Re: Transferring sterling to euro account
Originally Posted by
orangutan
->
But by doing that his bank takes
a cut on the exchange rate. That's why I'm looking elsewhere.
Actualy it's not a 'cut' on the rate it's a 'commission' on the value of the transfer. The exchange rate you get varies according to who you are and how much business you do with the bank.
The fact is that however you do it there are
procedures that have to be followed and
people who have to be paid.
Anyone who offers to transfer the money for free will have to 'make their costs' on the exchange rate. In other words
you'll not get a good rate.
Private individuals
never get the 'spot' rate (That's the rate you see quoted in the FT and similar publications)
For a real life example (Mine as it happens) we used to transfer money at the commercial rate and paid a hefty 'commission' (About £35) and when I complained my bank said "
Oh you can have a special deal if the amount is below £2,500 where the commission is much lower" So I said OK and next time did it this way and paid only £12 but
guess what, when I looked at the exchange rate they had used it was
much worse than before so overall
I still paid £35 plus the commercial rate (About £50 in total)
Depending on how much you are transfering a variation on the exchange rate can be far more profitable than a fixed 1% or whatever as commission so be careful of the firms who are not reputable well known firms.
The FOREX (Foreign exchange) world is
full of wheeler dealers and plain outright crooks Be careful who you do business with.