Transfering £ to $’s?

[Guest KarenR]

Hi,

I arrived a few weeks ago and have opened a bank account with commonwealth, however I don’t know when or how to transfer my £ to $’s.

As the exchange rate isn’t great at the moment can anyone advise whether I should leave it in my UK account until exchange rate (hopefully) increases, or should I just transfer it asap? Is there a website that I can view which shows the exchange rate trends? I’ve looked but couldn’t see anything.

So many things to do and all so complicated and gambles!

Thanks for your help.

Karen

[suzer]

Check out two companies - OzForex and Oz-Pay

[Guest Libby1971]

You can transfer your money to HiFx at an agreed rate of exchange and then even if it drops, you still keep that rate. Of course if it goes up you don't get that perk but...

 

You can see on their website I think www.hifx.co.uk to check trends etc. We transferred all of our money in one go. A few weeks it went a few cents higher but since then has carried on going down for the most part.

 

Ask Liz at the bank and check her advice.

 

Libby

[scooterdan]

Hey,

 

We too have an account with Hifx, if you look on the home page under 'Market Watch' you can see the actual exchange rate live.

 

We also have an account with Tranzfers, owned by Oz-forex, and have used them and found them excellent. They charge £7 per transfer, but we got a slightly better rate then with hifx.

 

As for when to move your money.....havent got a clue! We are not taking loads and have just decided to send it and stop looking at the rate.

 

Dan and Steph

[Guest Guzzler&Sas]

If you wish the Commonwealth can transfer funds via their London Branch, they should be competitive on rates with Hifx etc, you can also check live rates at www.xe.com to give you an idea to what the pound is doing, only you can decide when to bring your money over,

 

Good luck

 

Guzzler

[Angela]

I guess it is a gamble, we have all experienced it, only you can decide. We used HIFX & also played them off against another broker (sorry forgotten them name already !). Within 12 hours of exchanging the rate shot up significantly.....its not an easy experience but it had to be done.

 

Good luck

Angela

[Guest zx6roo]

My mum leaves all her money in Barclays and transfers it across whenever the exchange is good.

[Guest zx6roo]

should have added.... if you ask they'll give you a card reader for your PC so that you can do online EFTs rather than having to send them letters/phoning which can be a problem. I know a few ppl that do it that way, espeically if you're getting a pension or other continuous payment.

[Guest Tracijbc]

You can also set up an account with Moneycorp once you have an Aussie bank account to transfer into and they give you advice about the best time to transfer and a higher rate than a lot of other places. You can set up an account online at www.moneycorp.com

[Liz and Kris UK]

Hi

 

we have set up an account with hifx to transfer our money and have applied for a bank account online at westpac.

 

Kris

[Guest Aussie pat]

We are hoping to move in Nov '08 if our house sells and are in the process of opening a sterling account (foreign currency account) based in Adelaide at the Commonwealth Bank. The account earns interest and you move the money over when you need it, or if the exchange rate suits.

 

You would need to contact Morag Hamill at the King William Street branch in the city centre for more info. She is the migrant assistance officer. We have found her very helpful.

 

Email: Morag.Hamill@cba.com.au

[Guest anna niks]

hi there

we have opened a bank account with the commermwealth but speaking to friends that moved to oz a year ago ,they advised us to wait untill we are there and not to change the money through them as other banks are alot cheaper , so i would check out other ways first , may be some of the banks mentioned by the others are better for that .

anna

[Guest Rob and Clare]

Hi,

I arrived a few weeks ago and have opened a bank account with commonwealth, however I don’t know when or how to transfer my £ to $’s.

As the exchange rate isn’t great at the moment can anyone advise whether I should leave it in my UK account until exchange rate (hopefully) increases, or should I just transfer it asap? Is there a website that I can view which shows the exchange rate trends? I’ve looked but couldn’t see anything.

So many things to do and all so complicated and gambles!

Thanks for your help.

Karen

Hi,

 

I've no doubt the exchange rate will improve, but we could be talking months away rather than weeks. If you need your money available to buy a house when you arrive then change it now, as property prices are expected to rise quicker than the exchange rate... If your planning on renting then leaving it in pounds may be the better option...

 

But it's all a gamble.... Our interest rates are expected to rise in OZ, where as the Uk's are expected to fall due to the credit crunch, this means it could get worse before it get's better..

 

You can open a pound account in Oz though with a bank, we had one with HSBC, transferring our cash out here whilst still in pounds, then when we needed our cash exchanging it was straightforward as going to the branch.

 

Good luck

[duncan-clan]

all my money £101.000 of it is still in the uk ive put the lot into HSBC bank and its earning interest there is a bank in adelaide so you can access it via there computer and when the time is right send to bank in adelaide im using westpac but might keep on using HSBC as banks here charge you $5 per month for using banks stuff etc using diff atm machines $2 per transaction HSBC dont charge but the exchange rate is still crap at mo anh hopefully it will pick soon

 

alex

[Guest KandC]

Hi,

I arrived a few weeks ago and have opened a bank account with commonwealth, however I don’t know when or how to transfer my £ to $’s.

As the exchange rate isn’t great at the moment can anyone advise whether I should leave it in my UK account until exchange rate (hopefully) increases, or should I just transfer it asap? Is there a website that I can view which shows the exchange rate trends? I’ve looked but couldn’t see anything.

So many things to do and all so complicated and gambles!

Thanks for your help.

Karen

Hi,

 

this is really a very important issue and the answer varies dependant upon your circumstances. The gentleman with £100,000 in HSBC benefits from their special account. Less than £50,000 and you pay very high charges for withdrawal and at bank rate not money market rates. Transfers are also charged for each one.

 

Check out World First if HiFX, chat to an advisor who will give you all the options.

 

It can save you tens of thousands.........

 

regards,

 

Kris

[duncan-clan]

hi im the fella with all the money, ive already done a transfer from account to account and i haven't been charged. i did £20000 acccount change it was all done in hsbc bank

[Guest KandC]

Hi, I would be very interested in how you did this, I am with HSBC in the UK, and have been charged whilst over in Oz aound Christmas and New Year. Also the exchange rate was not that good. I was not charged any service chanrge though.

 

Have a great weekend.....

[duncan-clan]

ive got two accounts with hsbc a savings and preimer account..with the prem account you need to open with £50000 but i never just tell them you will once house has been sold, when i was going to put the money in the casher told me to put it in to the savings account to earn interest

but to get money to oz for free use internet banking it takes 30 secs to transfer money to prem account but once here you will need to open another prem account or you need to get money cleared from uk first as it took me about hour to get money cleared from uk but i got a draft for a car ($30500) which cost me $8 also i have a west pac account so i might just put the lot in there the rate is $2 to £1 which is crap but you never know it might pick up soon hope this makes sence!!!

 

alex