Best bank for international transfers?

hedgehog33

Hi,

I need to open a new business account, and was wondering if anyone could recommend a bank that is efficient with international transfers.

I'm currently with BOI (personal a/c) and their international transfers are slow. E.g I sent an international payment last Thursday (applied in Branch), and it still has not even left my account! The say it should go today. As I will need to regularly send international payments, I would like to find a faster bank.

However, I have a feeling that all Irish banks are slow at international payments? I worked abroad the last few years (non-EU), and we were involved with a lot of international transfers from the UK and Ireland. Payments from the UK would usually take 2 - 4 days, but from Ireland they took 1 to 2 weeks :eek:.

Any recommendations or advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

delllat

hedgehog33 wrote: »

Hi,

I need to open a new business account, and was wondering if anyone could recommend a bank that is efficient with international transfers.

I'm currently with BOI (personal a/c) and their international transfers are slow. E.g I sent an international payment last Thursday (applied in Branch), and it still has not even left my account! The say it should go today. As I will need to regularly send international payments, I would like to find a faster bank.

However, I have a feeling that all Irish banks are slow at international payments? I worked abroad the last few years (non-EU), and we were involved with a lot of international transfers from the UK and Ireland. Payments from the UK would usually take 2 - 4 days, but from Ireland they took 1 to 2 weeks :eek:.

Any recommendations or advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

I would use a credit card or an online service
it might not be cheaper but its worth it in terms of hassle to be able to
send payements to anyone 24/7 from you computer and have them recieve them in any country instantly

Spinnaker

Haven't used them .. some awareness only.Efficient and cheaper is my impression.

www.transfermate.ie

Mickk

Spinnaker wrote: »

Haven't used them .. some awareness only.Efficient and cheaper is my impression.

www.transfermate.ie

That site seems like a scam to me. They advertise the interbank exchange rates all over the site and make it look like theirs but wont tell you their rates. Also a 15 euro charge isn't good, BOI is only 8 euro for a 2 day transfer.

OP the best way is to stay with BOI if you have a good history with them and you can use Business Online to do transfers. They go through straight away, next day to anywhere in the world is 21 euro or 2 working days is 8 euro. The system is a bit dated but it works ok when you get used to it.

probe

You should get same day value for SEPA priority payments (ie within the Euro currency zone) - providing you input them to the system before noon CET, the payment should be in the destination account by 16h00, same day.

This assumes your bank has joined the Euro Priority Payments Scheme, and you provide the correct BIC, IBAN and other details in the payment instruction. If your bank hasn't joined the EPPS, move to one that has.

IBANs can be verified here:
http://www.iban-bic.com/iban_validieren.0.html?&L=2

BICs can be verified here:
http://www.swift.com/bsl/details.do

A BIC should have 11 characters - not 7 characters as often used in Ireland. The additional 3 characters speeds STP (straight through processing) at the destination bank.

Most of the post I receive from Ireland and Britain takes about 5 days, because most Irish and British people seem incapable of addressing a letter properly! (eg the postcode should precede the town name and be on the same line) and the envelope should not have a handwritten address because these often fail machine recognition of the address in automated sorting offices. The same applies to bank payments if they are to reach their destination quickly - the details must be accurate and clear.


http://www.abe-eba.eu/Repository.aspx?ID=5eb7b55e-5f08-4fb0-b08a-cad9ae59d622

cooper38

transfermate are 15 euro same day and free for 3 day, having online banking is no advantage. Its whoever gives the best rates. Ive called around and transfermate were definitely cheaper, boi were way higher

fergalfrog

If it's a decent amount of money don't use a bank.

I use hifx who move the money fast and with good exchange rates. They also have other features such as the ability to lock in a rate or trigger the transfer when the rate hits a figure you specify.

There are plenty of other such services but this is the one I picked and have stayed with them.

The banks will give you a much worse rate and may apply other costs.

TheWaterboy

I used transfermate.ie before to transfer money to the UK. They offered by far the cheapest rates and I prob saved myself 450 euros on the transaction. Very simple process and you can have the transfer happen on the same day for an extra 15euro. Alot of the guys over on the motors board swear by using them when buying cars in the UK

r0nanf

Ditto with transfermate, have used them for the States, Australia and Europe. Significantly cheaper

Locamon

delllat wrote: »

I would use a credit card or an online service
it might not be cheaper but its worth it in terms of hassle to be able to
send payements to anyone 24/7 from you computer and have them recieve them in any country instantly

Online maybe but many international companies/suppliers will not accept credit card payments found BOI to be fine but the express charge has never speeded any payments up in my experience -better to use the standard service.

murphaph

Hmm, I regularly use AIB online personal banking for transfers from Ireland to Germany and the non-express (free) service takes about 2 days IME. Maybe the paper based ones (in branch) are much slower?

I'm only staying with AIB for their online banking. It's streets ahead of most others, especially UB.

stepbar

BOI International transfers don't always debit instantly. If doesn't mean that the money hasn't gone to where it's supposed to.

E.g. I recently sent 50eur worth of sterling to my sterling a/c. I did this in a branch. The money arrived the next day however I wasn't debited for the sum for a couple of days after.

You local branch will have a copy of the fees and charges associated with each type of international payment. Obviously the quickest method will be the most expensive.

cooper38

used them, by far cheaper than the irish banks and you know the rate i advance, very handy

sneakerfreak

BOI are horribly behind the times,terrible service for transfers etc

AIB i find to be excellent,very very good

wexfordbuild

I use Investec Bank for transfers to Uk and China etc, When i check rates v my normal bank always a good saving to be had and no margin being built in for your local branch.

Hope this helps

cooper38

hedgehog,
once you are with boi your transfers will take ages and will also be expensive.
Transfermate have accounts with boi so you you transfer to them and they transfer on, same day to uk when i do it for example. their online system very handy

Mickk

I was sending 20,000 USD to china today and I decided to check out Transfermate and Hifx. Bank of ireland gave me a rate of 1.479xxx and transfermate and hifx gave me rates of 1.471xxx. The transfer was fee was 15 instead of 21 for same day. All in the saving for me would have been less than 90 euro and I didn't bother, for the hassle of sending it to a middleman and then instructing them on who to send to, it wasn't worth it to me.

What both of the sites say about the calculator on their homepages is: "ABOUT THIS INDICATIVE RATE
The following rates are interbank rates. This is the rate at which banks buy and sell money from each other. These rates are not available to private individuals or small to medium companies. They are therefore provided for indicative purposes only. For a quote please phone our team"

Although the rate they offered me wasn't much higher than the rate on the calculator I think it's misleading and annoying to have to ring up for a rate... Bank of Ireland Business OnLine is ancient but it works well.

cooper38

you dont have to ring transfermate for a rate, they have an online system which you can use to book online, ive used it for uk, zloty payments, very simple

dz

Try Blue FX Markets. We use them a lot for China and UK payments and they are best value and reliable. HIFX don't operate in Ireland and when I looked into them they were not authorised to operate in Ireland by the Regulator - Buyer beware!

fergalfrog

dz wrote: »

Try Blue FX Markets. We use them a lot for China and UK payments and they are best value and reliable. HIFX don't operate in Ireland and when I looked into them they were not authorised to operate in Ireland by the Regulator - Buyer beware!

Sorry but I have to disagree re: HiFX

I have no affilation with HiFX but I use them and find them really good. They were recommeded to me by someone else and I know another guy who uses them.

The cash (exact amount quoted) always arrives on time and I can also speak to one of their dealers to negotiate a rate. I opened my account with them while in Sydney Australia so not sure if that makes a difference.

I used them only last week and I'd have no hesitation in recommending them.

dz

fergalfrog wrote: »

Sorry but I have to disagree re: HiFX

I have no affilation with HiFX but I use them and find them really good. They were recommeded to me by someone else and I know another guy who uses them.

The cash (exact amount quoted) always arrives on time and I can also speak to one of their dealers to negotiate a rate. I opened my account with them while in Sydney Australia so not sure if that makes a difference.

I used them only last week and I'd have no hesitation in recommending them.

HIFX operate from the UK - not Ireland. They are not regulated to operate in Ireland.

I know this as I had issues with a payment through them before. When I went to the Financial Regulator to make a complaint, I was told that they were not authorised to operate in Ireland and had no licence to trade here. Hence, I moved business to Blue FX Markets and so far have had no issues.

Just pointing out the facts for people.