Which bank is best for FX transactions?Revolut? Monzo? Tide?

Which bank is best for FX transactions?Revolut? Monzo? Tide?

Author
Discussion

seaninog

Original Poster:

513 posts

189 months

Monday 12th November 2018
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My business earns some income in USD and I'd like to be able to hold it in a USD account and transfer it at a time of my choosing to GBP so can I ask which of these new mobile banking apps is best for this?

I've tried Revolut out on a personal level and though their FX offering is strong, I found the fact that there is no email address and no phone number for support rather you have to do everything via their in-app chat (which sometimes don't get back to you for 7-10 days) a bit tedious.

Are Monzo just as good for FX but with proper customer service or who else is dong this well?

cheekymeerkat

152 posts

81 months

Monday 12th November 2018
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I use WorldFirst to repatriate my EUR & USD revenues, the rates appear good. I'm not sure if they are this new wave of app-based banking through.
You can probably get cheaper but I do find them convenient because you can set it to auto-withdraw at a specific frequency or limit, so I just set and forget so I can get on with my day.

Si1295

363 posts

141 months

Tuesday 13th November 2018
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There's plenty of currency companies around. FairFX and Canton are 2 of the better known ones

Mr Overheads

2,439 posts

176 months

Tuesday 13th November 2018
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Sounds like you'll be too small for our full audit service, but we have a partnership deal with one of the main players, happy to refer you across. Just pm me.

Open disclosure: we'll make a few pennies on each transaction (literally pennies) but you'll get a better deal than going direct.

slow_poke

1,855 posts

234 months

Tuesday 13th November 2018
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TransferWise any good for you?

seaninog

Original Poster:

513 posts

189 months

Tuesday 13th November 2018
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I'm not sure I can use a TRansferwise type service. Payments come in from Amazon and need to be deposited in a bank account ready to be transferred. Can Transferwise do this? Plus, I'd like to be able to feed all transactions into our Accounting software (Quickbooks) and I don't think Transferwise can do this either.

I'm thinking of opening a Monzo account. Has anyone got one and are they good for FX rates?

williaa68

1,528 posts

166 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Monzo are indeed good for FX (indeed I think they are very impressive all round) but Revolut are probably better for what you need. Monzo do everything in sterling but offer interbank rates on exchange (e.g. paying for things abroad). Revolut actually let you have a multi-currency account (I have GBP, USD, EUR and CHF). You can swap between the currencies at wholesale rates. And, most importantly for me, you can open an account in the name of your company if you use one.

The technology isnt perfect - it is harder than it should be to make international payments and they can be a bit funny when funding the account. It isnt quite the same as having a EUR account with, e.g., HSBC. But it is a LOT cheaper.

Monzo partner with transfer wise on international payments.

Andrew

The Moose

22,846 posts

209 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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My suggestion would be to set up a USD account (probably US based if it’s coming from Amazon). Then use a forex service such as TransferWise when you’re ready to move the money.

oddball1313

1,191 posts

123 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Worldfirst

oddball1313

1,191 posts

123 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Worldfirst

MrCippo

589 posts

195 months

Tuesday 20th November 2018
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After trying many FX companies over the years, I came across Revolut and found them very good for receiving / making payments in EUR. Had no requirement for helpline, so can't vouch for that. But the rates are good and it's easy to use from a mobile device. The transactions are somehow slower compared to a normal bank, but not too bad.

seaninog

Original Poster:

513 posts

189 months

Wednesday 21st November 2018
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MrCippo said:
After trying many FX companies over the years, I came across Revolut and found them very good for receiving / making payments in EUR. Had no requirement for helpline, so can't vouch for that. But the rates are good and it's easy to use from a mobile device. The transactions are somehow slower compared to a normal bank, but not too bad.
Yup. This is where I ended up. For now.

May you never need their "support" as it's fairly non-existent. I'm hoping I haven't made a pact with the devil for my £25 per month account fee.

Thank to all who contributed to this thread.

seaninog

Original Poster:

513 posts

189 months

Friday 14th December 2018
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seaninog said:
Yup. This is where I ended up. For now.

May you never need their "support" as it's fairly non-existent. I'm hoping I haven't made a pact with the devil for my £25 per month account fee.

Thank to all who contributed to this thread.
Update on this (in case anyone in a similar situation finds this thread): I binned Revolut within the 14 day trial period. I simply cannot run my business bank via a company that refuses to communicate via email or phone and insists on doing everything via in-app chat where you can literally be waiting for hours or days to get a reply, assuming you can get past the Bots in the first instance that is. I fail to understand how Revolut are growing so much as I've only had negative experiences with them.

For a solution I went back to TransferWise who have a "Borderless Account" as they call it. Basically you open this account and can have several different currencies within it and transfer between them all at just a 0.6% fee per transaction and the account itself has no monthly/annual fee. Amazon accept payments in there, so too will my credit card processor and Amex so in theory it's what I need.

If my experience with them turns out less than I have outlined here, I will update this thread again. Thank to all who contributed.