# cash transfers



## peter lally (Jul 25, 2017)

Hi Can anyone give me information about , Currency Direct. do,s anyone use them or as use them . I would your opinion.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

peter lally said:


> Hi Can anyone give me information about , Currency Direct. do,s anyone use them or as use them . I would your opinion.


I guess you really don't mean "cash" transfers but simply bank transfers via a currency company?


Personally, I have tried Currency Direct and Currencies Direct but have found others that are better, cheaper, quicker and offer as good, if not better rates.


Try currency fair or transfer wise.


Be aware that almost everyone will have their own favourite and their own opinion.


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Transferwise is excellent and transfers money in a day. I've tried Moneycorp and didn't like their services. 

Steve


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

This comparison may be useful, especially as what is best for you depends very much on your specific needs. Best International Money Transfer Companies - Comparison & Reviews


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

I just went through this, ask them all for a final figure for x amount. After fees and everything how much will you see in your account. Some are very open and will give you the figure others will not, I assume the ones who would not answer were not going to be very good. I did in fact use Currencies Direct but mainly because they are local and their rate was not far from the best available.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Simon22 said:


> I just went through this, ask them all for a final figure for x amount. After fees and everything how much will you see in your account. Some are very open and will give you the figure others will not, I assume the ones who would not answer were not going to be very good. I did in fact use Currencies Direct but mainly because they are local and their rate was not far from the best available.


Asking them for that precise information at any point in time is problematic, given that exchange rates change every few minutes and their algorithms consequently update their exchange rates - which is why some will not give you a quote in that way.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

I tried a couple of them a long while ago (No, I can't remember) and eventually decided that it was less hassle to just do it through my bank which I can do on-line in a couple of minutes.


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

EverHopeful said:


> Asking them for that precise information at any point in time is problematic, given that exchange rates change every few minutes and their algorithms consequently update their exchange rates - which is why some will not give you a quote in that way.


How else can you compare them? I had the money ready to go and a good quote won the day. I can't see why a quote for this much right now is so hard. I accept rates change but I am not stupid I can see if that is why there is a difference. Otherwise you're gambling you have a good rate.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Simon22 said:


> How else can you compare them? I had the money ready to go and a good quote won the day. I can't see why a quote for this much right now is so hard. I accept rates change but I am not stupid I can see if that is why there is a difference. Otherwise you're gambling you have a good rate.


Of course, you do as you choose and how you make that choice is entirely up to you. I merely wanted to point out that you are not necessarily comparing like with like - markets can jump around wildly in just a few minutes. All things connected with foreign exchange are, after all, a gamble.


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## Moyra (Aug 10, 2014)

We did a big transfer (to pay for our house) and found we saved £4,000.00 we used XE. 
Thanks 
Moyra


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Moyra said:


> We did a big transfer (to pay for our house) and found we saved £4,000.00 we used XE.
> Thanks
> Moyra


I used XE.com originally, but after a few months I received an email from them to say they could no longer provide transfer services to Spain (I forget the reason, it was a few years ago). So that has obviously changed.

I swapped to Currency Fair and have been very happy with their services. The funds are always in my bank account within 24 hours.

I noticed a message on the online banking site of my UK bank just last week saying that there is now a facility to make overseas transfers online, but I'm sure the exchange rate would be considerably worse.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

Transferwise now have a "Borderless" account that is totally free to use, for now anyway.
You can deposit money in it in GBP, EUR, or USD so essentially you have one account that can service all these currencies. You can transfer to and from any other bank accounts both here in Spain or in UK totally free, even if you want to pay someone else for services rendered. Your deposits remain in this Borderless account until you decide to transfer to a normal high street bank.

They make their money in the normal way when you exchange currencies but you get a good exchange rate that you can see before you commit.

The GBP are kept in a protected client account in Barclays UK and the euros are kept in a German bank. As this is not a normal bank account it is not covered by the 100,000€ guarantee but the banks where the monies are kept are.

So when the exchange rate fluctuates, and it is worth your while, you can do a bit of currency speculation.


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## trotter58 (Feb 8, 2017)

stevesainty said:


> Transferwise now have a "Borderless" account that is totally free to use, for now anyway.
> You can deposit money in it in GBP, EUR, or USD so essentially you have one account that can service all these currencies. You can transfer to and from any other bank accounts both here in Spain or in UK totally free, even if you want to pay someone else for services rendered. Your deposits remain in this Borderless account until you decide to transfer to a normal high street bank.
> 
> They make their money in the normal way when you exchange currencies but you get a good exchange rate that you can see before you commit.
> ...


Are you able to do direct debits from this "Borderless" account? We're not too happy paying €120 per year for our Sabadell account and are looking for a cheaper option that doesn't involve jumping through too many hoops. 

We use our Santander UK account & make fee free cash withdrawals from Santander in Spain, we just need some way of paying our utility bills in Spain.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

peter lally said:


> Hi Can anyone give me information about , Currency Direct. do,s anyone use them or as use them . I would your opinion.


I opened a Currencies Direct account about eight years ago and set up a monthly standing order to transfer cash from the UK to Spain. For the first few transfers the exchange rate was good but gradually it deteriorated and I cancelled my account. I was told by a friend who worked in a bank that they have software that is designed to reduce the rate gradually in the hope that the customer doesn't notice! For about the last seven years I have used Transferwise and have no complaints whatsoever. Fast, reliable service and excellent rate.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

trotter58 said:


> Are you able to do direct debits from this "Borderless" account? We're not too happy paying €120 per year for our Sabadell account and are looking for a cheaper option that doesn't involve jumping through too many hoops.
> 
> We use our Santander UK account & make fee free cash withdrawals from Santander in Spain, we just need some way of paying our utility bills in Spain.


I don´t think that you can do direct debits at the moment, however you can transfer funds into your utility company's bank account if you have the transfer details.
The transfers are free but the convertion from sterling to euros will attract a small fee.

You will get a good rate of exchange and you can see how much it will cost before you are committed.


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## velmar (Apr 2, 2017)

Have you consider Bitcoin? 

Sent from my Z1 using Tapatalk


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

velmar said:


> Have you consider Bitcoin?
> 
> Sent from my Z1 using Tapatalk


LOL - not the right time to go that route - or haven't you been following the current situation with Bitcoin?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

trotter58 said:


> Are you able to do direct debits from this "Borderless" account? We're not too happy paying €120 per year for our Sabadell account and are looking for a cheaper option that doesn't involve jumping through too many hoops.
> 
> We use our Santander UK account & make fee free cash withdrawals from Santander in Spain, we just need some way of paying our utility bills in Spain.


Our town hall won't accept direct debits from non-Spanish banks. I don't know if that applies everywhere.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

Alcalaina said:


> Our town hall won't accept direct debits from non-Spanish banks. I don't know if that applies everywhere.


We have a Spanish bank, a UK bank and our Transferwise borderless bank. The borderless bank holds our euros, when the exchange rate is favourable, our UK bank holds our sterling, and we transfer euros from our borderless account to our Spanish bank account to keep up the minimum deposit per month and for our day to day needs in Spain.
When the exchange rate is not favourable we do a straight exchange of the minimum required from our UK bank to our Spanish bank using the Transferwise normal fx.


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