sending money to USA from UK?

[WCZ]

I am trying to send 5,000usd to a company in america but struggling to figure out the best way to do so - I've tried Wise through Monzo but they say they don't accept Swift payments in the USA in usd (seems nuts?)

my money is all in gbp so it'll have to be converted along the way I guess

does anyone know a good service which does this ?

[julianm]

Western Union is a company that will do this - haven't used it for a few years but it's a name you can trust. Not sure how much of a charge there will be for quite a large sum.

[captain_cynic]

Can you not pay by card?

Easiest, least faff way. The banking system in the US is fked up. They don't have a system of interbank transfers like every other civilised country. Americans need to use third party services like Venmo.

There's a few services that will do transfer money from your bank though, Wise and Western Union as mentioned above. Or just plug "sending money to the US" into Google for other options.

A lot of transfer companies flat out refuse to do business in the US due to how bad their banking system is... I guess Monzo is one (as is Currencyfair last time I checked).

Edited by captain_cynic on Tuesday 10th December 16:54

[TriumphStag3.0V8]

Can you use a credit card? Not necessarily cheap (unless you have a Halifax clarity or similar)but any currency transfer service you use will have a cost associated.

Paypal?

When you say you have tried Wise through Mondo, what do you mean? I use Wise (directly via their website or their app) and as I have only ever had to put the bank details of the recipient in and then pay Wise. Admittedly whilst I send money to Europe regularly have only ever used Wise to receive money from the US.

Edited by TriumphStag3.0V8 on Tuesday 10th December 16:54

[gotoPzero]

Most UK banks will have an international payment option.

Just be aware that when sending USD they may use intermediate banks along the way which will take a %.

As such if you sent $500 they might only get $450,,, so triple check first what the fees are and also any deductions along the way.

Other options are Western Union as said, very popular in the US but a lot of businesses wont be set up for this as its more aimed at public than business.

Or paypal but again only if set up.

Amex? If you have one.

[K50 DEL]

I've used XE.com to transfer money from the UK to the USA (and UAE) numerous times over the last 15 years with no problems at all.

They basically act as an intermediary so you send them GBP from your sterling account, they then convert it and pay the foreign currency to the recipient.

It's always been smooth for me, the only thing to remember is that the name on your XE account must match the name on the bank account that is the source of the funds.

[bad company]

I used Revolut, quick, efficient and cheap.

[parabolica]

WCZ said:

I am trying to send 5,000usd to a company in america but struggling to figure out the best way to do so - I've tried Wise through Monzo but they say they don't accept Swift payments in the USA in usd (seems nuts?)

my money is all in gbp so it'll have to be converted along the way I guess

does anyone know a good service which does this ?

In the not too distant past I was able to use my Wise account to pay into a US account. I just couldn’t do it directly from my GBP balance, I had to first open a USD account in Wise, transfer the money there, then pay the vendor using their bank account details. It was 1 year ago, if that makes any difference.

[BertieWooster]

parabolica said:

In the not too distant past I was able to use my Wise account to pay into a US account. I just couldn’t do it directly from my GBP balance, I had to first open a USD account in Wise, transfer the money there, then pay the vendor using their bank account details. It was 1 year ago, if that makes any difference.

This. Set up a Wise account, and then transfer the required amount of USD into it. Then you can do an ACH transfer to the other US account - you will just need the account number and bank routing number.

[rlg43p]

I do some part time work for a US Company and they have the opposite problem paying me in GBP.

So send me the GBP equivalent of $5,000 and I'll get the US Company to send some $ where you want it to go!

[Frogmella]

I send money over quite regularly, in both directions. Zero fuss at all.

Arrives in a couple of minutes. I typically charge my UK account for fees, as it’s cheaper.

As for the terrible banking system here, can’t be that bad given the size of the economy 😂.

But yeah, we use a lot of 3rd party apps. Venmo, cash app but even Apple Cash to text money to someone. I feel we’re way, way ahead of the UK these days.

[Bob_Defly]

You should be able to do it through your bank using the SWIFT / IBAN. I send money back and forth to the UK and it works fine every time, just need to get it set up to begin with.

[x5tuu]

That’s just a Monzo and Wise problem you’ve encountered. I really don’t understand the positive press Monzo gets they aren’t great at all.

I use Starling to make USD payments every couple of weeks and haven’t ever had any issues once everything is all setup.

[CKY]

Frogmella said:

As for the terrible banking system here, can’t be that bad given the size of the economy ??.

Despite the urge to correct you, the Septics did help disprove Gordon Brown's "I have put an end to 'Boom and Bust' economics" in spectacular fashion to be fair - chapeau the US banking system. Anyone else remember "Too big to fail"?

[essayer]

Any mainstream bank will be able to do it and although the rates won’t be amazing, as a one-off it’s not worth setting accounts with other providers etc

Just make sure that its set up as ‘sender pays all fees’ and ask them to confirm all intermediary bank charges first

[WCZ]

ended up doing it through Natwest just for safety of mind -the fee was around £10 but the exchange rate was a little off so cost me about £100 in total

[Frogmella]

CKY said:

Despite the urge to correct you, the Septics did help disprove Gordon Brown's "I have put an end to 'Boom and Bust' economics" in spectacular fashion to be fair - chapeau the US banking system. Anyone else remember "Too big to fail"?

Quite

The system is quite advanced over here. We send wires regularly through work and have almost instant visibility.

I was quite shocked when I moved here and found they still use checks though. Work even accepted a check for a car purchase the other day and it came back as fraud. But that's a story for another day ....

[Earthdweller]

bad company said:

I used Revolut, quick, efficient and cheap.

That's what I've done, transferred into USD and then used the card to pay or take cash out