Got a buyer but what to do with the cash?

I have just discovered the rip-off rate to return money to the UK. My bank quotes an exchange rate of 0.842 being a massive 16% reduction. No wonder these bankers are swimming in it (guess whose paying?)!.

We are thinking of keeping it there and waiting for a better rate, or maybe bring it back in manageable chunks as cash.

Does anyone know of cheaper/more favourable options?

Thanks Joan, yes the best rate seems to be 0.881 with these internet exchange deals. Leaving it behind and carrying some cash back seems to be worth considering.

Still a massive loss though. Still looking for ideas.

Hi,

There are people on here who are much better informed on transferring between Spain and the UK but in the meantime until one of them comes along I'll just relate my experience of May 2008 when I repatriated some funds.

After settling on a favourable exchange rate with Currencies Direct who also quoted a 'no fees' transaction I contacted my bank 'Cajasur' to arrange the transfer. A sum of Euros 165K. 

 I  initially telephoned my contact at  Cajasur with my instructions and he told me that in addition to an email he would require my signed, written instructions for a transfer of this size.

I did not ask Cajasur about a possible charge because ,silly me, I did not expect one.  Currencies Direct   told me the transaction was a 'no fee' one, and   explained  in some detail the procedure, not once did they mention Cajasur would apply charges.  

I contacted UPS to collect my instruction and was assured there would be a next day delivery of the letter at my Cajasur branch in Fuengirola.

I then emailed Currencies Direct with my signed contract .This was on the Tuesday morning and the deal was to go through on the Friday.

I tracked my letter with UPS and it arrived at ten minutes to two the next day,Wednesday. Cajasur refused to take delivery because they said it was too late and there was no-one to sign for it. They were told to come back the following day.

It was delivered Thursday.

On Friday I tracked my transaction on Currencies Direct. Nothing happened. It was a week later after many stressful calls to Cajasur during which they professed to :-

1. Not understand  and put down the phone.

2. Not understand the request :- 'Snr Angel XXXXXXXX por favor' and put down the phone.

3.  Not speak English and put down the phone.

4. Ask me to wait with 'una minuta' and after twenty minutes of waiting the phone went dead.

5. Help by put tingan English speaking colleague on the phone. He tells me my contact no longer works there and after what seems like an age says   he can find no trace of my transaction either, but that he would try and sort it out.

Twelve working days late my funds arrived in England and I had been charged Euros 800 plus by Cajasur.

 I was shocked and immediately went to Cajasurs' website to find out how the charge had been calculated. Imagine my dismay when I realised that had I transferred the money in batches of Euros 50K I would not have been charged one cent by the bank!

I wrote and complained but to no avail they simply did not see it any of their concern that I had not been told of any charges or  alternative (cheaper) methods of transferring the money. Obviously I initially thought that I had been taken for a ride due to my lack of Spanish, but I think the real problem is the staffs lack of training, low wages and overall lack of interest or pride in doing a decent job.

Sorry if this turned into a rant but if it helps you maybe I'm forgiven.

Try www.xe.com an online service backed by a big bank that I use all the time, normally a transfer at least every 2 months,  and although they make a small charge for the drafy I get rate very cloise to the spot rate and they are updated in real time

Unlike a number of transfer orgabisation there is no lower limit to the trnasfers so I have even using used them to pay bills of a few hundred euros and never had a problem

You do have to register for an account and fax proof of ID so it takesa few days to open an account
 

We bought money back last year  and used HIFX.

We wrote a spanish cheque to HIFX.com and got a really good rate compared to the bank quote. Funds were in the bank cleared in less than a week

Ring them 1st and see what rate they'll give you

I see XE quote 0.8922 which is the best I've seen. Is it possible to do this remote say by transfer from my Spain bank or is it always a cheque?

It works out cheaper if you use a cheque. If you   search 'cheque' on  here   you will find it has been discussed before and explains the benefits of using a personal cheque.

I am not sure I unbderstand. Does one get a paper cheque from the branch and then post it to HiFX then or is it a bank transfer?

 Rodger, I don't think I would wait to transfer the money back into Sterling. All the forecasts seem to predict Sterling will improve against the Euro. I think you need to shop around and get quotes from different places and move the money. The quote others mention on here for XE seem good. I don't understand your comment about a 16% reduction.

All of the transfers via XE are remote and once you have an account you can transfer from any currency to any currency and I have used it for dollars and sterling

All you need is an account to transfer the money from and one to transfer to and it is all delivered electronically via the internet as drafts and transfers wuth good tracking information online

You cabn also get a money draft, or cheque made payabe to you and mailed to your address if tht´s what you want

The draft will cots you about €8 and that´s it

The other thing is that you can continually refresh the rate in real time and but forward

Hi everyone l can not see these losses or 16%  down  what are you basing these losses on? As l see it you are gaining at the moment by changing euros to sterling. !8 monhhs ago or there abouts you only got 73-75 pence for your euro ( 1.50 euros to the £ ) roughly  now you get 87 - 89 pence for your euro (1.12 euros to the £ )  so you are getting about 14 pence more for your euro now than then, so if you change 100,000 euros back to sterling you will get  £14,000 (pounds) more back than it cost you in the first place, is that not again. Pat. 

Rodger,

I've sent you a PM.

We were advised that the cheapest option was a spanish cheque ( from our bank in spain) - in euros - to HIFX in the UK.

Money in bank in a week.

We were advised that the cheapest option was a spanish cheque ( from our bank in spain) - in euros - to HIFX in the UK.

Money in bank in a week.

I rang HiFX and they said that when you open an account and then request a transfer of so much they BUY that amount on the market and then you owe it to them. They keep that quote for about 5 days (the time needed to get the money to them. If he money fails to arrive in that time they sell the amount back to the market and if the rate is against you you owe them money. This is then gambling on the rate movement. A bit of a risk (albeit samll) for just the single transfer to get the sale proceeds back to the UK?

I also notice the rate has been going down in the last 10 days or so making it worth sending it back ( my bank quote changed from 0.84 to 0.867 in that time. I am considering sending part of it back and then getting a deposit account paying enough interest to cover my bank charges (7 euros/month) and the hoping the euro is even better next march (or even UK moving towards using the euro).

Is there another way of getting money to the UK without using the trading option or using ones bank (rates)? I have thought of just bringing euro cash back and using it for holidays.

Comment appreciated.

Rodger,

Did you ever read the PM that I sent you?

Not sure I received it!

Hi Roger ,

Give  John Redford a ring on Mobil 00447940570395

www.worldwidecurrencies.com

Fantastic with one phone call  , he sets it all up for you on 150k we saved 1.7k,

He beat all the high street Banks ( Spain and England) and the other FX Companys that get mentioned

Plus No Charges, its worth a phone call and he will call you back

Did you get the Pm  ?

Regards

Rodger,

After you have made ten (I think) posts on the forum you can then start receiving Private Messages (PMs).

Go to the very top right-hand side of ANY page and you will see a grey box with "WELCOME RODGER" in it. 'Click' on the box and it will take you to your messages 'In box'

Hopefully, you have your log-in password stored safely in case you accidentally 'Log Off''