On Tuesday, I wrote a post about how to open a UK bank account from abroad. Now, let’s see how you can send money from Canada or the USA (or anywhere else for that matter) to your bank account in the UK.
You have a few options. You can do “wire transfers” which are done by your bank. You pay a fee (anywhere from $20-$50) and your bank sends the money for you. It usually takes 30 business days, and their exchange rate might not be ideal.
More often than not, the banks take forever, charge an arm and a leg and have lower exchange rates. So most people avoid this route.
Speaking from experience, I tried to wire money from my UK Natwest account to my Canadian RBC account. I had student loans and needed to pay these on time every month. It took about 6 months for me to learn that the money I had been sending through the banks was not actually reaching my Canadian account so my student loans went into the red. It’s been 5 years since this happened, and I’m still trying to repair the damage done to my credit in 2004!
Luckily, I found a company called CanadianForex, which specialize in sending money from the UK to Canada and America (as well as other countries) and vice versa.
I’ve dealt with them since 2005 for all of my personal transfers, and most of my teachers use them as well. They haven’t messed up once in all that time, and they actually get the money into my account within 6 days every time.
So my loans are paid on time, and I am happy to recommend that you use them as well. You pay $15 for each transfer under 3000 GBP, and if you are lucky enough to send tranfsers that are more than 3000 GBP, you don’t pay any fees.
Their exchange rates are good, and very transparent on their website. So you know what you’re getting as soon as you go online.
The way it works is this:
- You sign up online and provide your bank details.
- You set up the amount you want to transfer & pay that amount into the bank account they give you using online banking.
- CanadianForex receives that money and does a transfer from their account to your account abroad.
- You check your account online within 6 days and ta’da! You should have your transferred money.
This all goes smoothly and should be fairly stress-free. If you know how to use a computer and do online banking, then you can do this very easily.
CanadianForex is also offering your 2 first transfers free if you register with them through this link.
Any questions, comments, confusions? Please leave your thoughts below.
Victoria Westcott
kikimoo
i went through my bank (TD) because it was the easiest way to do it at the time and they were great! i paid $30 and the money was transfered within 5 days although they said it can sometimes take up to 10. i was really impressed!
Hi Anon,
Thanks for sharing that! That's great to know. $30 is quite high (it's double what CanadianForex charges), but at least they sent the money in good time. I'd also check the exchange rate as the banks tend to have lower exchange rates, so if you do a lot of transfers, you will really notice the difference. But if it's a one-off payment, and you're happy with it, then that's the important thing.
Victoria
My HSBC would do it in about 3 business days, although I think they said it could take up to 10. I think it cost 10 or 15 pounds each time, but I would only transfer every couple months for my student loans instead of every month. I didn't know about this company! Interesting.
I will say that when I transferred money from my American bank account to my HSBC account, they said it could take up to 30 days, but they said for Europe it was usually about 4-5 days.
Ann
Hey Vic,
How do you reccomend we take money over with us? I was thinking on bringing about 400-500 GBP over with me (tucking it UNDER the liner in my running shoes and wearing them – how brilliant am I?
and just then just swipe my RBC debit card at the bank to take the money out in pounds? Is this possible? What do you suggest?
Thanks,
Kirbie
Kirbie, Since you are getting a UK bank account, you might as well just use transfers for sending your money from RBC over to the UK. The big issue for you will be that the pound has really been fluctuating lately, so you won't want to leave your $ in your Canadian account and risk the change in exchange rate over time. I'd get the $ into your UK account so you know what you have while you're there.
I am no expert, but that's what I'd do.
In any case, if you register with CanadianForex before August 31st, they'll give you your first 2 transfers free, so even if you never use them, at least registering now means you will save $ later on if you do. Just click on the links I gave above to get that deal. It should save you about $30 anyway!
Cheers,
Victoria
PS) I like the shoe idea! 500 GBP seems like a lot to us, but it's perfectly normal to have that amount on your person in London when you first arrive. Just stash it in different places (suitcase, bag, body, etc…) and you're fine. And watch that purse! That's a whole other blog post to come
I sent money through Travelex – http://www.travelex.co.uk/sendmoneynow it was only 99p and really easy to do. Much cheaper than the banks or other services that I could find.