IT worked!
I finally have done the deed and transferred funds from Canada to the UK using a foreign exchange (FX) dealer - in this case CanadianForex - instead of the bank-to-bank wire transfer method I had used before.
Back in April I posted the results of my research (#1 Options, #2 Fees & Exchange Rate, #3 Extra Services & Practical How To, # 4 FX Dealers into the use of FX dealers to move and convert money and it appeared to be an attractive option in terms of speed, cost and convenience.
I am happy to say that it all went smoothly, the money arrived safely in my UK bank account with no extra fees and within the total 8 business days from end to end, i.e. from my Canadian bank account to my UK bank account. The process was almost completely electronic, online and automated, with only a phone call from the FX dealer, done within minutes of my booking the transfer online, to confirm the arrangement (perhaps a good thing since one must initiate the transfer of funds - also done online through the bank website - from my Canadian bank account to CanadianForex).
Perhaps the only disappointment is that within days of locking in the transfer and exchange rate, the CAD/GBP exchange rate went down from about $2.03 to $1.95. That cost me quite a bit but it was unforeseeable and unpredictable as it could just as easily have gone up. However, I might try booking a forward rate (CanadianForex allows one to lock in a rate for a future transfer up to one year ahead) if it goes down to the low $1.90 level.
Saturday 23 August 2008
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6 comments:
Good to know. I have used xetrade.com on and off for a year now and it's treated me pretty well. For small trades ($500-1500), the spread is about 2.9% between buy and sell rates - this is not much better than what banks offer, but they are able to transfer directly between accounts domiciled in Canada and the US.
Xe / Custom House seemed to me to be another reasonable alternative, though I went with CanadianForex because they offered a slightly better rate in my test - £24 extra on a $10,000 transfer as I showed in the post on Fees and Exchange Rate. XE does the transfer from the Canadian account slightly differently - instead of setting up XE as a biller in the bank's website and then having to go in to push the payment to XE, they have you fill out a form that authorizes them to pull the money from your account.
I send regular but small amounts (usually under 500€) of money to Canada on a regular basis and use xe.com and am very happy with it.
As an aside you can know use your CDN debit card in many retailers in the United States. You won't pay a fee but you do get a slightly worse exchange rate. Not everyone accepts the card but many do.
I like xe because once it's set up everything can be done online and being as I live in the euro zone I can transfer the money direct from my Spanish bank account to their German one.
Thanks for the comments. Knowing that there is another good option like XE is very useful. The competition will help keep the rates attractive.
Thanks, those are all viable alternatives. I've found www.knightsbridgefx.com to be great for those based in Canada and that have large transfers (ie property purchases in Florida or Arizona).
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