Do you want to send any large sum of money abroad from the UK? For
example, you could be sending money to a loved one who lives in another
country, or maybe it could be for the payment of a deposit on some new house
abroad.
Whatever the reason, find out about the best-most secure, cheapest
method to send your cash for international transfer from the UK.
This concise and valuable guide
provides everything you will need to know about international money transfers,
including the fees, exchange rates, how secure your money will be, limits on
how much you can send, and also what you need to do to initiate your payment.
You may want to look further into Speed Remit if you are after a specialist
service to transfer money with lower but transparent fees, appropriate fair
exchange rates, and dedicated security measures.
The UK government does not set limits on the outward remittance of
funds from the UK.
However, there are official bodies like the FCA (Financial Conduct
Authority) or HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) that monitor these international money transfer services
for any illegal activities, including fraud or money laundering.
However, there are official bodies such as the FCA (Financial Conduct
Authority) and HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) which monitor these
international money transfer services to check for any kind of illegal activity
including fraud and money laundering.
Such international payments often require the provider to obtain a
bit of information about the sender and receiver, but generally, that process
is nothing more than following the service provider's procedure, and all should
be fine.
FCA and/or HMRC may decide to initiate further investigations if
any concerns arise with notified money transfers related to money laundering or
tax avoidance and may result in civil or criminal proceedings in case of
transfer found guilty of illegality.
There are no legal transfer limits. Thereby theoretically, you can
send almost anything overseas. However, the transfer service provider you use
usually places a daily/monthly/yearly sending limit on the amount. Mostly,
banks have international money transfer limits of anywhere between £25,000 to
£50,000, depending on the bank.
There are a number of ways to send money from the UK; most
commonly banks and renowned money transfer services.
However, the method you choose does not change the fact that the
transfer process is practically the same regardless.
·
Get the details of your beneficiary-
name, address, account number and sort code, international bank account number
(IBAN), and SWIFT/BIC code for their bank.
·
Agree upon the method with the
recipient, specifying who pays any fees incurred.
·
Ask transfer limits from the bank or
transfer provider.
·
Research the transferring provider as
it should be a pretty genuine and reputed source that uses appropriate safety
measures. You are sending a large sum, so make sure you and your money are
protected.
·
If carrying out the transfer online
(i.e. using a transfer website or bank's online banking portal), you must enter
the details for the transfer, such as amount to be sent, currency, and other
bank details to be able to make an international transfer.
·
Compare different ways for possible
savings; also check fees and exchange rates carefully to determine the exact
transfer cost.
·
Carefully check the details of your
transfer.
·
Once you are satisfied, confirm
transfer and get tracking details (if provided by the provider).
Mostly, banks and international
money transfer providers have their own requirements in terms of asking
documents for a transfer. Some documents may be required to identify you or check
where the money came from.
It is worth contacting individual banks because every bank has its
own guidelines on what are the documents
required for international transfers.
You can find a list of methods, meeting everyone's needs or taste,
whether banks, specialist money transfer
services, or more. Each of these methods comes with a lot of differences in
the procedures they adopt and some costs involved. Therefore, each will need to
be compared to determine the best
available deal for international transfer. We will now provide a lesson on
the most important factors to take into consideration when planning your
foreign transfer.
The most important point is that money should be as secure as
possible while being transferred. Simple commonsense makes it clear that
sending in cash large amounts is not too secure through the mails. But how to
find that the bank or money transfer service is really secure? Surely, you will
have to look for the reviews and rankings of the provider to make sure you are
on the right place.
Now to compute the real cost of a transfer, you need to include
the following:
·
Upfront
transfer fees: These can be very different among the
various international transfer providers, so do your research and compare
prices. It may save you a lot of money.
·
Intermediary
and receiving bank fees: Most banks and some international
transfer providers, get the money to the intended recipient by way of the SWIFT
network. That means the funds transfer will be borne along by some intermediary
banks, maybe 3 at most, which may charge their own fees. In addition, the
receiving bank may charge a fee for receiving the payment.
·
Exchange-rate
mark-up: Some banks and providers hammer in a margin
to the mid-market exchange rate. This is all to make it more expensive for you
to go through with the transfer.
·
Other
hidden charges: These might be tracking charges, cancellation
fees, return fees, or something else.
Additionally, it is also important to check and compare the
exchange rates that different international payment providers use. This,
however, can sometimes become really tough as the rates change all the time.
This makes it tough for you to identify whether you got a good deal on the
exchange rate for your transfer or not.
The best way to get assurance that the exchange rate given to you
is fair would be to compare it with the mid-market exchange rate using a
trusted converter that adheres to that rate.
This is the rate that banks trade currencies on between themselves
and the one you will find if you go on the internet searching for the currency
pairing of interest.
However, for the most part, banks and international transfer
services will not grant retail customers the mid-market exchange rate when they
are making an actual transfer.
They instead impose a markup on that mid-market rate. The profit
is theirs, so you are possibly giving away money you did not need to. And when
the amount being sent is rather large, it soon becomes quite a substantial
portion of the total.
Before hitting 'send' on your transfer, here's a handy checklist
of tips and important things to consider:
·
Double-check the recipient info so as
not to make any mistakes.
·
Only use respected providers - make
sure they're FCA-regulated providers. Also, check reviews on sites such as TrustPilot.
If you're not sure, go with a big name like Speed Remit.
·
Calculate how much the transfer will
cost, including 'hidden' fees like the mark-up on the exchange rate. Call the
bank or provider if you're not sure.
·
Carry out a small test transfer (although
note that operations for larger amounts might take longer and require more
documentation).
·
Be extra careful about scams,
especially if you feel rushed to send an urgent transfer or handle someone
unknown.
If you are looking for secure, transparent money transfer options,
you might consider Speed Remit. The platform is technically a money services
operator that are really affordable when sending large sums internationally.
Instead, the transaction is more swift and secure than any other top remittance
mobile app with little features.
International large amount transfers can be sent at very low,
cost-effective, transparent fees. And you get the mid-market rate for currency
conversion-for free. Just pay a nominal upfront conversion fee. This way, more
money goes to your intended recipient and costs you less in the process.
With a security policy that comprises two-factor authentication, frontline anti-fraud specialists, and industry-leading banks, SpeedRemit.com is quite good in holding your funds secure against any threat. When it comes to business transfer, the platform also has tailor-made solutions for the transfer of large amounts overseas.
Check live rates, send money securely, set rate alerts, receive notifications and more