# Sending money home



## WideaWake (Aug 14, 2012)

Hi,

I need to transfer some money back to the uk but I'm not quite sure the best way to do this. Does anybody have any information on the most cost effective way to do this? I have an EmirateNBD account.

Thanks in advance


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## colaxs (Nov 26, 2012)

being a predominantly expat populated country, There are plenty of money transfer outlets here in the UAE. The major ones are UAE Exchange and Al Ansari Exchange. These are widespread and you can find the UAE exchange outlets in most metro stations as well.

Banks also provide you the option of transferring money directly. The easiest way to do this is to visit the branch where you opened the account and enquire.

another way to do this is to paypal it across, using your credit card.

hope this helps.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

WideaWake said:


> Hi,
> 
> I need to transfer some money back to the uk but I'm not quite sure the best way to do this. Does anybody have any information on the most cost effective way to do this? I have an EmirateNBD account.
> 
> Thanks in advance


Using your bank tends to be the most expensive route as they offer lousy exchange rates and usually charge a fee too. Better to use a currency exchange service that offers close to wholesale rates. I use a regulated UK company (with an office in Dubai) both personally and for all my clients. Feel free to contact me via the link below for info.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

Elphaba said:


> Using your bank tends to be the most expensive route as they offer lousy exchange rates and usually charge a fee too. Better to use a currency exchange service that offers close to wholesale rates. I use a regulated UK company (with an office in Dubai) both personally and for all my clients. Feel free to contact me via the link below for info.



Actually, I have found that ADCB transfer to be as good as any other option. I will not say that is true for other banks, when I had citibank the rate was terrible. But compared to GCEN on an AED 18K transfer it is within a few $$ US.

Part of that is due to fees, for some reason (I honestly do not understand this), an ADCB transfer does not get charged an incoming fee by my bank. Where as GCEN does so while GCEN does give me a bit better rate, with the charge added in they are almost identical.

But if you are setting up transfers, as Elphaba says look at an exchange service, I would suggest GCEN, especially going to the UK because that is where they are located. They are very helpful and will work with you to get everything setup.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

fcjb1970 said:


> Actually, I have found that ADCB transfer to be as good as any other option. I will not say that is true for other banks, when I had citibank the rate was terrible. But compared to GCEN on an AED 18K transfer it is within a few $$ US.
> 
> Part of that is due to fees, for some reason (I honestly do not understand this), an ADCB transfer does not get charged an incoming fee by my bank. Where as GCEN does so while GCEN does give me a bit better rate, with the charge added in they are almost identical.
> 
> But if you are setting up transfers, as Elphaba says look at an exchange service, I would suggest GCEN, especially going to the UK because that is where they are located. They are very helpful and will work with you to get everything setup.


For USD/AED where the rate is pegged, there would not be much difference. For "floating" currencies obviously it makes more sense to shop around.
For INR (I know noone is interested), I found the GCEN rates to be quite poor, and the exchange houses offering much better rates.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

rsinner said:


> For USD/AED where the rate is pegged, there would not be much difference. For "floating" currencies obviously it makes more sense to shop around.
> For INR (I know noone is interested), I found the GCEN rates to be quite poor, and the exchange houses offering much better rates.


Banks take a cut of the pegged rate and you will not get 3.67%

Currency houses offer better rates for larger transfers.


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