I need to convert some USD into GBP. Around 10k.

I know bank can be a expensive way to do it.

Recommendations please.

Is there a comparison site I haven’t been able to find yet?

I use Ebury for my business. Way cheaper than banks.

Open a revolut account- but you’ll need to take out the cheapest paid plan, think its about £70 for 12 months. But for that you get unlimited foreign exchange at pretty much the inter bank rate (way better than normal bank connsumer rates) as long as you perform the exchange on a week day.

From a recommendation on here, TorFX. Used it to transfer the funds from a house GBP – €

Depending on where the US$ are (in your US a/c?), is it worth taking a look at Wise. I use this for business transactions and it is v quick, and rates are cheaper than the banks.

We use a couple of companies at work but the best at the moment is Clearview Associated Funds Ltd. (CASF Ltd.) Super quick response and transactions.

In about 2019 I used TransferWise (now just wise.com) for this as it was the best value at the time.

Wise is super simple, fast and does want you need

I’ve used wise and currencies direct, wise tend to be a bit cheaper, but worth getting a few quotes to make sure it’s competetive.

Deffo cheaper than banks, for example my bank does ‘free’ forex exchange, but they give you a crap exchange rate to compensate themselves. 😀

There will always be a charge, whether its an actual seperate charge or they give you a worse exchange rate, and advertise it as ‘fee free’.

Also comparison sites would be difficult as when your signed into say wise for example, the price is pretty much linked to the actual exchange rate in real time…

For example it will only guarantee a given rate for 1 hour, after which it will change slightly.

Much thanks. Will give them a look.

I guess I open up an account on one of the FX exchanges mentioned then send it for the foreign bank to the exchange via swift?

Scary stuff until you’ve done it for the first time.

It’s dead simple really.
If you use wise for example, you transfer x ammout from your bank to your wise ‘account’, and then transfer it back out from wise into the recipients bank account, in the currency of your choice.

Most have mobile apps as well, so if you’re traveling you can still move money from the comfort of your phone.

I guess I open up an account on one of the FX exchanges mentioned then send it for the foreign bank to the exchange via swift?

with revolut the transfer is a separate transaction to the conversion of different currencies.

A revolut account essentially allows you to have multiple sub accounts representing each currency you want to hold, you can exchange money between the different currencies as you wish, then do a transfer to your destination account belonging to a different bank/country whereever that may be.

So in your case if you have $10000 in an HSBC dollar account , you would transfer it to your revolut account, where it would sit in a USD su b account until you exchange it into GBP (at interbank rates assuming you do the exchange on a weekday) at which point it moves into a GBP sub account. Once in GBP you could transfer it to your normal UK current account using faster payments etc.

And you do it all in an on line banking style app on your phone.

Wise was nice and easy for me and fees didn’t seem too bad.

I use currency fair, easy to set up and manage. For large values I would spread the risk and place a few bids over a few days. You get usd sentbto your currency fair account, do the conversion, then transfer GBP to your uk bank.

If you look at various peer to peer accounts, currency fair, wise, your own bank, at the same time you can see the USD to GBP conversion rates. When I looked they were all pretty close.

It’s dead simple really.
If you use wise for example, you transfer x ammout from your bank to your wise ‘account’, and then transfer it back out from wise into the recipients bank account

Seems more difficult that when I do it.
I log in, select the amount and currencies I want to exchange and provide the destination account details (or select my previously used). Mine or someone else’s then I send wise my money (normally online banking via Barclays in my payee list). They do the rest.
I have never had to go back into wise to transfer anything out.

Wise, use it all the time, current exchange rate and just a few pounds per thousand fee.

Seems more difficult that when I do it.
I log in, select the amount and currencies I want to exchange and provide the destination account details (or select my previously used). Mine or someone else’s then I send wise my money (normally online banking via Barclays in my payee list). They do the rest.
I have never had to go back into wise to transfer anything out.

Yeah, sorry I may have made it sound more complicated than actually is. I was more trying to explain how it works, but once you’ve got your bank details on there and a trusted recipient bank details on there, you can just do it all within the app.

It’s a direct transfer though really, so if you stuff it up and send 10k to a random bank account due to a typo, I wouldn’t fancy your chances of a refund.

for example I only have 2 or 3 recipients saved, and my debit card details are saved, so I can do transfers in very few clicks of the mouse. (or taps of the screen).

I think what I’m trying to say is, once youv’e set it up with your own debit card and a trusted recipient, it’s super quick and easy.

If you want to transfer to a ‘new’ recipient then it takes a bit longer.

I’ve just checked on wise now and at the time of writing 10k USD will give you £7,926.53

I’ve just checked on wise now and at the time of writing 10k USD will give you £7,926.53

10k USD converted to gbp using revolut would result in £7971

Revolut by £50 then! With a £75 annual charge that can work out well if need to more transfers.

So it it was 100k – that’s £500 difference. If you doing property sized transactions that is definitely the way to go

perfectly illustrates that you need to shop around for a large transfer, as rates vary all the time.

If you just want holiday money or quick cash (i.e. less than a grand) it hardly makes much difference.

£75 annual charge

Again it depends on your circumstances, if it’s a one off transfer, that’s different to paying regualar large ammounts, so the rates you will get will differ.

It’s almost a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question.

Revolut by £50 then! With a £75 annual charge that can work out well if need to more transfers.

Yes, I think it’s pretty good if you’re making frequent foreign exchanges.

I was initially on the free plan, which had quite a small free FX limit,which I quickly exceeded,so now I’m on their premium plan. I think it’s saved me quite a lot,but probably not worthwhile if you are only wanting a one off exchange of up to 15k ish.

Another vote for Wise.com (formerly TransferWise). Amazing rates, ultra low fees, simple to use website. I use it all the time to transfer money between my UK and Spanish accounts.