfers, usually Euro 10 - 15.
The piece of research found most people would be better off using one of the 'alternative' companies to move money abroad. Travelex came out top with the best deal. to use them, the customer must set up an account and bring proof of identity (by post or e-mail) and once set up transfer can be done on the phone.
To move money, ring their call centre and agree the 'deal' rate. Once it has your money (cheque, electronic transfer or faster payment) it moves the money directly into the foreign account which you nominate at the outset.
Travelex says there are no charges payable from th receiving bank. It also provides for those sending large sums (e.g. to buy a house) to pre-buy their currency for sending (and paying for) at a later date.
Caxton FX undercuts high-street rates but only exchanges sums greater than value £6,000. It offers =very competitive exchange rates and no fees. During the Guardian test it offered a Euro rate of 1.452 and promised a better rate on transfers of more than £20,000.
For speed, Worldwide Currencies could transmit the money to a French bank account the following afternoon in 99% of cases.
The article points out that people are sometimes worried to hand over money to little-known firms. Caxton said all money is 'kept in client accounts until the moment of transfer' and they offer potential clients contact details for the company's bankers to assure themselves of Caxton's financial stability.
The article concludes with a reference to Moneybookers for transfer within the Eurozone and from sterling to Euro. This works in the same way as Paypal but is very cost-effective for transfer of smaller sums with no charges applied by the receiving bank.