Find the best transfer services and rates for your overseas bank transfers

Imagine you have a child living abroad (UK, Canada, Australia….) or a second residence in another country (sunny Spain, dancing Brazil, for example). You will probably need to pay a monthly service or mortgage in another Currency (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD…). You will also know that there are many options to send money abroad or receive funds from a bank account abroad. And you also should know that there are many more competitive currency transfer operators than your bank.Cambiator offers you several currency transfer services in a neutral way so you can compare prices and commissions of these services against the price of your bank for your bank fx transfers. Making a price simulation with any of these companies is very simple. You just have to select the country of origin of your money, the country of destination and the amount in your local currency that you wish to transfer. And then choose the transfer proposal that interests you most.

Why use a money transfer service?

Sending money abroad (dollars, pounds, etc.) to or from a bank account abroad can be a very expensive process in time and money, since banks are not accustomed to work in competition. Most banks offer uninteresting currency exchange rates and also charge you commissions. This will make the final amount in currency that is sent or received abroad very uninteresting.

Now you can get around these unnecessary fees by making your currency transfers with an authorized money transfer sender. These are companies, generally based in the United Kingdom, that specialize in finding the best money transfer rates for their clients, at a much more favorable exchange rate for the payer and the recipient of the transfer.

Currency transfers are for you:

• If you are buying a property in another country with another Currency different to yours.
• If you need to make regular payments abroad to pay a mortgage or send money to your family at home.
• If you need to make a relevant payment in other countries that use another currency.

Currency transfers are not for you:

• If your are thinking in travel money (banknotes for your holiday expenses abroad).
• For payments of less than 100 euros.

When you send money to another country from your bank account to a bank account in another country with a different currency, a series of intermediaries that slow down the operation and charge a commission for its management come into play. Now, the process has been greatly simplified by financial entities such as Transferwise or Currencies Direct, authorized by the financial authority of their country, United Kingdom, and specialized exclusively in negotiating better prices with more intermediaries, to get more alternatives for sending money abroad each time.These entities have accounts in euros and other currencies in Spain and in all the countries where they operate. And by regulation, those accounts are segregated. The mission of that local account (in the case of Spain, in euros), is that the consumer sends money in euro in that account that the entity owns. Then they Will be sending your money to their destination account in the agreed currency minus their commission or exchange rate applied, in the target currency (for example in dollars). And from your dollar account in the United States, Canada or anywhere, they will make a local transfer in the same currency to the recipient’s account (in our example, in dollars).

Therefore, you do not have to fear advancing your money to transfer to an account of these companies. They work like this for years, and having segregated accounts, there is no risk of losing your money. Each client that makes transfers has a separate account number from the rest, at a local bank. This process is the same, but conversely, if it is you who receives funds in foreign currency from abroad.

Let’s see a step-by-step example by sending 10,000 euros to a bank account in the United Kingdom (pounds).

The company agrees to an exchange rate with you online or by phone and if you keep going, you will be assigned an agent who will accompany you throughout the process. Then you will make a transfer of 10,000 euros from your bank account in Spain to the conpany’s bank account in Spain (in euros).

The transfer company will transfer your euros to pounds at the exchange rate established with you to an account of the same company in an English bank. And from there, the company Will do a pound bank transfer from their account to your recipient´s account in the UK.

Unlike the purchase or sale of currency in cash (banknotes for a pleasure or work trip) where you know the exchange rate of the day for a couple of Currencies (euro to dollar or dollar to euro, for example), when you send money abroad, currency is operated slightly differently.To begin with, the exchange rate that will be applied to the money transfer can be negotiated with the different parties, transfer to transfer. And that price is what these financial companies will offer specifically for you, depending on the volume to be sent, the currency pair or how frequent your activity with them is (the greater the loyalty to the same currency transfer company, the better the exchange rates that will apply to you).

In addition, in the travel money business, a paper currency (euros or GBPs) is delivered, and another currency (dollars) is received by hand, also in cash, which is generally used for your own use and enjoyment at the destination. While currency transfers do not move “paper” but are movements of bank account balances expressed in two different currencies (your Euros account in Spain versus the Canadian dollars account of your child studying in Canada, for example).

Requesting a quote from one of the transfer companies that collaborate with Cambiator does not cost you or commit to anything. The first thing you will have to do is indicate to each one through a quotation form the funds that you want to transfer and in which currency (for example, euro to dollar or euro to pound). Then you will have to tell them if you are an individual or a company and they will either show you the price applied to your currency exchange on the screen or they will contact you to confirm the details of the operation on the phone.If you decide to move on, you will create a user account in the transfer provider and perform all the steps we have seen in the FAQ “How money transfers work”.

If you are planning to send abroad 100 euros or less in its equivalent in another currency, do it in the traditional way via your bank, since with these amounts the rate differences will not be noticeable.As for an upper limit, technically there is no maximum amount to be transferred abroad between bank accounts in two currencies. Please find out if fiscal terms apply in your country before sending high volumes abroad. But, in fact, the higher the amount of the bank transfer abroad, the better the rate that the intermediary company can offer you.

Keep in mind, however, that if the amount to be sent is extraordinarily high, for reasons of prevention of money laundering you may be asked to provide proof of the origin of your funds.

Anyone above legal age and with an identity document in Spain (DNI or NIE) may send money abroad. Some transfer companies may ask you to upload your scanned ID documents in jpg, pdf, etc. or even a picture of you taken from your mobile phone or webcam. If the amount to be sent is extraordinarily high, due to legal requirements to prevent money laundering, you may be asked to provide proof of the origin of your funds.

If what you need is to send cash to a family member in another country, think that a cash remittance service is more adequate. Remmittances have nothing to do with Currency money transfers.When placing a remittance you approach an agent of Western Union, Moneygram or any other remittance provider and deposit your local currency, and indicate the recipient and his country and city of residence. And they tell you the exact amount in foreign currency (in cash) that your family member or friend will receive at their local agent. Once placed, the recipient receives a notification of a local agent in his city informing of the availability of Funds sent by their counterpart in the country of origin. Then he can go to the agent store to Collect his cash in local currency (Peruvian soles, Bolivians, pesos, etc.).