Bank transfer from Ireland to UK

fifth

I want to transfer money to someone in the UK, I am with Bank of ireland, and i have a current account, my wages get paid in there every week. I'm with them since, hmm, november 2004...

But I just know either:
a. it won't be possible to transfer money to the UK
b. it will either have massive restrictions/forms to fill in, or cost a fortune.

Anyone have any info on this? I will pop into the bank this week..

lostinsuperfunk

You have several choices:
1. Interpay electronic transaction. BoI told me it was quick and cheap, but it took about 3 weeks to clear in my case and cost a good few euros. Maybe just down to BoI incompetence though. You need to know the IBAN number of the destination account (the payee can tell you this).
2. Write a cheque, in euros, and post it to him/her. It's hard to guess the right amount, due to currency fluctuations, and it will take a while to clear in the UK, but this is still the easiest way for small amounts, in my experience. You get a slightly reduced exchange rate on cheques so allow for that. Don't forget to cross it. The money usually appears in the destination a/c around 5-8 working days after posting.
3. You can get a sterling bank draft here. Expensive as far as I remember, and not much (if any) quicker than option 2. There may be a risk associated with sending these in the post, you'd need to check that out and send it registered if necessary. However if you're using registered post you could just send sterling cash.
4. Not sure about this, but perhaps paypal be used for this kind of thing.
*5. Something like Western Union money transfer is fastest (~1 day), but it is expensive.

+ maybe more options, I am not a banking expert!

kluivert

It depends on how often you wish to transfer money to the UK.

One option that i am in favour of as per the above post, is getting a Sterling Draft of the BOI, Costs about €2.50. And send it to the UK by Swift Post (Quick Delievery and as well as that the post can be tracked, €5.50)

I have to do this about three times a year to pay for student fees.

Depends on you, the amount and how often you send it over, Add up all the costs and choose the one that is the cheapest and you feel best about.

djk1000

Irish Euro cheques are not accepted in the UK because the Irish banks won't honour them. If the draft does get lost in the post, if it's registered it's insured for an amount (can't remember how much) make sure the draft is for less than An Posts compensation limit.

RuggieBear

AIB Sterling drafts took 3-4 weeks to clear to my Natwest account. :eek: :rolleyes:

GerardKeating

funkyflea wrote:

Anyone have any info on this? I will pop into the bank this week..

The absolute fastest way is to get the Bank Details of the person/company/organisation you want to transfer to money to, and drive up north and find a branch of the same bank as the account you are sending money to.

lostinsuperfunk

Irish Euro cheques are not accepted in the UK because the Irish banks won't honour them

I often transfer money from Ireland to the UK this way. However, it might help that I'm transferring from a BoI euro account here to a BoI sterling account in the UK, both in my name.
However, I have also used an Irish euro cheque to pay off my UK credit card, and those cheques get lodged to a bank account in the credit card company's name, not my name. The last time I did that was a couple of years ago, so it certainly could be done back then.
Why would a bank not honour a cheque provided you have sufficient funds to meet it? Money laundering legislation maybe?

jrey1981

I have a BOI account here and a Barclays UK account. Interpay shouldnt take more than 3 days and you can pay a fee to do it next day. Just get the IBAN and swift codes, name and address of the person in the UK and you are sorted. It is just one form you have to fill out and if you transfer euros to them on the 3 day transfer it only costs 50 cents

nlgbbbblth

jrey1981 wrote:

I have a BOI account here and a Barclays UK account. Interpay shouldnt take more than 3 days and you can pay a fee to do it next day. Just get the IBAN and swift codes, name and address of the person in the UK and you are sorted. It is just one form you have to fill out and if you transfer euros to them on the 3 day transfer it only costs 50 cents

not sure if the 51c charge applies to payments going to UK

euro-zone only I think

nlgbbbblth

Sterling bank draft shouldn't cost more than €3.81 plus the cost of a stamp.

Sending a euro cheque drawn on an Irish bank is not a great idea. Generally speaking, cheques attract a more favourable rate than cash when converting in Ireland. Not sure about over there. In any case the UK bank may not give the beneficiary value for the cheque immediately.

jrey1981

nlgbbbblth wrote:

not sure if the 51c charge applies to payments going to UK

euro-zone only I think

Well I only get charged 50cents...

secret_squirrel

I dont suppose any of the banks offers international transfers online do they? I for one would find it rather useful. There seems to be no reason why it couldnt be done automatically.

I used to have a sterling transfer set up to go each month to an account in the UK - this was a few years ago. Ulsterbank used to charge me about €10 each time - they advised me to use sterling drafts which were cheaper!

nlgbbbblth

secret_squirrel wrote:

I dont suppose any of the banks offers international transfers online do they? I for one would find it rather useful. There seems to be no reason why it couldnt be done automatically.

I used to have a sterling transfer set up to go each month to an account in the UK - this was a few years ago. Ulsterbank used to charge me about €10 each time - they advised me to use sterling drafts which were cheaper!

That sterling transfer you refer to would have been done manually by the bank each month. They would have had a reminder/diary system. I doubt if they would offer the service now.

secret_squirrel

nlgbbbblth wrote:

That sterling transfer you refer to would have been done manually by the bank each month. They would have had a reminder/diary system. I doubt if they would offer the service now.

Should have mentioned this was active up until about a year ago - well after IBAN nos came in I think. :rolleyes: Gotta love the banks!