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Hello,
A business partner (credit card processor) can only pay me in US$. They could pay direct into my business account but I know hsbc will take the michael with the exchange rate and slap on another charge for fun.
Does anyone know a practical workaround? It's effectively about 3 months' salary so would like to minimise any fees.
Thanks!
mnbv
I think google is your friend here. There's quite a bit of competition for companies who want you to use them for relatively large cross currency transactions. Sebastian Chabal has even been advertising one of them on tv.
I got a message only the other day from HSBC saying they were going to start applying a Because We Can tax on non-sterling transactions. Which is a bit of an arseache if you shop on the Internet.
I use currencyfair.com to pay money into foreign accounts. It's peer to peer, so you get the mid-market rate, and they take 0.3% commission for facilitating it. I can make payments on my account but doesn't appear that that I can receive money. I think your partner would need to open an account with them, pay the money into that in US$, convert it within their system and send it to you. Try emailing theteam@currencyfair.com for more information. I have no connection with the company other than being a satisfied customer and wanting to spread the word about how to avoid being ripped off by the banks.
PayPal ?
A second for Paypal - that's how we pay many of our US/foreign contributors.
When I used to freelance for US mags, I'd get sent US$ cheques and I had a word with my bank. As it was going to be only a few times a year, they let me pay them into my local branch and I'd get a (presumably punitive) exchange rate and a small fee (£15?), but that was the simplest option.