TransferWise bath4banks campaign highlights 'grubby' money transfer tactics

Banks offer awful value when sending money overseas, currency company complains.

TransferWise is attempting to clean up the 'grubby tactics' of banks when transferring money abroad, with a new campaign called bath4banks.

The firm has spent today roaming around London with a team of dressing gown-wearing enthusiasts giving ‘bankers’ a bath, as you can see from the pictures below. You can find out more on the bath4banks.com website.

bankerinbath

It’s a fun way of making an important point – if you use a high street bank to send money abroad, you are going to pay a lot for the privilege.

Let’s take a look at how much you would get if you converted £10,000 into US Dollars from a handful of high street banks:

Bank	How many dollars would you get?	Time to receive the money
Lloyds Bank	$14,905.17	Up to 12 working days
HSBC	$14,899.35	Up to six working days
Royal Bank of Scotland	$14,871.26	Up to two working days
NatWest	$14,871.26	Up to two working days
Barclays	$14,845.69	Up to eight working days

Source: lovemoney.com international money transfer centre

So you could be waiting a fair while before you actually get the cash, and you’ll tend to get less than $14,900. Now let’s take a look at what you could get from a handful of specialist online brokers:

Broker	How many dollars would you get?	Time to receive the money
TransferWise	$15,215.74	Up to five working days
TorFX	$15,169.86	Up to three working days
HiFX	$15,159.16	Up to three working days
Currencies Direct	$15,047.52	Up to three working days

Source: lovemoney.com international money transfer centre

As you can see, not only do you get far more for your money, you’ll probably get the cash quicker too. There’s a difference of $370 between Barclays and TransferWise, a frankly ludicrous amount.

Get the best rate on your transfer with the lovemoney.com international money transfer comparison centre

Why brokers are so much cheaper

If you pop down to your bank to transfer money overseas, you will suffer from a poor exchange rate. Banks think that by offering a ‘commission-free’ or ‘fee-free’ transfer, they can get away with offering that poor exchange rate. They take a healthy chunk of your cash, and you get stung without really realising it.

With brokers, things are a little different. Their whole business is moving money across borders, so they need to offer a better service than you’ll get from your bank. As a result, while you may pay a fee, you’ll get a far better exchange rate and end up with more money as a result.

Get the best rate on your transfer with the lovemoney.com international money transfer comparison centre