This might not have wide appeal to most of the HUKDer's but could be handy if you want to send international payment for free provided you have 1) a first direct account 2) the beneficiary's account details (in foreign bank)
This is not applicable if you are thinking about getting money to spend on holiday - a foreign bank account is needed to receive the money.
There is no fee for international payment although the beneficiary bank may charge a fee to process the payment. This is the first bank to offer it as free service as far as I am aware.
In most cases it is almost better to send payment in Sterling Pound (£) which will be converted into foreign currency once it hits the beneficiary account - and the exchange rate is always better than the exchange rate proposed by the bank at the point of remittance.
Sending up to £50,000 per day
Top comments
marathonic
26 Jul 173#31
The rate they offer appears to differ dependent upon transfer size - with the best rates on offer for the maximum transfer of £50,000. The following is what I could determine for a euro transfer. It does give the option for a sterling transfer. You'd probably need to check that the receiving bank would accept this as opposed to just bouncing it back.
First Direct:
Current Rate as per XE.com: EUR 1.121440
Rate offered online by FD: EUR 1.103506
GBP 50,000.00 = EUR 55,175.30
Transferwise
GBP 50,000.00 = EUR 55,786.07
Transferwise will give an extra GBP 610.77 for a transfer of this size (1.22154% more).
bigmike2028
26 Jul 173#7
Great news no fees so i can help the Nigerian prince who keeps e-mailing me $$$
All comments (42)
tommytbone1
25 Jul 172#1
Well this sucks... I only sent a international payment a couple of weeks ago. Spent about 10 mins on the phone arranging it as well. Cheers for update op
villageidiotdan to tommytbone1
26 Jul 17#5
Me too, but 45 mins so complained and got the £4 refunded...took some effort mind you. Good bank overall
AndyRoyd
26 Jul 172#2
Who sets the forex rate? Can the forex rate be viewed at point of transaction? Thanks.
villageidiotdan to AndyRoyd
26 Jul 17#6
Unsure but good question - could never get across to my mum that "commission free" mean diddly if the ex rate was rubbish.
In my instance I was sending £800 to a foreign account so the exchange rate was the sellers issue.
foxabcd1234 to AndyRoyd
26 Jul 17#35
You can choose, where it gets converted - sending/receiving bank (usually better at receiving bank)
Most banks use their central bank's published rate less "1% (minimum) or more"
J4GG4
26 Jul 17#3
Thanks OP.
jamgin
26 Jul 17#4
Cheers op. Bank with FD and didn't know this
bigmike2028
26 Jul 173#7
Great news no fees so i can help the Nigerian prince who keeps e-mailing me $$$
scubascuba3
26 Jul 17#8
This is very good, Santander charge £25 for a transfer.
The exchange rate you would get when sending GBP is the receiving banks rate, that can vary, isn't necessarily the interbank rate so you need to compare to see if it's any good. For large transfers it's usually better to transfer this way. Companies like transferwise charge a % so can be a high GBP charge
p9dyl to scubascuba3
26 Jul 171#10
Transferwise is the cheapest way to send money internationally, they give you mid market rate and take 0.5% commission.
I get paid in Danish DKK and spent a lot of time looking into the cheapest way of converting my money back to GBP.
scubascuba3
26 Jul 17#9
I've just read the small print....it's not good....no mention that you can send GBP so this means that First Direct will manipulate the rate you get and convert before currency is sent. So no guarantee it will be a good rate, certainly not worth opening a first direct account. If you were allowed to send GBP it would be good.
A big COLD vote now
adi0604 to scubascuba3
26 Jul 17#17
Rubbish, they will give you live intraday exchange rate. Also says on it 'Know your exchange rate
With rates updated by the second during market hours, you'll know how much you're sending'
eliHd452
26 Jul 17#11
yass! I can now transfer some cash to the prince of Nigeria who sent me an email recently looking to borrow some cash for free!!
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Opening post
1) a first direct account
2) the beneficiary's account details (in foreign bank)
This is not applicable if you are thinking about getting money to spend on holiday - a foreign bank account is needed to receive the money.
There is no fee for international payment although the beneficiary bank may charge a fee to process the payment. This is the first bank to offer it as free service as far as I am aware.
In most cases it is almost better to send payment in Sterling Pound (£) which will be converted into foreign currency once it hits the beneficiary account - and the exchange rate is always better than the exchange rate proposed by the bank at the point of remittance.
Sending up to £50,000 per day
Top comments
First Direct:
Current Rate as per XE.com: EUR 1.121440
Rate offered online by FD: EUR 1.103506
GBP 50,000.00 = EUR 55,175.30
Transferwise
GBP 50,000.00 = EUR 55,786.07
Transferwise will give an extra GBP 610.77 for a transfer of this size (1.22154% more).
All comments (42)
In my instance I was sending £800 to a foreign account so the exchange rate was the sellers issue.
Most banks use their central bank's published rate less "1% (minimum) or more"
The exchange rate you would get when sending GBP is the receiving banks rate, that can vary, isn't necessarily the interbank rate so you need to compare to see if it's any good. For large transfers it's usually better to transfer this way. Companies like transferwise charge a % so can be a high GBP charge
I get paid in Danish DKK and spent a lot of time looking into the cheapest way of converting my money back to GBP.
A big COLD vote now
With rates updated by the second during market hours, you'll know how much you're sending'