smart currency exchange

[shaz1967]

Hello fellow members
Has anybody used "smart currency exchange" for transferring monies from the UK to Portugal?

[andyco]

I use them every month and find them great to deal with. Tried other currency exchanges in past (GCEN) and find Smart much more efficient and much fairer on exchange rate. On one reasonably sized transaction there was an £800 difference in my favour on their exchange rate compared to GCEN.

[shaz1967]

Thanks for the info andyco, I have read several reviews & they all seem to say the same as you so it gives me confidence to use them now I have spoken to somebody on here that has had 1st hand experience of them.

[RichardHenshall]

TransferWise is very good for routine transfers and provides a good benchmark against which to measure others.

[shaz1967]

TransferWise is very good for routine transfers and provides a good benchmark against which to measure others.

Thank you for the info, I will look at their T&C's. I like the smart monies no fees etc but obviously it may reflect on the rate they give you.

[Rampage]

I have used Transferwise for more than a year now. I always check the Reuters exchange rate before a transfer and TW are always exactly the same. A very small fee is charged and, since they have opened their own bank recently, transfers take less than 24 hours.

[Algarve Eagle]

I too have been using Transferwise recently. As Rampage says they use the market exchange rate and fees are transparent and low (GBP to Euros at 0.35%). The status of the transfer can be monitored using the Transferwise app. Also, in my experience, money paid from my UK bank account via bank transfer to Transferwise at say 10am will be in my Millennium BCP account by late afternoon the same day. The Transferwise app will advise when Millennium has the money; there is often a 2-3 hour delay before Millennium subsequently credits my account but even so the money is in my account by 5pm.

[Sheila]

I too have been using Transferwise recently. As Rampage says they use the market exchange rate and fees are transparent and low (GBP to Euros at 0.35%). The status of the transfer can be monitored using the Transferwise app. Also, in my experience, money paid from my UK bank account via bank transfer to Transferwise at say 10am will be in my Millennium BCP account by late afternoon the same day. The Transferwise app will advise when Millennium has the money; there is often a 2-3 hour delay before Millennium subsequently credits my account but even so the money is in my account by 5pm.

Have you had any charges made by Millennium as a result of the transfer?

[Algarve Eagle]

No. The amount indicated by Transferwise arrives in my Millennium account, without any charges by Millennium.

[pickwick]

Monese is best with NO CHARGES and interbank rate!!!

[Algarve Eagle]

I just did a simultaneous comparison of Monese and Transferwise.

For GBP1000, Monese would deliver EUR1119.28 using a rate of 1.1249 and charging a fee of 0.005%. Transferwise would deliver EUR1120.07 using the same rate of 1.1249 but with a fee of 0.0035%.

Difference is minimal but Transferwise shades it on this comparison, purely on the difference in fee!

[malrc]

Richard
Thanks for this tip. Have just saved my self over £30 by using Transferwise rather than HSBC. Very simple to do as well

Malcolm

[Michelle546]

All
Always good to get recommendations first hand - I will be using Transferwise going forward rather than NatWest!

Michelle