Best way to transfer and exchange funds for purchase?

[Timreyn]

Now that I am close to purchasing my new to me boat I am looking at the best way to transfer funds from the US and pay for the boat in British Pounds. Dollars wire transferred to England and converting the dollars to pounds. Both my banks will do this but the transfer rate is about 2% higher than google posted transfer rates. With a $ 200,000 + price this equates to a $4,000 added fee. Has anyone used one of the Foreign Exchange companies that pop up when doing a google search? They have very low fees. I have no experience doing this and I am really nervous about handing my money over to a company I have no experience with. I am thinking about getting a cashiers check at the bank, flying over and exchanging the funds there. This poses the same risk but at least I would walk in the door. Anyone covered this issue before or have some advice? Thanks

[GordMay]

Check out TransferWise , founded in 2010 by founders of Skype and backed with investment from Richard Branson.
➥ https://transferwise.com/ca/?utm_sou...dium=affiliate

[boatman61]

When I bought a boat in the States I got a Bank Draft in London from my Bank.. in $$'s for asking prices I was looking up to.. the only problem was the manager of the bank in New Bern did not know what a Bank Draft was.. took 10 days before she finally accepted that it was a guaranteed check.. despite Bank of America.. printed in BIG LETTERS..
When I bought in the Caribe I just flew out with a stuffed money belt.. works wonders for the adrenalin when your digs are in Phillipsburg..

..

[exMaggieDrum]

I used xe.com to transfer NZ dollars to US dollars in 2008. The boat was bought in Aus dollars first though and that was transferred from a Aus bank to one in NZ where I set up an account. That part was hard. XE was by far cheaper and the customer support was outstanding. I had no issues whatsoever and was happy I used them. I think there are other good ones too.

[HiAndDri]

+1 for Transferwise. I pay my marina fees in euros from a sterling account with them. Good value and efficient.

[dfelsent]

I bought my boat in the UK with Pounds. I am located in the US and keep dollars.
Transferwise was great for me in February of 2016.
Extremely transparent and upfront. Low fees as well.
Transferwise is regulated by the UK banking authorities, I believe.

[leftbrainstuff]

We've used Ozforex several times. Cheap, efficient and cut the banks out of transfer fees completely.

[Kemp]

By far the best way is to use Revolut for a day to day currency exchange. They offer intebank exchange rate and no commision for 6k EUR per month and 0.5% fee thereafter. As of now exchange rate is 1USD=0.8103GBP. No doubt with $200k+ exchange you should contact them directly to discuss details. You will need to open Revolut account, verify identity and source of funds, then transfer USD to your Revolut account (Barclays Bank UK), exchange USD to GBP and make payment with Revolut Mastercard. Have no idea is it possible to pay $200k+ with debit card If possible, check with your counterparty if they will accept such payment, Mastercard could charge transaction fee. As alternative ask your bank to offer you a spot exchange rate for such amount.

[barnakiel]

Not sure you can fly in with your pockets full of cashiers checks. The limit on undeclared ccy and other cash related documents is EUR 10k (say flying from France to the UK).

Off course you can bring in more, just remember to declare.

b.

[Toaster]

+1 xe.com. Seem to have good rates and a simple enough interface. I've transfered money from US to UK (Jersey) and back.

They allow you to set up either a "push" payment (ie you have to initiate the $ transfer to XE at your bank to cover the funds) or a pull payment where they have authority to pull money from your account (handy if you do this a lot). I don't like the latter and would not use it if that was the only choice. It just means you have to take the extra step to send them the money before they will transfer it.

[UNCIVILIZED]

following

[reed1v]

We opened up a Barclays bank account in NYC and paid with their checks virtually anywhere they had a branch. Also can do that with HKSB. Nowadays you can use a good brokerage firm instead like Fidelity or Schwab. No need to wire money. They automatically do the currency conversions for you.

[exMaggieDrum]

I have "heard" many times now that travelers' check have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Many places won't take them and even some banks, and if they do, they will charge you fees for the service.

[crabcake]

[sailingforfun]

Used https://us.ofx.com/version3/registra...personal/step1 in 2015. I needed to sell dollars and buy euros to make payment in France. Excellent speedy service. Which ever service you choose avoid the Banks if you don't want to pay high fees and wide spreads.