Financial advice

[RabbieBurns]

Anyone here know a bit about finance and currency exchange?

 

Ive got about £4k owing on my UK credit card, but £0 UK income, so all Im doing is paying about £50 interest each month and not clearing any dept. All my money is in AUD at the moment.

 

I have enough to pay it off, but I dont want to get stung with a crappy exchange rate.

 

4 grand today is about 7 in AUD, but will my bank give me the same rates if I do an internet transfer? Would it be better for me to get the 4grand in UK pound notes and carry it over to the UK when I visit.

 

Is there any UK credit cards that will offer a 0% interest on transfers for X months, for someone with effectively no UK income? Or should I just bite the bullet and pay it all off just now? Or what is the chances of the aussie dollar getting nearer the pound so it costs me less dollars to pay off the UKP?

[witch]

Frankly, I would pay it off NOW. All this faffing around worrying about the exchange rate just means that you are paying more interest every month.

How long are you going to pay £50 interest a month waiting for the exchange rate to improve??

[RabbieBurns]

Do I want to send in Pounds or in Dollars?

 

Sending in Pounds only says $7000 will be £3871.7 on my online banking.. but there is the option to send in AUD - will that leave it up to my scottish bank to do the converting?

[teejay]

Best rate I could find on that would give £3912.80 for $7000, so the rates not too bad. You'll probably find your Scottish bank won't accept payment in AUD or will find they'll rip you off even more on the exchange rate, so I don't think you've got much of an option.

[SYNACK]

Do I want to send in Pounds or in Dollars?

 

Sending in Pounds only says $7000 will be £3871.7 on my online banking.. but there is the option to send in AUD - will that leave it up to my scottish bank to do the converting?

 

The dollar/pound will still fluxuate but not with any real certainty so its probably better to just pay it off now, that rates aren't bad at the moment and have been much worse.

 

As to which bank to do the conversion with, it depends on the two banks and their policies. Personally I would ring your local bank and ask about their fees and rates on such transfers. Most of the time they will use the conversion rate at the time of the transfer and charge a fee to complete the conversion.

 

Which one is the better deal depends on the fees that each bank may charge and their own published exchange rate at the time. Ages ago I beleive that they used to do the currency transfers in batches so the rates were worked out at the time the batch was processed but now I don't think that this is the case, the only way to know for sure is to check it out with your specific banks. If they are anything like the ones here (which are all owned by the Australian banks anyway) they will be happy to answer such questions.

[RabbieBurns]

Im actually gonna be back in the UK in 3 weeks time.. I might see how much money the Post Office or other Currency exchange places here will give me for $7000 and just take cash back if its any better..

 

XE - The World's Favorite Currency and Foreign Exchange Site says 7,000.00 AUD = 4,023.20 GBP So will try to see if i can get closer to that ..

[somabc]

Witch is right the time you spent waiting for a favourable exchange rate will be more than cancelled out by paying £50 / month in interest.

 

I'd imagine one of the specialist currency brokers would give you the best rate.

eg. Best Foreign Currency Exchange | International Wire Transfer & Holiday Money | Euro Payments| Bureau De Change

has £1 =1.733

 

or

Foreign Exchange | Currency Rates | Money Exchange | Foreign Currency

[teejay]

Im actually gonna be back in the UK in 3 weeks time.. I might see how much money the Post Office or other Currency exchange places here will give me for $7000 and just take cash back if its any better..

 

XE - The World's Favorite Currency and Foreign Exchange Site says 7,000.00 AUD = 4,023.20 GBP So will try to see if i can get closer to that ..

 

That's set on the mid market rate, not the rate you will get doing a currency exchange through a broker.

[theeldergeek]

Anyone here know a bit about finance and currency exchange?

 

Could I suggest you also see if you can find some ex-pat forums and ask the same question in there? My parents live in Cyprus and move money around a fair bit via a broker; it is (apparently) much cheaper than using the banks. Of course, as you are just wanting to pay off one outstanding debt and aren't looking at moving a UK based income around, all that may not be necessary.

[somabc]

That's set on the mid market rate, not the rate you will get doing a currency exchange through a broker.

 

You will get very close to it though, eg. Midmarket rate is 1.74, I'm sure you can get 1.73. You can also put in a standing order to execute the trade when rate reaches a certain level eg. I could say make the trade in the next month if £1 = 1.70 and get some extra £££'s

[aerospacemango]

Im actually gonna be back in the UK in 3 weeks time.. I might see how much money the Post Office or other Currency exchange places here will give me for $7000 and just take cash back if its any better...

 

I would be VERY careful about walking through customs with £4k in your pockets! HMRC aren't usually keen on large sums of money coming INTO or OUT of the country, as there is no proof of where it comes from. This could also attract the attention of SOCA (Serious and Organised Crime Agency).

 

Would you really like to spend a few hours in Heathrow/Gatwick explaining, and then proving, where the money came from?

 

Your best bet IS to do an international transfer. OR do a Western Union-type transfer of sterling, to yourself in a local UK branch, but I seriously advise AGAINST bringing large amounts of cash through customs!

[RabbieBurns]

I would be VERY careful about walking through customs with £4k in your pockets! HMRC aren't usually keen on large sums of money coming INTO or OUT of the country, as there is no proof of where it comes from. This could also attract the attention of SOCA (Serious and Organised Crime Agency).

 

Would you really like to spend a few hours in Heathrow/Gatwick explaining, and then proving, where the money came from?

 

Your best bet IS to do an international transfer. OR do a Western Union-type transfer of sterling, to yourself in a local UK branch, but I seriously advise AGAINST bringing large amounts of cash through customs!

 

I dont really think 4 grand is considered a large sum of money in this day and age is it?

 

plus, if I was to do it that way I would have the receipt for the exchange and having paid for it with my bank card.

 

Id be more worried that id enjoy the free booze on the plane to much and end up losing it somewhere

[aerospacemango]

Having spent 18 years working in casinos, I know that SOCA view anything above £2.5K as a large amount of money.

 

For instance, EVERY transaction, in a UK casino, of £2.5K has to be reported, UNLESS the player is KNOWN to be straight. OR should the transactions involve £10K over the course of a gaming session, then it has to be reported.

 

Therefore, I would STILL think very very carefully about bringing a large wad of cash through customs!

 

However, feel free to take this advice with a pinch of salt!!!!!

[Little-Miss]

Having spent 18 years working in casinos, I know that SOCA view anything above £2.5K as a large amount of money.

 

For instance, EVERY transaction, in a UK casino, of £2.5K has to be reported, UNLESS the player is KNOWN to be straight. OR should the transactions involve £10K over the course of a gaming session, then it has to be reported.

 

Therefore, I would STILL think very very carefully about bringing a large wad of cash through customs!

 

However, feel free to take this advice with a pinch of salt!!!!!

 

I have to say the thought did pop into my mind. Thats from watching too many programs like border patrol etc...

[Midget]

Banks are a rip off for exchange rate (has been stung far too many times in Africa)

 

If you're coming back to the UK, book in advance - you get a crap rate on the day - for an exchange with Travelex Heathrow (unless there is a better rate with their Sydney branch) and take the cash straight to the bank.

 

As for walking around with large sums of cash, I've converted over £2.5k to USD in Heathrow from a current account and walked it through customs in the UK and several African countries without a problem.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Midget

[cookie_monster]

I would also have to say that i'd avoid walking through customs with that amount of money. Also just imagine if your bag went missing or your hand luggage snatched, you get run over etc it's a big risk.

[somabc]

Having spent 18 years working in casinos, I know that SOCA view anything above £2.5K as a large amount of money.

 

For instance, EVERY transaction, in a UK casino, of £2.5K has to be reported, UNLESS the player is KNOWN to be straight. OR should the transactions involve £10K over the course of a gaming session, then it has to be reported.

 

Therefore, I would STILL think very very carefully about bringing a large wad of cash through customs!

 

However, feel free to take this advice with a pinch of salt!!!!!

 

Your best bet is to make sure it is a bunch of non-sequential heavily used 10's and 20's in an old holdall and have your flight connect through Amsterdam.

 

Actually you are able to take up to €10,000 into the EU without declaring it.

 

HM Revenue & Customs: Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

Edited August 27, 2010 by somabc

[RabbieBurns]

@

 

Ok, so I finally made up my mind (£70 interest later) and Ive had my bank draw up a cheque in Pounds I can just pay into my account. The exchange rate works out about 98% of what xe.com says, so Im pretty happy with that.