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How to transfer money to Singapore from the UK?

US UK Money transfer

  • US Friend would like to send UK Friend some money (lets say $100, but could be more). How to best do this so UK Friend gets the most she can out of the money? Looking for pros and cons of all types of transfers. Neither of us are trying to hide the payment. For example, A check could take forever to clear and bank charges could eat the check up, right? Does Paypal work US-UK? Cash in a envelope? Money orders? Help! and thanks in advance!

  • Answer:

    Definitely not cheque, as that will be very expensive to cash. I would do this via wire transfer. You'll need her BIC and IBAN numbers which she can get from her bank if she doesn't know them. Also possibly required: the name of her bank and address of her branch. I don't know what your bank charges for international wire transfers, mine only charges $8, but I know this is unusually low. If the fee is more than about 15$, then maybe you could send it via Western Union?

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Check out http://www.sendmoneyhome.org/Content/money-transfer-comparison.php?countries=US&destinations=GB&amount=100&submit=Search&submitted=truesite, which lets you comparison shop for electronic transfer options, May be useful if your bank charges a lot for wires, which I seem to recall many American banks do.

atrazine

Paypal is the bet solution of the three. Whatever method you chose Paypal will provide the best exchange rate for your UK friend, as the exchange is handled by credit card which is invariable better than a bank or currency exchange.

Neiltupper

invariable invariably. Plus it's virtually instantaneous

Neiltupper

If we're talking about $100, use PayPal. If we're talking about $1,000, go to the bank, do a SWIFT transfer over the counter, and pick up the $25 charge. If we're talking $100,000, use a forex service. We used http://www.hifx.co.uk/ and were entirely happy with their service. if it absolutely positively has to be there overnight, use Western Union.

DarlingBri

http://www.moneybookers.com/ or what atrazine said.

devnull

Yes, be sure to check your bank fees before you try this. If your bank loves you, the charge may be low, like five dollars, but sometimes it's as high as forty or fifty. I've found that using old fashioned Western Union ($10 fee for up to $1000) is cheaper and more reliable than my bank for an international transfer. Faster, too (less than an hour vs a few days), though the parties have to visit a counter to send/receive. I don't know why anyone would pay $25-50 for a bank transfer that's slower and (IME) flakier.

rokusan

What about http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/gc/ref=topnav_giftcert? They can be used to buy just about anything, can be delivered by e-mail and there's no fee ("Always delivered for free").

iviken

Paypal would be best, although if they need the money asap, it can take 3-4 working days to withdraw it from Paypal into their bank account. Still cheaper than a bank transfer, though. USD cheques can take, from memory, 7 days + to clear and depending on the bank, will cost £7-10 to convert. Personally, for $100 I'd just use PayPal (send $105 or so, if you want your friend to be left with as close to $100 as possible).

mahke

Datapoint: I just transferred money to myself from the US to the UK and Bank of America charged me $35.

ElmerFishpaw

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