British Expatriate Network

Hey britnetter’s

I know it’s been yonks since I’ve posted here but I’m dropping in, like the cheeky northern monkey I am, to ask a question.

Hope you’re all doing OK.

I'm out of date on wires now so what're the best fee's around for wiring money to the UK?

Since Bank of America took over from fleet they increased their per wire fee from $15 to $35, they might as well ride a horse and wear a mask.

I could paypal ~£500 for the same fee (~$35) but then any more would make that option a waste of time.

I don't mind paying say $20 per wire but in my opinion $35 is a disgrace for a process that happens electronically.

Any thoughts you might have on this would be well received and thanks in advance to those kind people who might want to help this stingey Mackem out.

Cheers

Richie

I wire money to UK a couple of times a month. I get charged $15.00 by my credit union and then another £8.00 by the receiving bank in the UK.

Apparently, if you keep more than $25,000 in all your credit union accounts,you can do the wiring for free but I try not to use them too much as they have episodes of incompetence.

I can't help with advice in your post but I just wanted to say its been a long while since I last heard the word "yonks". I must use it more often.

8)

Has it -in fact- been yonks? :lol:

Actually yes it has! lol

I am going to drop that word into lots of my conversations now. Any have any more I haven't heard for a while?

I used "balls up" today. wink

Here is some interesting information. ALL banks use one system to transfer funds electronically around the world, from Bank Of America to company abc in Beijing.

The transfer process is called SWIFT, when I was at Bank Of America its happy nickname was Some W**kers Idea of Funds Transfer

SWIFT is an seperate organisation that is paid by banks to care of all the electronic transfers around the world. They are very rich !! They may have increased their fees for small transfer amounts and Bank Of America maybe passing on those fees. On the other hand Bank Of America maybe just fleecing you for every penny they can (which is more likely).

By the way, I have no idea on how to answer your question. :grin:

Here is some interesting information. ALL banks use one system to transfer funds electronically around the world, from Bank Of America to company abc in Beijing.

The transfer process is called SWIFT, when I was at Bank Of America its happy nickname was Some W**kers Idea of Funds Transfer

SWIFT is an seperate organisation that is paid by banks to care of all the electronic transfers around the world. They are very rich !! They may have increased their fees for small transfer amounts and Bank Of America maybe passing on those fees. On the other hand Bank Of America maybe just fleecing you for every penny they can (which is more likely).

By the way, I have no idea on how to answer your question. :grin:

Check with your local Arab on how much it would cost sent by the 'Hawala' system to West Hartlepool roll

tough crowd

If you want to send a large amount of money to someone else's bank, or to an organization, then you're obviously looking for a bank or some other similar organization, but if you want to send smaller amounts to a person I find Moneygram better than anything else. It's cheaper and quicker than Wells Fargo, Western Union and the banks, and the money is available at the other end within minutes.

Go with the agent rather than the internet option. Many branches of places like Albertsons and Walmart have a "Moneygram phone" where you call the company and give them the details of your transfer. They give you a few details back, reference number, fee, etc, and then you take it to the Customer Service desk and pay up. The money is available for pick- up (in the UK anyway) immediately. You only need to give the recipient the reference number, and they can go into their local main branch Post Office to pick up their cash. it's been a few months since I needed to do this, so sadly I don't remember the fees, but it's worth a look.

Moneygram aren't bad. Their fees are a lot cheaper than Western Union and the recipient gets cash within ten minutes. I've used it quite a few times.

I once went to pick up a Moneygram that I needed to pay the mortgage and the terminal was down at the local Albertson's.

No problem, I thought, and jumped back in the car to go to another one that was about 8 miles away.

When I got there, the cheerful customer services person told me that I couldn't pick up my money as someone else had picked it up already!

Anyway, I did get my money a few days later but I had to fax a copy of my drivers' license to wherever Moneygram's head office is and the sender got a refund on their fees.

I think this was an isolated case and would possibly still use this service if I had to in the future.

Hey all,

Just joined so it might be a tad too late for some of you but if it helps. I used a website called http://www.currencyfinder.co.uk to help me with my money transfer. It compares loads of different companies to find the best rate and overall deal- leaving us with a little more time to do nothing!!

Saved me a bob or two so i'm not going to complain!

Mik