By Charles Purdy, Smart Currency Exchange
Many British ex-pats overseas send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, losses can be up to tens of thousands! This is part 4 of a special 4-part series that has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where expats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses. At the end of the article, there are details on how you can download the full series.
In the previous three parts, I explained that expats can save money by using an international payment provider rather than using a high street bank. Compared with the mark-up supplied by the banks on a £100,000 transfer clients can save up to £4,000 by using a currency specialist. And on a regular payment of £1,000 a month, a saving of up to £40 per month can be made (that’s £480 a year). The other way to save is by enlisting the help of a specialist to reduce and/or eliminate fees. When using a specialist, it’s possible to save up to £50 (by avoiding fees) for every transfer!
I also explained that rather than being forced to take the exchange rate on the day that the money needs to be transferred, there is the option to buy a ‘Forward Contract.’ This allows people to reserve an exchange rate over a period of say, 1 year, fixed. So – if you have regular pension payments and you are happy with the exchange rate, you can fix it so that the value of your pension doesn’t decrease over the course of the year.
Something I haven’t covered is repatriation. Occasionally, people decide to move back to the UK from abroad. It doesn’t happen often; however, due to illness or family reasons, people sometimes do have to move back home.
Usually, a move back is not wanted and can be an uncomfortable process. During the move, things are done quickly and often in haste. One of the largest mistakes people make, however, is to simply send money back to the UK through a bank rather than using an international payment specialist. When doing this, it’s possible to lose a substantial amount of money in the transfer process.
For example, Donna and Nick had three properties overseas. Two were for investment and one was their main residence. Due to Nick’s mothers failing health, it became unmanageable to keep flying between these and the UK.
After many discussions, the couple decided to sell their main residence as it wouldn’t rent very well due to its remote location. By selling they could afford better health care for Nick’s mum and rent in the UK for a while. If they decided to stay in the UK, they would also have the flexibility to buy a property if they wanted to. Regardless as to how long their stay in the UK would be, they both knew that they’d return to live abroad either in one of their investment homes or to buy another property. For the time being, they had to move over €437,000 to the UK.
After hearing about International Payment Specialists, Nick contacted us because his friend had used us in the past. He explained his situation to us and said that he’d like to move the €437,000 soon, but it wasn’t necessary to do it immediately. We explained that, ‘no one can predict where the exchange rates are going, however market analysts think that the euro to sterling rates may improve over the next few weeks.’ The trader explained the concept of an ‘Order to Buy’ – this allows clients to outline a rate that they’d like to achieve and if the exchange rate hits that designated rate, the specialist buys the currency on behalf of the client.
Nick wanted to achieve a rate of €1.10/£1.00 however it was currently at €1.143/£1.00. After speaking with us, he realised that if the rate fell to the amount he wanted, he’d get an extra £14,900, so not being in a rush, Nick put in an ‘Order to Buy.’ Fortunately, the rate increased and we purchased the currency. Nick was very pleased that he had not just gone ahead as planned and bought his funds on the day he called.
There are considerable savings to be made, whatever your circumstances. I hope you found this article useful – please call me if you need any further information.
For more information on Smart Currency Exchange, please call our freephone: 0808 163 0102 (+44 (0)207 898 0541 from outside the UK) or visit our website at: SmartCurrencyExchange.com
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Stop Banks from Cashing in on Your Overseas Transfers - Part Three
By Charles Purdy, Smart Currency Exchange
Many British ex-pats overseas send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, losses can be up to tens of thousands! This is part 3 of a special 4-part series that has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where expats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses. At the end of the article, there are details on how you can download the full series.
In the previous two parts, I explained that expats can save money by using an international payment provider rather than using a high street bank. Savings can be made by buying currency at rates that are better than offered by the bank. Compared with the mark-up supplied by the banks, there’s a possibility to receive up to a 4% saving. On a £100,000 transfer that’s a reduction of £4,000 by using a currency specialist rather than a bank. And on a regular payment of £1,000 a month, that’s a saving of £40 per month or £480 a year. The other way to save is by enlisting the help of a specialist to reduce and/or eliminate fees. When doing this, it’s possible to save up to £50 (by avoiding fees) for every transfer!
Aside from saving money on better exchange rates and reduced or eliminated fees, expats have a wide range of options when it comes to working with an International Payment Specialist. Rather than being forced to take the exchange rate on the day that the money needs to be transferred, there are alternatives.
The most common option that assists expats greatly is to buy a Forward Contract. A ‘Forward’ allows you to reserve a currency exchange rate today, yet not have to pay for it in full or send the bulk of the money until an agreed date in the future.
Take John and Jane Wilson as an example. They moved overseas during the middle of 2009. The couple were worried that sterling may again lose value against the euro and so they contacted us and explained that their joint pensions came to £2,120. They wanted to know how they could make sure that the amount they receive each month didn’t decrease due to changing exchange rates.
After talking with us, the Wilson’s decided to buy a ‘Forward Contract,’ for a full year. This means that they fixed a set exchange rate for the course of the year. They set up an automated standing order system that allowed their pension to be sent to our bank in the UK on a monthly basis. Once the money arrived at our bank, it would be exchanged from sterling to euros at a rate of 1.162 every month for the full year. In August, they received € 2,463.44 in their overseas bank account and continued to receive the same amount every month for twelve months. To set up this facility, the Wilson’s simply had to open an account with us and pay a small administration fee for the regular payment system.
If the Wilson’s decided against fixing a currency exchange rate, their monthly amount would have decreased along with the weakening sterling rate, and by October 2009 they would have received monthly payments at an amount 11% lower - from €2,463.44 down to €2,185.10!
Banks often fail to offer, or even mention the alternative of fixing a currency exchange rate for use in the future, yet it’s such a valuable tool. The option of buying a ‘Forward Contract’ gives you peace of mind that your pension payments won’t decrease in value.
In Part 4 of this 4-part series, I will explain the procedure for moving large amounts of funds from overseas back to the UK.
For more information on Smart Currency Exchange, please call our freephone: 0808 163 0102 (+44 (0)207 898 0541 from outside the UK) or visit our website at: SmartCurrencyExchange.com
Many British ex-pats overseas send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, losses can be up to tens of thousands! This is part 3 of a special 4-part series that has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where expats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses. At the end of the article, there are details on how you can download the full series.
In the previous two parts, I explained that expats can save money by using an international payment provider rather than using a high street bank. Savings can be made by buying currency at rates that are better than offered by the bank. Compared with the mark-up supplied by the banks, there’s a possibility to receive up to a 4% saving. On a £100,000 transfer that’s a reduction of £4,000 by using a currency specialist rather than a bank. And on a regular payment of £1,000 a month, that’s a saving of £40 per month or £480 a year. The other way to save is by enlisting the help of a specialist to reduce and/or eliminate fees. When doing this, it’s possible to save up to £50 (by avoiding fees) for every transfer!
Aside from saving money on better exchange rates and reduced or eliminated fees, expats have a wide range of options when it comes to working with an International Payment Specialist. Rather than being forced to take the exchange rate on the day that the money needs to be transferred, there are alternatives.
The most common option that assists expats greatly is to buy a Forward Contract. A ‘Forward’ allows you to reserve a currency exchange rate today, yet not have to pay for it in full or send the bulk of the money until an agreed date in the future.
Take John and Jane Wilson as an example. They moved overseas during the middle of 2009. The couple were worried that sterling may again lose value against the euro and so they contacted us and explained that their joint pensions came to £2,120. They wanted to know how they could make sure that the amount they receive each month didn’t decrease due to changing exchange rates.
After talking with us, the Wilson’s decided to buy a ‘Forward Contract,’ for a full year. This means that they fixed a set exchange rate for the course of the year. They set up an automated standing order system that allowed their pension to be sent to our bank in the UK on a monthly basis. Once the money arrived at our bank, it would be exchanged from sterling to euros at a rate of 1.162 every month for the full year. In August, they received € 2,463.44 in their overseas bank account and continued to receive the same amount every month for twelve months. To set up this facility, the Wilson’s simply had to open an account with us and pay a small administration fee for the regular payment system.
If the Wilson’s decided against fixing a currency exchange rate, their monthly amount would have decreased along with the weakening sterling rate, and by October 2009 they would have received monthly payments at an amount 11% lower - from €2,463.44 down to €2,185.10!
Banks often fail to offer, or even mention the alternative of fixing a currency exchange rate for use in the future, yet it’s such a valuable tool. The option of buying a ‘Forward Contract’ gives you peace of mind that your pension payments won’t decrease in value.
In Part 4 of this 4-part series, I will explain the procedure for moving large amounts of funds from overseas back to the UK.
For more information on Smart Currency Exchange, please call our freephone: 0808 163 0102 (+44 (0)207 898 0541 from outside the UK) or visit our website at: SmartCurrencyExchange.com
Wednesday 14 April 2010
Stop Banks from Cashing in on Your Overseas Transfers
Stop Banks from Cashing in on Your Overseas Transfers – Part Two
By Charles Purdy, Smart Currency Exchange
Many British ex-pats overseas send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, losses can be up to tens of thousands! This is part 2 of a special 4-part series that has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where expats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses. At the end of the article, there are details on how you can download the full series.
In part 1 of this series, I explained that ex-pats overseas send and receive money to and from the UK in large lump sums (for example, property staged payments) and regular payments (for example, pensions, mortgages and salaries). My main premise of part 1 is that the actual process of moving money isn’t rocket science, however the commission, currency exchange rate and fee structure imposed on clients by the banks can be extremely confusing.
Rather than using a bank, there are specialist international payment organisations that assist their clients to save substantial amounts of money throughout the process. One of the manners in which they do this is to offer better-than-bank exchange rates. For every £1,000 exchanged the savings on better rates could be up to £40 – extend that over a series of payments, or on one large payment and the savings add up!
Another way that banks profit from their clients is through various charges throughout the money transfer service. The charges imposed often include a fee to purchase foreign currency, another fee to send the funds and a charge from the overseas bank for receiving the funds. Before you know it, you can easily lose around £50 (unnecessarily) in fees for every transfer.
When working with an organisation that specialises in currency exchange and international transfers, you’ll discover various methods of reducing and often eliminating fees. For example, when transferring funds from the UK to Cyprus through a bank, you’ll often be charged £20 to £30 for the privilege. However, if you transfer funds from your bank using the Internet or Fast Payment system to a currency specialist, you’ll completely avoid the charge.
As for charges concerning the movement of funds, most currency payment specialists charge a nominal value if the transfer is under £3,000 however, getting better-than-bank exchange rates more than compensates for the small administrative fee. And, all transfers over a particular amount, say £3,000, are sent free of charge. It’s important to note, however, that not all currency specialists will help their clients with low regular payments (for example, under £500).
The bank receiving fee is the worst fee of all, as most people don’t know that it exists until they find less money in their account than they sent! European Law dictates that on amounts under 50,000 euros, receiving banks are allowed to charge a ‘nominal fee’. Nominal can be interpreted to be 2 euros or 10 euros. If you are going to send regular payments, it’s often a good idea to ask every bank what their receiving charges are and go with the lowest. In Spain for instance, it’s not uncommon for banks to charge 1% of the value of money coming in or going out, so in comparison, the small charges that some banks make aren’t that offensive.
With regard to receiving bank charges, some currency exchange and transfer specialists agree to absorb this fee – it’s best to check with them when booking your transfer. Whether you need to make a series of large payments or several transfers throughout the year, avoiding or reducing the various charges that the banks impose can save thousands. By researching the bank that will be receiving funds along with working with your transfer specialist, you could save enough money to cover several flights to and from the UK!
In Part 3 of this 4-part series, I will explain an option that expats find extremely valuable when buying and transferring payments between a foreign country and the UK.
Charles Purdy is a Director at Smart Currency Exchange Limited – the International Payment Specialists. To move money go to http:www.smartcurrencyexchange.com for more information – or if you prefer to speak to us in person, just telephone +44 207 898 0541.
By Charles Purdy, Smart Currency Exchange
Many British ex-pats overseas send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, losses can be up to tens of thousands! This is part 2 of a special 4-part series that has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where expats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses. At the end of the article, there are details on how you can download the full series.
In part 1 of this series, I explained that ex-pats overseas send and receive money to and from the UK in large lump sums (for example, property staged payments) and regular payments (for example, pensions, mortgages and salaries). My main premise of part 1 is that the actual process of moving money isn’t rocket science, however the commission, currency exchange rate and fee structure imposed on clients by the banks can be extremely confusing.
Rather than using a bank, there are specialist international payment organisations that assist their clients to save substantial amounts of money throughout the process. One of the manners in which they do this is to offer better-than-bank exchange rates. For every £1,000 exchanged the savings on better rates could be up to £40 – extend that over a series of payments, or on one large payment and the savings add up!
Another way that banks profit from their clients is through various charges throughout the money transfer service. The charges imposed often include a fee to purchase foreign currency, another fee to send the funds and a charge from the overseas bank for receiving the funds. Before you know it, you can easily lose around £50 (unnecessarily) in fees for every transfer.
When working with an organisation that specialises in currency exchange and international transfers, you’ll discover various methods of reducing and often eliminating fees. For example, when transferring funds from the UK to Cyprus through a bank, you’ll often be charged £20 to £30 for the privilege. However, if you transfer funds from your bank using the Internet or Fast Payment system to a currency specialist, you’ll completely avoid the charge.
As for charges concerning the movement of funds, most currency payment specialists charge a nominal value if the transfer is under £3,000 however, getting better-than-bank exchange rates more than compensates for the small administrative fee. And, all transfers over a particular amount, say £3,000, are sent free of charge. It’s important to note, however, that not all currency specialists will help their clients with low regular payments (for example, under £500).
The bank receiving fee is the worst fee of all, as most people don’t know that it exists until they find less money in their account than they sent! European Law dictates that on amounts under 50,000 euros, receiving banks are allowed to charge a ‘nominal fee’. Nominal can be interpreted to be 2 euros or 10 euros. If you are going to send regular payments, it’s often a good idea to ask every bank what their receiving charges are and go with the lowest. In Spain for instance, it’s not uncommon for banks to charge 1% of the value of money coming in or going out, so in comparison, the small charges that some banks make aren’t that offensive.
With regard to receiving bank charges, some currency exchange and transfer specialists agree to absorb this fee – it’s best to check with them when booking your transfer. Whether you need to make a series of large payments or several transfers throughout the year, avoiding or reducing the various charges that the banks impose can save thousands. By researching the bank that will be receiving funds along with working with your transfer specialist, you could save enough money to cover several flights to and from the UK!
In Part 3 of this 4-part series, I will explain an option that expats find extremely valuable when buying and transferring payments between a foreign country and the UK.
Charles Purdy is a Director at Smart Currency Exchange Limited – the International Payment Specialists. To move money go to http:www.smartcurrencyexchange.com for more information – or if you prefer to speak to us in person, just telephone +44 207 898 0541.
Thursday 8 April 2010
Stop Banks From Cashing In On Your Overseas Transfers
Stop Banks from Cashing in on Your Overseas Transfers – Part 1
Many British ex-pats send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, loses can be up to tens of thousands! This special 4-part series has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where ex-pats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses.
Initially, most ex-pats are introduced to the international payment process when they make a payment or payments from the UK Overseas for a property purchase. The general series of events consists of the property buyer putting down a deposit and then sending one lump sum or a series of staged payments from their UK bank to a solicitor’s account Overseas.
Once a buyer becomes a fortunate Overseas homeowner, their international payments tend to become smaller and sent on a regular basis. Many Brits receive their UK pensions, investment payouts or funds from savings through UK bank to Overseas bank transfers. And in some cases, many Brits send funds to the UK for mortgage payments or to top up their UK funds for visits. It’s also quite common for the British Forces to send their salaries home to the UK to support their families or cover expenses.
Whether transferring large or small funds, either internationally or on a regular basis, it’s the same procedure. The person making the transfer instructs their bank to send the amount due to the beneficiary’s bank overseas. When calculating the amount due in the overseas local currency, the bank will instruct the buyer of the cost and they will be debited accordingly. Within 5 days of instructing the bank, the funds in the designated currency will arrive and clear at the overseas destination.
The actual process of moving money isn’t rocket science – however, the commission, currency exchange rate and fee structure imposed on clients by the banks can be extremely confusing.
And through this confusion, the banks are able to relieve clients of substantial sums of money without them even realising it. The Sunday Times (5 Feb 2007) reported that: “Britons buying property abroad could have lost out on up to £1.8 billion because of high-street banks offering such a poor deal on foreign exchange, according to new research.”
Before I explain how the banks make their billions on international currency transfers, let me explain what the ‘interbank’ rate is. The interbank rate is the price banks trade between each other when they’re moving millions. When rates are announced on the News, on Internet ticker tapes or in the newspapers, they are not the rates that you or I can actually buy at, but they are the rates the banks use between themselves.
Even though you can never buy currency at the rate quoted on the news, the interbank rate gives you an indication of where the rate is and what direction it’s moving in. It also gives you a rough idea as to how much currency will cost you.
When you do decide to buy currency or make an international payment the institution that you do it through will put a ‘mark-up’ over and above the interbank rate. So – if the interbank rate for a pound is equal to €1.15, you should expect to buy Euros at a discounted price of €1.12, the difference representing the mark-up.
Below is the amount added on top of the interbank rate when purchasing from the following institutions:
- Banks – they’ll charge you up to 5% more for popular currencies such as the Euro and US$, and up to 9% for less common currencies
- Credit Cards – up to 7% more
- Airport Currency Shops – could be as much as 10% - 15% more
The one institution that I didn’t mention above is that of an International Payment or Currency Exchange Specialist. For bank to bank transfers (which means electronic transfer of funds and not physical cash), they add a mark-up of 1% (on average) over and above the interbank exchange rate. Compared with the mark-up supplied by the banks, that’s an instant 4% saving. On a £100,000 transfer that’s a reduction of £4,000 by using a currency specialist rather than a bank! And on a regular payment of £1,000 a month that’s a saving of £40 a month or £480 a year!
Poor exchange rates are only one of the ways that the banks make extreme profits from their clients. In the next instalment I’ll explain how they also charge their clients for the privilege!
Charles Purdy is a Director at Smart Currency Exchange Limited – the International Payment Specialists. To move money between the UK and Overseas, go to http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com for more information - or if you prefer to speak to us in person call 0808 163 0102 or +44 (0) 207 898 0541 from outside the UK
Many British ex-pats send or receive money to or from the UK and in the process they unintentionally lose money. In some cases, loses can be up to tens of thousands! This special 4-part series has been written to outline how the bank-to-bank international payment process works, the specific areas where ex-pats are losing money and definite actions that can be taken to mitigate losses.
Initially, most ex-pats are introduced to the international payment process when they make a payment or payments from the UK Overseas for a property purchase. The general series of events consists of the property buyer putting down a deposit and then sending one lump sum or a series of staged payments from their UK bank to a solicitor’s account Overseas.
Once a buyer becomes a fortunate Overseas homeowner, their international payments tend to become smaller and sent on a regular basis. Many Brits receive their UK pensions, investment payouts or funds from savings through UK bank to Overseas bank transfers. And in some cases, many Brits send funds to the UK for mortgage payments or to top up their UK funds for visits. It’s also quite common for the British Forces to send their salaries home to the UK to support their families or cover expenses.
Whether transferring large or small funds, either internationally or on a regular basis, it’s the same procedure. The person making the transfer instructs their bank to send the amount due to the beneficiary’s bank overseas. When calculating the amount due in the overseas local currency, the bank will instruct the buyer of the cost and they will be debited accordingly. Within 5 days of instructing the bank, the funds in the designated currency will arrive and clear at the overseas destination.
The actual process of moving money isn’t rocket science – however, the commission, currency exchange rate and fee structure imposed on clients by the banks can be extremely confusing.
And through this confusion, the banks are able to relieve clients of substantial sums of money without them even realising it. The Sunday Times (5 Feb 2007) reported that: “Britons buying property abroad could have lost out on up to £1.8 billion because of high-street banks offering such a poor deal on foreign exchange, according to new research.”
Before I explain how the banks make their billions on international currency transfers, let me explain what the ‘interbank’ rate is. The interbank rate is the price banks trade between each other when they’re moving millions. When rates are announced on the News, on Internet ticker tapes or in the newspapers, they are not the rates that you or I can actually buy at, but they are the rates the banks use between themselves.
Even though you can never buy currency at the rate quoted on the news, the interbank rate gives you an indication of where the rate is and what direction it’s moving in. It also gives you a rough idea as to how much currency will cost you.
When you do decide to buy currency or make an international payment the institution that you do it through will put a ‘mark-up’ over and above the interbank rate. So – if the interbank rate for a pound is equal to €1.15, you should expect to buy Euros at a discounted price of €1.12, the difference representing the mark-up.
Below is the amount added on top of the interbank rate when purchasing from the following institutions:
- Banks – they’ll charge you up to 5% more for popular currencies such as the Euro and US$, and up to 9% for less common currencies
- Credit Cards – up to 7% more
- Airport Currency Shops – could be as much as 10% - 15% more
The one institution that I didn’t mention above is that of an International Payment or Currency Exchange Specialist. For bank to bank transfers (which means electronic transfer of funds and not physical cash), they add a mark-up of 1% (on average) over and above the interbank exchange rate. Compared with the mark-up supplied by the banks, that’s an instant 4% saving. On a £100,000 transfer that’s a reduction of £4,000 by using a currency specialist rather than a bank! And on a regular payment of £1,000 a month that’s a saving of £40 a month or £480 a year!
Poor exchange rates are only one of the ways that the banks make extreme profits from their clients. In the next instalment I’ll explain how they also charge their clients for the privilege!
Charles Purdy is a Director at Smart Currency Exchange Limited – the International Payment Specialists. To move money between the UK and Overseas, go to http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com for more information - or if you prefer to speak to us in person call 0808 163 0102 or +44 (0) 207 898 0541 from outside the UK
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