 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm sure people with better  search capability than I are able to find a more recent thread than 2010, and I'm sure they exist: I just can't seem to hit the nail. So I'll crave some indulgence and start again.
Wanting to load up the French account while the rate is reasonably good (to pay taxes, running costs and usual holiday incidentals), so looking for experiences people have with the various FX exchange companies (or bank to bank transfers): HiFx, Caxton, UKForex etc. etc. We have a French account with HSBC Annecy, but no HSBC UK.
Have used NatWest in the past, but am led to believe that the specialists do a better job for the larger amounts
So first query is, of course, security, then comes rates, fees, customer experience and speed of delivery. Are there any horror stories out there and "avoid at all costs"? Any advice appreciated (including links to old threads !).
Thx
AR
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Arctic Roll, Folding stuff at M+S less than £500 at a time no questions asked. Rate is one of the best as well.
Quick and easy rarely have to wait either. 
Blimming Tesco's want your inside leg measurement as well for over £200.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Arctic Roll, we use ukforex and they have been excellent, no fees with exchange over £3k, rates seem ok, 1% ish margin (but have not really used others) you will need to provide kyc info to them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hi Arctic Roll,
We use xe.com for both work and personal and find them pretty efficient.
I seem to remember that setting up the account was a bit of a faff initially but they offer competative rates, no fees and transfer the money within an hour or two of you sending it to them - all done online.
Hope that helps . . . .
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've found HIFX without any problem - very quick to get funds to my French bank account, once the initial set up was done. Has to be in trading hours, obviously. I have no idea how competitive their rates are - frankly, given the amounts I transfer, it wouldn't be worth a lot of my time to spend hours comparing changes to decimal points.
It's hugely preferable to the archaic arrangements in barclays, that's for sure.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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When I bought my apartment I used one of these specialist foreign exchange companies. They quoted a very good rate but I failed to notice the small print at the bottom of the page which said that the rate was subject to conformation at the day of transfer. Once I had transfered the money to them and phoned up to transfer the cash to France they dropped the rate even though the pound had risen in value. The broker on the other end of the line had realised they had hooked me. I could have pulled out of the deal but needed the transfer to be done quickly. It was after that that I realised that my bank (Lloyds TSB) would have given me a better rate anyway on that amount of money.
So first advice - read the small print
Since then I have always transferred direct from Lloyds to Britline, but I did discover that transfering pounds to France gave a better exchange rate than euros.
Like Arctic Roll, I used to transfer a few thousand pounds a year to meet all expenses. Doing it this way tha banks take about 2% of the transaction into their sticky fingers, whereas using cards, changing folding money etc. they take between 5 and 11%.
Even better to find someone who has a lot of euros, perhaps because they are paid for some work in euros, and want to change it into pounds. Just beware, it is almost impossible to spend 500 euro notes.
John
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Another vote for HiFX, used for personal and business, quick, efficient and as competitive as most.
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in fact it was cheaper and only a day slower to use HiFX than it was to directly transfer between two barclays accounts held in the same branch (one euro, one sterling, both ours)!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Check out this link , Capital Currencies , I have used them for all my currency transactions for years my personal and also for my business , I highly recommend them .
http://www.capitalcurrencies.com/
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Have used HIFX and UKforex recently with no problems. UKforex give a slightly better exchange rate than HIFX, especially for larger transactions.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks everyone. I've set up an account with UKForex, they were offering 123.7 today, ( FT FX rate was 125.3) and no fee for first two transactions, so I think I've found the way forward.
johnE, sounds like a company to avoid.
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