# Cheapest way to trasnfer money



## houtexas

According to their websites, with HSBC's global banking, you pay USD 7/transfer to a foreign HSBC account and with Citi, transfers are free to foreign Citibank accounts. 

However, I have been reading the horror stories about HSBC (bad customer service) and Citi (bad rate--isnt that illegal??), and it seems that the posters here suggest using a local bank in Dubai for banking and using a transfer service to transfer money home. 

So what's the cheapest way to send money abroad? I'm not familiar with the transfer services.

I need to send money each month to the US to pay off my student loans. Which method/bank do you suggest?


----------



## fcjb1970

houtexas said:


> According to their websites, with HSBC's global banking, you pay USD 7/transfer to a foreign HSBC account and with Citi, transfers are free to foreign Citibank accounts.
> 
> However, I have been reading the horror stories about HSBC (bad customer service) and Citi (bad rate--isnt that illegal??), and it seems that the posters here suggest using a local bank in Dubai for banking and using a transfer service to transfer money home.
> 
> So what's the cheapest way to send money abroad? I'm not familiar with the transfer services.
> 
> I need to send money each month to the US to pay off my student loans. Which method/bank do you suggest?


The things is that both of those banks give terrible exchange rates so while the fee is low in the end it costs more.

Some is dependent on how much you send at a time, and it may be better to send every other month than every month. A currency exchange such as GCEN will be probably the cheapest route, but I actually get almost as good through ADCB


----------



## houtexas

Thanks! 

I'd want to send 2-3k USD/month. Do the currency exchange places charge a flat fee with a better rate than the banks, then?


----------



## XDoodlebugger

houtexas said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I'd want to send 2-3k USD/month. Do the currency exchange places charge a flat fee with a better rate than the banks, then?


Wall Street Exchange charges a flat 45 AED fee.

I've been curious about this but I didn't do the math until today, I went and looked at the transfers and added fees (sending and receiving) and AED sent versus US$ received.

The worse rate I received was via Western Union for a 3500 AED Exchange

Middle best was Wall Street for transfers of 15,000 AED

Best rate so far was HSBC for a 20,000 AED transfer, but also better than Wall Street for a 10,000 AED exchange as well (small difference).

All these were within the last couple of months so the exchange rate change should be minimal.


----------



## faiZee

All local banks are good if u send through wire transfer. Exhanges are giving bad exchange rates than banks.


----------



## fcjb1970

houtexas said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I'd want to send 2-3k USD/month. Do the currency exchange places charge a flat fee with a better rate than the banks, then?


A service like GCEN does not charge a fee (there are similar services like XE), I guess exchange service is the wrong term as this seemed to make people think of going to a currency exchange. I think perhaps currency trade company is the more accurate term.

These services make money on the micro differences in exchange rates and do not charge a fee. The more you trade the better the rate they will give, but even at that amount I think it is still the cheapest. But sending every other month might work in your advantage. 

I also do directly from ADCB and that is a comparable. I do not know about HSBC but I do know that Citibank rates are terrible and I would avoid using them. Citibank does offer one advantage in that you can transfer $3K and have it available immediately in your USA account. But that should really not be needed if you are managing your money


----------



## olsontowers

GCEN have been the best that we use.

No fees for sending the money, and where banks like HSBC charge a spread of 3% they'll normally be around the 1-1.5 mark.

Using their excange dealer, Anjulie Patel, we've been able to set up a standing order of sorts to send money back to the UK.

Follow the link below, if you want to register for their service, and if you want Anjulie to give you a call to discuss what you need, just select her name from the drop down list.

https://www.gcen.co.uk/index.php?r=2601

Added benefit is they're UK regulated, not like a lot of the outfits here!!


----------



## stamboy

olsontowers said:


> GCEN have been the best that we use.
> 
> No fees for sending the money, and where banks like HSBC charge a spread of 3% they'll normally be around the 1-1.5 mark.
> 
> Using their excange dealer, Anjulie Patel, we've been able to set up a standing order of sorts to send money back to the UK.
> 
> Follow the link below, if you want to register for their service, and if you want Anjulie to give you a call to discuss what you need, just select her name from the drop down list.
> 
> https://www.gcen.co.uk/index.php?r=2601
> 
> Added benefit is they're UK regulated, not like a lot of the outfits here!!


How long would this type of transfer take?

Also I've always been told it's better to send in the currency of the location where you are rather than send it in the destination currency - can anyone please explain confirm this and why.

Thanks


----------



## w_man

stamboy said:


> How long would this type of transfer take?
> 
> Also I've always been told it's better to send in the currency of the location where you are rather than send it in the destination currency - can anyone please explain confirm this and why.
> 
> Thanks


Depends on when you send the funds. You have to first transfer funds to their AED account in UK, Once they receive the funds, they send a wire transfer to your destination account.

If I send the AED funds to their UK bank on Sunday, the funds are usually in my account in Canada by Tuesday. Fairly fast.

Not sure what you're asking in your second question. If you are converting from AED to USD, you will send AED to GCEN. They will also except bank charges eg: When I send a transfer to their AED UK account, I have them pay any/all transfer fee - so I save the extra 50aed HSBC charges me for all non-HSBC transfers.


----------



## twowheelsgood

My experience is that HSBC charge the most in fees and have the worse exchange rates.

I use Al Ansari - a specific branch which seems to offer the best rates (and they will haggle) and a flat fee (60Dhs).

For larger transactions, its worth looking at MoneyCorp


----------



## caramel camel

I found out recently that by contacting Mashreq via phone for an exchange rate and transaction code prior to transferring funds is cheaper than just doing the transfer online. The funds process faster too. 
Would have been handy knowing this 4 years ago.


----------



## stamboy

twowheelsgood said:


> My experience is that HSBC charge the most in fees and have the worse exchange rates.
> 
> Worth knowing. I was thinking of using hsbc as I have an account here in Dubai and one in England and they don't charge for the transfer but the cost is in the rate!
> 
> Guess it depends on how much you are sending as to whether it's better for me to use the hsbc transfer or not


----------



## de Mexicaan

Although I am hardly a year in Dubai I have sent money back home a few times. Through HSBC, as I am banking there. 
It is probably not the cheapest way, but I am still not convinced that the cost difference is worth the hassle of going out somewhere else and arrange for the transfer while I can also internetbank it within a minute directly from my account.

Edit: just read tue original post  and I have to say the the service in general of HsBC is not great, but I have the impression that is the case for all banks here. Online banking works fine though, in my experience.


----------



## AlexJSmith

Most banks have really bad exchange rates, you might want to go for a non-bank institution which supports the currency in Dubai. There are a couple good ones in Canada, personally I have used a company called KnightsbridgeFX . I'm not 100% sure however if they support AED, but it's worth checking out. I have used them a lot for my investments in the US, for which I've needed a lot of US dollars.


----------

