Exchanging $ (cash) to £ - best way

[g4ry13]

I know we have had this topic in the past. It's been a while so I wondered if there are any better solutions.

I have about $5000 in cash and wish to convert to £. I'm aware the high street foreign exchange places offer this service and will take a nice cut for doing so.

The current best option I have seen is to open a $ account with my bank. Deposit the $ into currency account. Transfer $ to Revolut (incurring $6 charge + $25 intermediary charge). Then I can convert to £ on revolut app at close to spot rate.

Are there any more efficient ways of doing this conversion? Other than hanging on to them or going to the US and trying to change it there?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Exystenshalist]

I am allergic to high bank charges. Especially for forex.

I would recommend Wise. I have used them for many years and have had an excellent level of service. I have two business accounts with them as well as a personal account.

You would need to set up a USD account with a local bank, then, as you say, transfer the money across to your Wise account. You can then hold it in USD or convert to other currencies and hold it there or transfer it back to another bank account. They offer interest on USD, GBP, EUR etc. You can also get a Wise debit card and then spend the money wherever you are in the world. The money will automatically be converted into the local currency you are spending. Currency conversions typically cost about 0.5%.

It's been a long time since I set up my Wise accounts so some things could have changed. I think at one time (a year or two ago) Wise were not accepting new US accounts. I'm not sure if this is still the case.

[g4ry13]

Exystenshalist said:

I am allergic to high bank charges. Especially for forex.

I would recommend Wise. I have used them for many years and have had an excellent level of service. I have two business accounts with them as well as a personal account.

You would need to set up a USD account with a local bank, then, as you say, transfer the money across to your Wise account. You can then hold it in USD or convert to other currencies and hold it there or transfer it back to another bank account. They offer interest on USD, GBP, EUR etc. You can also get a Wise debit card and then spend the money wherever you are in the world. The money will automatically be converted into the local currency you are spending. Currency conversions typically cost about 0.5%.

It's been a long time since I set up my Wise accounts so some things could have changed. I think at one time (a year or two ago) Wise were not accepting new US accounts. I'm not sure if this is still the case.

Thanks for that suggestion. I had seen it mentioned elsewhere as well.

I think the main issue (albeit minor) is that when I transfer money from my HSBC $ account to elsewhere that i'm going to incur a $6 charge + $25 intermediary charge and there's no way around that. Regardless of whether the money ends up at Wise or Revolut - I don't think this is something i'll be able to avoid.

I was going to deposit a little bit and test this method, but if i'm paying these costs for a bank transfer then I may only do it once. Revolut allows me to convert at market rate so I don't think Wise have any real advantage in that respect. Maybe slightly winning on the fees where Revolut allows me to do £1k/month and then charges 1% thereafter if I exceed it in a month. I have no real rush for the money and might work in my favour to see what happens with rates.

[okgo]

Yes. Where you wanted Wise was when transferring the money into an account, Wise allows you to have a US account which you then receive cash to and then convert to GBP - it’s how basically everyone in the U.K. takes money from American RSU’s etc.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

[g4ry13]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

I guess NW. Although technically live in Hertfordshire.

I am in the City fairly regularly. I was pointed in the direction of a place in Waterloo which gives better rates than the usual high street. Although the bank deposit and transfer is the best option.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

I guess NW. Although technically live in Hertfordshire.

I am in the City fairly regularly. I was pointed in the direction of a place in Waterloo which gives better rates than the usual high street. Although the bank deposit and transfer is the best option.

There's a dress shop in Ruislip called Lovi London who run an exchange bureau at the back of the shop. They are well known in the area, rates miles better than most others, no questions asked on larger sums.

I recently changed up $ for £ and got £735/$1000. The post office were offering £681 on the same day.

If you just want to get it done in one go, that might be your answer.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 9th September 16:14

[ATM]

g4ry13 said:

I know we have had this topic in the past. It's been a while so I wondered if there are any better solutions.

I have about $5000 in cash and wish to convert to £. I'm aware the high street foreign exchange places offer this service and will take a nice cut for doing so.

The current best option I have seen is to open a $ account with my bank. Deposit the $ into currency account. Transfer $ to Revolut (incurring $6 charge + $25 intermediary charge). Then I can convert to £ on revolut app at close to spot rate.

Are there any more efficient ways of doing this conversion? Other than hanging on to them or going to the US and trying to change it there?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Citi bank or Chase or another, cant remember, I think were offering $ account in UK and accept $ in cash at their main branch in London

So fx conversion at competitive rates is easy but offloading the cash is your problem because all these fx places are mostly electronic only

So you need to figure out to get the cash into electronic first and foremost because that's the tricky bit

[AB]

Find someone who spends a lot of time in the US and get them to buy it from you.

Must be a few on here.

[g4ry13]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

I guess NW. Although technically live in Hertfordshire.

I am in the City fairly regularly. I was pointed in the direction of a place in Waterloo which gives better rates than the usual high street. Although the bank deposit and transfer is the best option.

There's a dress shop in Ruislip called Lovi London who run an exchange bureau at the back of the shop. They are well known in the area, rates miles better than most others, no questions asked on larger sums.

I recently changed up $ for £ and got £735/$1000. The post office were offering £681 on the same day.

If you just want to get it done in one go, that might be your answer.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 9th September 16:14

Sounds a bit dodgy but I may have a look into it in a few weeks

A problem I ran into the other week at HSBC was that they didn't want to touch one of my $100 notes as it's an 'A' series which is fairly old. Maybe it was the guy being especially cautious or it will be a more widespread issue.

[g4ry13]

AB said:

Find someone who spends a lot of time in the US and get them to buy it from you.

Must be a few on here.

Probably not without its risks meeting strangers off the internet to exchange thousands of £.

But if there's anyone who is interested in getting a slightly better rate (and in London / Hertfordshire) then reply to this and maybe something could be arranged.

[h0b0]

I have never heard of them and only searched because they sound dodgy...


But Lovi London Currency has a website

Currency Buying Rate (£) Selling Rate (£)

USA Dollar 1.37950 1.33400

[g4ry13]

h0b0 said:

I have never heard of them and only searched because they sound dodgy...


But Lovi London Currency has a website

Currency Buying Rate (£) Selling Rate (£)

USA Dollar 1.37950 1.33400

Thanks, it sounds reasonable and comparable to the Waterloo place.

I'm away for a little bit and will probably see how I get on with HSBC. Lovi is definitely an option for the more troublesome notes.

[InitialDave]

If you bank with HSBC, can their (free) Global Money card/account do anything to make this easier?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

I guess NW. Although technically live in Hertfordshire.

I am in the City fairly regularly. I was pointed in the direction of a place in Waterloo which gives better rates than the usual high street. Although the bank deposit and transfer is the best option.

There's a dress shop in Ruislip called Lovi London who run an exchange bureau at the back of the shop. They are well known in the area, rates miles better than most others, no questions asked on larger sums.

I recently changed up $ for £ and got £735/$1000. The post office were offering £681 on the same day.

If you just want to get it done in one go, that might be your answer.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 9th September 16:14

Sounds a bit dodgy but I may have a look into it in a few weeks

It's not a bit dodgy, it's very dodgy. But if you're getting more £ for your $, who cares.

[g4ry13]

InitialDave said:

If you bank with HSBC, can their (free) Global Money card/account do anything to make this easier?

I will have to look into that, it got a bit complicated at the hour I was trying to understand what the account was and went for a $ account. A quick glance and it looks very similar to Revolut in being able to use a card abroad without incurring loads of fees.

Maybe a potential option is:

Deposit cash at HSBC into $ account -> Move to HSBC global account (not sure if I will incur fees) -> Convert to £ (if possible) -> Transfer £ to current account (if possible).

A few things i'll have to look into when I get a bit more time.

[g4ry13]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

g4ry13 said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

OP, I see you're in London. N,S E or W?

I guess NW. Although technically live in Hertfordshire.

I am in the City fairly regularly. I was pointed in the direction of a place in Waterloo which gives better rates than the usual high street. Although the bank deposit and transfer is the best option.

There's a dress shop in Ruislip called Lovi London who run an exchange bureau at the back of the shop. They are well known in the area, rates miles better than most others, no questions asked on larger sums.

I recently changed up $ for £ and got £735/$1000. The post office were offering £681 on the same day.

If you just want to get it done in one go, that might be your answer.

Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Tuesday 9th September 16:14

Sounds a bit dodgy but I may have a look into it in a few weeks

It's not a bit dodgy, it's very dodgy. But if you're getting more £ for your $, who cares.

The thought is bringing back trauma from my time in Bali.

I found a place with a good rate and go to the back of the shop. Hand over my £ and out come a pile of notes, guy counts it into various piles all very quickly and slides over to me. I go to count it and he starts putting the notes in different piles and it got very confusing!

I think that I have it al and then walk out with the money. Go to restaurant and have another count and realise something like £60 is missing. Go back and the counter is empty. Kick up a bit of a stink and stand in the street looking for the guy. He shows up and pulls some notes from under the counter (which I assume he tried to pocket) and hands it to me. I got pretty lucky to get my money back.

[InitialDave]

g4ry13 said:

I will have to look into that, it got a bit complicated at the hour I was trying to understand what the account was and went for a $ account. A quick glance and it looks very similar to Revolut in being able to use a card abroad without incurring loads of fees.

Maybe a potential option is:

Deposit cash at HSBC into $ account -> Move to HSBC global account (not sure if I will incur fees) -> Convert to £ (if possible) -> Transfer £ to current account (if possible).

A few things i'll have to look into when I get a bit more time.

I've never been charged for transferring money from my £ current account to Global Money, or the reverse, but the complication is the $, I'm not sure how it affects things. I seem to recall receiving $ into it at one stage without incident, but for the life of me I can't remember if it was a payment in or a refund of something I bought etc.

Yes, at heart, it's like Revolut, put money into it and change it into a given currency.

[Blue_star]

Why do you think foreign exchange places take a chunk from you necessarily?

No1currency dont have charges and also give you better rate than any bank would. Go get a quote to compare.

Also once you get quote you can ask for discount.

Also i dont see a benefit in doing it all in one go but personal preference.

There is a shop near you, quote is £3410 as of right now. How much will you get after charges with hsbc process?

Edited by Blue_star on Wednesday 10th September 05:17

[NowWatchThisDrive]

Out of curiosity I had a quick look at Thomas Exchange and Ace FX who I used a bit in the city pre-Revolut, and even compared to them you'd still be £100-200 better off paying the fee to get it into Revolut/Wise. If you're feeling masochistic, the Post Office will do it for 14% from mids