# Transferring money from a UK account to a UAE one - cheapest way?



## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi guys

I've seen it mentioned on here but couldn't find the threads. My wife is still paid sterling so it costs to either use that card, withdraw cash or transfer from that account (HSBC) to a UAE HSBC account. 

What's the cheapest way of doing it? I've been trying to compare how much the rates are for taking out cashing, buying on the card, etc but I'm not sure of other options. Western Union online seems a cheap way, but I've always associated them with dodgy dealings!

Thanks....!


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## asharma0001 (Mar 21, 2014)

Emanef said:


> Hi guys
> 
> I've seen it mentioned on here but couldn't find the threads. My wife is still paid sterling so it costs to either use that card, withdraw cash or transfer from that account (HSBC) to a UAE HSBC account.
> 
> ...


A few people in previous threads have mentioned using xe.com. Might be worth having a search on the forum as there were a few different suggestions made in similar threads.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks for that, I didn't realise you could do it through XE. 

OK, so I've just done a comparison on XE, Western Union (online, UK bank to UAE bank) and a HSBC bank transfer based on a £2000 transfer to a UAE account, below is the amount £2000 would have bought during that few minutes from each service with the effective exchange rate of each;

Western Union	- AED 11,716.06	(£5.8580 exchange rate)
XE trade	- AED 11,641.44	(£5.8207 exchange rate)
HSBC account - AED 11,559.07	(£5.7795 exchange rate)

So based on that, Western Union is the cheapest, as long as you do at least £1001 (as £1000 or less gives a £5.75 ish rate, so definately not a better option for lower amounts) - WU gets you AED 74.62 (£12) more than XE and AED 156.99 (£26) more than HSBC. XE gets you AED 82.37 more than HSBC.

Does anyone know of any alternative options to consider? Things like https://transferwise.com/ don't do AED yet. 

And are there any risks of using Western Union?

Thanks.


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## joemate (Apr 25, 2012)

Give currencyfair.com a try as they are usually very competitive.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Thanks man, that looks even better. 

A quick spot comparison of £2000 with Western Union gives; 
WU - 11,704.99 @ 5.852495
CF - 11,768.32 @ £5.88416

So CF is another £10 better than WU. CF don't seem to lower the exchange rate when you do lower amounts as well. Excellent! Thanks, so Currency Fair is currently our best option!

Can anyone do even better.....?!


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

Emanef said:


> Thanks man, that looks even better. A quick spot comparison of £2000 with Western Union gives; WU - 11,704.99 @ 5.852495 CF - 11,768.32 @ £5.88416 So CF is another £10 better than WU. CF don't seem to lower the exchange rate when you do lower amounts as well. Excellent! Thanks, so Currency Fair is currently our best option! Can anyone do even better.....?!


are these rates inclusive of charges/commissions?


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Ah, good spot. Not quite. It looks like there's a £3 charge with Currency Fair, so around £7 better than Western Union (which says no fees). 

The pound seems a bit yoyo over the last few days as well, apparently the worry about Scotland voting 'yes'. Yesterday it varied between 5.75 and 5.93 when I was checking.


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

Emanef said:


> Ah, good spot. Not quite. It looks like there's a £3 charge with Currency Fair, so around £7 better than Western Union (which says no fees). The pound seems a bit yoyo over the last few days as well, apparently the worry about Scotland voting 'yes'. Yesterday it varied between 5.75 and 5.93 when I was checking.


i have been using my bank (Smile.co.uk) to do mine and they charge a flat fee of £20 per transfer and you get the spot exchange rate on the day, so CF does seem the better option.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, we've done a couple with our bank, HSBC. They don't charge a fee, but they take a cut from the exchange rate they use, that's why I wanted to look at alternatives. It certainly seems a cheaper option, and looks fairly easy to use as well.


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## joemate (Apr 25, 2012)

I've used CF a few times, but from AED to GBP and it's always gone through quickly and any questions have been answered promptly via email so it has my confidence!


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## BigAndyD (Apr 19, 2013)

Have a look at Rational FX. They're a specialist currency trader. Very quick and simple process once your account is set up and they offer a number of options from an instant spot price to fixing your rate for a set period of time. No fees or commission - the rate they quote is exactly what you get.


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Looking at a spot rate they give 11,855.40 AED for £2000 compared to 11,810.25 AED with Currency Fair. 

Thanks BigAndy, they're getting better!


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

OK, so I've registered with Currency Fair and Rational RX. After simulating a transfer Currency Fair is giving me the highest rate. 

Also, they have two options (not sure about Rational, still waiting for the account to be properly verified for all access). You can do a quick trade, ie transfer at the current exchange rate, or you can do a market trade, where you set the rate you want to trade at, so it'll sit there watching until it gets there. 

So for example, at the moment it's giving 5.945 per £ for a quick trade, or if I'm happy to wait I can use the market trade and set it to hold out to, say 6.00, 6.1, etc. Pretty cool.... not sure how long it waits if it doesn't get there or what it does with your money then!


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## K0sh (Sep 10, 2014)

Anybody looking to come over to Dubai from Blighty should look into getting a Halifax 'clarity' card which has no fees.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

K0sh said:


> Anybody looking to come over to Dubai from Blighty should look into getting a Halifax 'clarity' card which has no fees.


Hi,
No fees means nothing - they simply give you an awful exchange rate!
They will get money out of you - one way or another!
Cheers
Steve


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## Paulsf (Aug 19, 2014)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> No fees means nothing - they simply give you an awful exchange rate!
> They will get money out of you - one way or another!
> Cheers
> Steve




I've got a Post Office Credit Card, no fees and they charge the day's spot rate, generally better value than buying currency. Going to be living on it until my visa etc is sorted!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Paulsf said:


> I've got a Post Office Credit Card, no fees and they charge the day's spot rate, generally better value than buying currency. Going to be living on it until my visa etc is sorted!


Hi,
Good point - well made!
Cheers
Steve


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## Emanef (Dec 19, 2012)

Yeah, I'd check their spot rates and compare them before you use it too much - I can't see any way of finding out what their current days rate is. It'd be interesting to see how they determine a daily spot rate when they can vary somewhat throughout one day. 

An update on my progress with Currency Fair. The transaction all went smoothly, I transferred over £2000 into my CF account, then bought the same amount in AED, minus the £3 charge, which worked out around £40 better than had I transferred it through HSBC (who also don't charge a fee, just use their spot rate). 

However, after setting up to transfer from the CF account to our HSBC AE account via SWIFT I was informed that the Mashreq Bank in Dubai charges 55 AED for receiving money via SWIFT. I emailed CF to query and they said it's because they are based in London and as it has to be sent abroad sometimes the foreign receiving companies charge, so whilst that isn't techinally a hidden charge with Currency Fair, it is an unexpected cost in the whole process, and makes it a tenner less saved than I'd expected (but still better than my bank) - does anyone know if Rational FX or Western Union would have to use the same process? Presumably they all work in a similar way - you have an account with them and transfer from your UK bank to that account where it's exchanged and then sent to the foreign account via SWIFT?


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## K0sh (Sep 10, 2014)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> No fees means nothing - they simply give you an awful exchange rate!
> They will get money out of you - one way or another!
> Cheers
> Steve


Check out moneysavingextra, go to Travel/Motoring and select overseas spending.
Halifax Clarity came out best.

Under Halifax Clarity, there is a link to see what the mastercard spot rate is, 11th September it was AED 5.974342


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