foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Banking and Saving strategies, maximizing interest rates, budgeting, GICs, HISAs.
Post Reply
User avatar
twj332
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 3
Joined: 03 Nov 2009 09:10

foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by twj332 »

Hello,

I currently have an account with XeTrade to purchase USD and wire transfer to my USD domiciled account (for DRIP investment), but I also purchase other foreign currency and send either by EFT or wire transfer to other accounts I have outside of North America/over seas.

Currently XE Trade is moving/migrating to HiFX which does not have some of the currencies I need and has somewhat higher fx fees.
TD and BMO will allow me to purchase almost any world currency but the spread (cost to buy) is very high and the transfer cost is too high ($25.00/per wire transfer),Western Union (Custom House) has lower transfer fee $20.00 but no ability to deposit to account in foreign country & the spread (cost to buy) is high. The lost fee and lowest spread I've found so far is World Remit (UK Company) but I have no experience with them.

I am looking for feedback or suggestions on who to use to purchase and send currency with reasonable spread rates and transfer fees? Ideally I would like to purchase the foreign currency and deposit direct (EFT) rather than a wire transfer (which triggers fees).

Any feedback from the members would be appreciated. Who do you use to purchase foreign currency?

Thanks
Terry
Spudd
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 1518
Joined: 22 Sep 2013 14:52

Re: foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by Spudd »

I've got no personal experience but Knightsbridge seems to be highly recommended.
gsp_
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 2318
Joined: 12 Apr 2011 17:48
Location: Montreal

Re: foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by gsp_ »

Look into Currency Fair and Transfer Wise. Not sure if Canadian deposit mechanisms are up to par, mostly used for repatriation of foreign funds.

Both have been mentioned here before if you do a search.
User avatar
twj332
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 3
Joined: 03 Nov 2009 09:10

Re: foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by twj332 »

Thank you both for the reply
I have found several others that I am looking into.
These include:
CurrencyTransfer
TWFX
WorldFirst
OFX
CanadainForex
Finmark
pmj
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 3412
Joined: 27 Feb 2005 18:15
Location: Ottawa

Re: foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by pmj »

One factor to consider is the size of your transfers. EG 0.5% fee at TransferWise (there is a min fee, but it's less than C$5-ish) is relatively cheap for smallish $k, but a "commercial" broker will be cheaper for order-of-magnitude higher transfers. TransferWise is now moving £ to C$ in less than 24 hours - used to be about 3 days.
Peter

Patrick Hutber: Improvement means deterioration
queerasmoi
Veteran Contributor
Veteran Contributor
Posts: 3385
Joined: 27 May 2008 16:25

Re: foreign exchange purchasing and sending of fx

Post by queerasmoi »

So I never really took a closer look at XE Money Transfer because I haven't gone on any US trips lately. But I have one coming up for work in November.

With the old XE Trade, I was able to link both my CDN & US accounts to it as both sources and recipients of funds. Now it seems I'm only allowed to add Canadian funding sources although my US account at Bank of America can still be recipient.

Do any of the other sites basically offer what XE used to? I just want to be able to pipe funds from my TD CDN account to my Bank of America account and back at decent rates.
Post Reply