What is the best way to send money back to the UK?

[Guest westie1972]

Hi I was just wondering what would be the best way to send some money back to the UK without lots of charges? I was thinking about opening an HSBC Australia account and also opening one in the UK, would this be possible and would I get lots of charges? What would be the best way to send money back? Sorry to sound clueless but I am trying to find the best way to send money back, many thanks.

[tina&steve]

i use paypal, its free!!!!! cant get cheaper than that!

[snifter]

Or Western Union.

[Guest StevenH]

Hi Westie,

I have been looking and reading this site for ages, and never really had any tips or info to share, however this I CAN help with.

 

To address Tina and Steve's suggestion of Paypal it's free for the sender but if I recall correctly, costs the receiver a fee to process a foreign currency something like 3.5% and that's on top of their usually dire exchange rates.

 

 

Now this is going to sound like a commercial, but it's honestly not...

 

I have found that Citibank Australia's "Transaction Plus" account is a great bank account for many reasons... of all its merits, the best in your case, is the free international transfers to any bank account anywhere in the world.

 

The exchange rate they use is only 1 cent lower than the headline rate (at the time I wrote this the headline rate was 0.6393 (AUD:GBP, on Google Finance) and the exchange rate offered by Citibank for a transfer was 0.6293).

 

The account itself is fee free, with no minimum balance but a minimum monthly input of $2000 per month.

Their debit card is also fee free for both purchases and cash withdrawals overseas... great for when you leave the country (you COULD maintain a Nationwide account in the UK topped up with money to avoid huge fees, but it's nicer to have all your banking in one country!) ... all the WestPac, ANZ, nab and Commbank accounts charge HEAVILY for overseas usage of any cards.

 

Citibank don't have any branches in Adelaide but you can open the account online and then use AusPost for ID verification. Their online banking is excellent and so is their telephone customer service, which is a rarity!

 

I know it sounds like an advert, but it really has solved our troubles with having to transfer money to both the UK and the USA on a regular basis while earning money in Australia!

 

HiFX is good for bringing it back the other way (Hifx.com.au)

 

Hope this helps!

[Guest vikkiann]

Hifx is free ifb the transaction is more than £50

[scooterdan]

 

 

 

Their debit card is also fee free for both purchases and cash withdrawals overseas... great for when you leave the country (you COULD maintain a Nationwide account in the UK topped up with money to avoid huge fees, but it's nicer to have all your banking in one country!) ... all the WestPac, ANZ, nab and Commbank accounts charge HEAVILY for overseas usage of any cards.

 

 

Westpac didn't charge me a cent for debit card use in the UK....and you can withdraw money free form all Barclays ATM's!!!

 

Dab

[Guest StevenH]

That's interesting. I moved to Adelaide in March and was looking at accounts earlier this year and all appeared to want to charge me for just about everything! Quite the shock compared to free everything in the UK.

 

Still, to address Westie's original question, I maintain that the Citibank account is the best way of moving money internationally, as it doesn't require setting up a special account in the UK, you can simply transfer it directly to whatever account you choose.

[Guest sarahtwinn82]

If you open an Oz account in the UK before coming out you get the majority of the fees waivered as an incentive to open an account, in fact we pay no fees at at with CBA.

That's interesting. I moved to Adelaide in March and was looking at accounts earlier this year and all appeared to want to charge me for just about everything! Quite the shock compared to free everything in the UK.

 

Still, to address Westie's original question, I maintain that the Citibank account is the best way of moving money internationally, as it doesn't require setting up a special account in the UK, you can simply transfer it directly to whatever account you choose.

[Guest westie1972]

Thank you for all the replies.

 

We have an account here but want to send money back home to the UK, so we are looking for the best way.

[scooterdan]

We always send via paypal!

[xzibit]

I use ozforex to send money back and forth between countries.