Currency Transfer Advice please

Hi, I would really welcome any thoughts or advice on the following scenario:

I am trying to bring funds from Hungary to Ireland. The currency is fluctuating wildly at the moment and if I do this electronically, I stand to lose or gain a few grand either way depending on when the banks actually execute the transaction, I am uncomfortable with this.

I am in Hungary shortly anyway and I was thinking of withdrawing the money in 5 equal sized Hungarian currency drafts which I could then present to my bank in Ireland on any given day when the rate is acceptable, I could also hold some of the drafts for the medium term and have a level of control. My questions are : What would the Irish bank charge to deposit the draft, if anything?. Am I failing to consider anything else?

Any advice or alternative suggestions most welcome. For illustration purposes à Euro will get you 316 HUF Today, this day last month it was 290, the month before that it was 270 :-(

For what it's worth I used TransferMate a few years back and they gave me a good deal on a reasonable sized US$ to € transfer. I also looked at other options such as XE and OANDA at the time but went with TransferMate because it was a bit less hassle and I was able to pop into their Dublin office to check out some issues first.

http://www.transfermate.com/
http://www.xe.com
http://www.oanda.com

Thanks Clubman, I'll check them out

7seats said:

I am in Hungary shortly anyway and I was thinking of withdrawing the money in 5 equal sized Hungarian currency drafts which I could then present to my bank in Ireland on any given day when the rate is acceptable, I could also hold some of the drafts for the medium term and have a level of control. My questions are : What would the Irish bank charge to deposit the draft, if anything?. Am I failing to consider anything else?

Any advice or alternative suggestions most welcome. For illustration purposes à Euro will get you 316 HUF Today, this day last month it was 290, the month before that it was 270 :-(

Click to expand...

I might be wrong but I think you would face the same timing issues with a draft - I know drafts should be cleared funds but I don't know that this would necessarily be the case with a foreign bank draft. It might be a couple of days (or more before you actually got value for them)

You can book a rate with a dealer though Bank of Ireland Global markets this then secures the rate at the time you agree it. I would guess you will need to provide the funds within a short time scale.

always ask for a better price you will get one.

Can anyone give me an indication of how much this costs?

I want it for this thread.

I have checked out Transfermate's site and it's not clear to me at all. Maybe they can't give an actual price until you do the deal.

This is the exact calculation I want to do

I have asked before about the security of Transfermate and I don't remember getting a clear answer. What happens if they go bust before the transaction is completed?

Not sure about the security question but I seem to recall that you can get an indicative (or maybe binding for a period of time) quote from them (possibly via their website) and can also try to haggle with them for a preferential rate. Unfortunately I can't recall how much it cost me when I used them.

Don't use TransferMate. They don't know what they're doing!

I contacted Craig Feldman in the Chicago office to send money to Colombia. I set up an account, my account was "activated" (although they could not get it to work online), I had to bank wire money to their account (at my expense). They do NOT do direct debit, though their website says they do. They "couldn't find" my money. Finally they find the money, but then decide that they don't do transfers to Colombia, though their websites says they do and Mr. Feldman said they did. Now I am waiting on my money to be wired back to me (of course, I have to eat the transfer fee). They are incompetent. One week wasted.

I had my doubts about TransferMate. Their website claims that they won "European Business Award 2010
TransferMate and the group fought off tough competition to scoop the 2010 European Business Award."
I checked out the European Business Award 2010 website - guess what, no mention of TransferMate in ANY of the award categories for 2010.
Similarly, they claim to have won the 2010 Deloitte Best Managed Companies award - they are not listed as a winner.
So if they are lying about awards, what does it say about their business ethics, and why would you trust your money to them?

I have used and would recommend Currencyfair.com 100%. No affiliation other than as a repeat and satisfied customer. I had one issue with a delay and they were v responsive and proactive in getting it resolved.

Irish Company also.

I don't usually give such glowing recommendations.