Transferring Money to the UK?

[Scotty Tav]

Hi everyone,

If I was to sell my property in Sydney and relocate to the UK, what is the best way to transfer the equity? I will be looking at tranferring $200,000+ so I don't want to make a mistake with fees and exchange rates etc.

The ANZ tried to charge me $28 just for paying out my bike loan with my own money! A EFT for $28? Ouch! I would hate to hear what $200,000 would cost.

What do I need to look out for? Any tips?

Cheers.

 

[jezza]

Scotty

The best bank for this is HSBC and they will do all the leg work for you.

Jezza

 

[mrsdawnrazor]

Use a specialist broker like HiFX. You can lock in a currency rate or get them to buy when it hits a certain amount. We used them the other way - UK to AUS and they were brilliant.

 

[clockwork]

I concur with mrsdawnrazor. Definitely use a broker. We also came the otherway and for us the difference between a broker and the banks was in the thousands...

We used Stirling Exchange. However they dont have an AUD account in australia. So arent ideal if going from australia to the uk. Though you can transfer to an AUD account in the UK (though your local bank will probably charge you $25 dollars to transfer the money abroad).

The brokers generally make their money in the difference between the spot rate and the rate they give you. However their difference is ussually much less than the banks.

Probably worth ringing your bank and asking them what rate they would give you then trying a broker. To see the current spot rate, the easiest way is to type 'aud in gbp' into google.

Just now it returns:
1 Australian dollar = 0.575680934 British pounds

For the sum of money you are sending you should be able to negotiate 0.5656 I would have thought. Obviously the value will have changed by the time you read this

Cheers
Claudio

 

[Jonathon]

I've used OzForex a couple of times and found them to be very good. For amoutns in the region of $100k you typically save about $100-$300 compared to the big banks - far better in your pocket than theirs!

 

[K_Raheja]

I had used MoneyCorp when migrating from US to Aus. If I remember they charged me flat fee under USD 50 for total tranfer equivalent of 100K AUD..
Check the Exchange rate, and then you can lock the exchange rate too..

Did not think of HSBC then, or other option for you is to open up a Citibank a/c and do a free xfer..not sure about xchange rate though....good luck K

 

[Ladyhawk]

i'd go into hsbc as they are here and uk...you should be able to open an account and use it once in the uk...

 

[neil100]

I've used OzForex a couple of times and found them to be very good. For amoutns in the region of $100k you typically save about $100-$300 compared to the big banks - far better in your pocket than theirs!

I can second OzForex !

 

[Jonathon]

i'd go into hsbc as they are here and uk...you should be able to open an account and use it once in the uk...

I had a frustrating experience with HSBC a couple of years ago. I had a pound account here in Melbourne, and I wanted to transfer funds from it in to my A$ account.

I walked in on a Tuesday morning, to the Collins St branch, and they told me that they couldn't exchange any currency as it was a holiday in the US and therefore their internal currency pricing desk was closed.

I thought this was appalling customer service, and when I asked why they could normally exchange money on a Monday, whei it's Sunday in the US, but they couldn't on a Tuesday, because it was a public holiday Monday in the US, they couldn't answer.

So I promptly opened an account with OzForex and have used them since and have been very happy.