Bank Charges

[retired_member32]

I have never thought of this before ,why do banks charge so much to transfer money to foreign climbs....

I had to initiate a wire transfer to the US and was shocked after reading the small print and also collating this against my bank statement...

Firstly i was charged £10 for an intermiadary bank ? secondly i was shafted on the currency rate ,instead of the current currency rate they set there own currency rate (out of pocket cost £40) ,then i couldnt initiate the wire-transfer online so had to que at my local branch of Lloyds TSB (40 mins) and a charge of £28 for the privelage....

Is this normal ? it takes the shine off the purchase

 

[Pred]

the disparity in currency conversions by uk banks is truly criminal

say you get paid $10,000
and let's say online currency converters say this is approx £7,500 for arguments sake

when transferred across people like barclays will give you something shocking like £6,100

they have their own rate. they give waffle like tourist rate different from bankrate etc but the banks financially rape people every second of every day

 

[mally]

Sometime confirms to me the reason I use paypal to save the hassle, I don't love paypal or their charges bit it's so simple to use

 

[retired_member32]

i paid via wire-transfer because on escrow's site it states they recieve the money within 1 day ,according to my escrow support ticket it takes 3-4 days for the transfer ,i cant stand the process of photocopying my creditcard to a piece of paper (twice) and blocking out the security code on the reverse of the card...its too much hassle.

Coming back to the currency conversion rate ,the cashier made a point that made me question it...she said "are you happy with the currency rate" i don't carry a phone so didn't have a clue ??

 

[jwm]

I used to live in Oz a few years back and sent money back to the UK every so often, used http://www.oanda.com/ - there are a bunch of similar companies which all pretty much give you spot rate or very close and fees are v small compared to banks

They are a good option for anyone who needs to send or receive money in other currencies

 

[BREWSTERS]

Always ask for an ex rate quote from the bank if its anything over £1k otherwise they'll just default to the tourist rate which is always crap.

 

[retired_member32]

i am moving my business account from them...anyone happy with there bank ? (is there such thing)

 

[BREWSTERS]

i am moving my business account from them...anyone happy with there bank ? (is there such thing)

rofl!

 

[Pred]

If Carlsberg issued Press Releases............ :mrgreen:

 

[retired_member32]

i might get one of them fake tax haven addresses that are very popluar amongst the domaining industry and pay nominet via the bank of woompa kajalumpa