There could be a whole host of different reasons why you will need to send money overseas, you may have a friend or family member who urgently requires funds, of you may be considering moving aboard and as such are looking for a cost effective way to send money overseas to make a house purchase.
If you are about to send money abroad, then please do take a few minutes reading through the following guide for by doing so we are going to be passing onto you some very valuable tips to ensure you always get the most from your transfers, reduce and negate the risk involved with sending money aboard and several other aspects of moving money overseas too.
Shop Around and Compare Exchange Rates and FeesFirst and foremost, do not use your bank for the transfer unless you are physically forced to. Banks are notorious for their fees and charges and they will leave you dramatically out of pocket.
If there is one thing that should be right at the top of your list of wants and demands when you are about to move money abroad it is finding a company that is going to be giving you the best possible exchange rate on your home currency and the one you wish to buy.
There can be a huge difference with regard to the exchange rates being offered on a daily and sometimes hourly basis by different money transfer companies, and with that in mind we cannot stress enough just how important it is that you shop around and compare the rates on offer.
Even if you have to spend literally hours doing so, you will be benefitting financially when you do find a company offering you the best possible rates, and it is often not the biggest or best known companies in the money transfer business that will be offering you preferential rates! So keep that in mind and be prepared to shop around as there are some deals to be struck out there that will benefit you financially!
If you have been keeping a keen eye on the money markets then one thing will not have escaped your notice, and that is the value of one currency can take a huge drop in value or grow in value at a moment’s notice, and when you are about to exchange one currency to another you do not want to order your currency at the moment in time the one you are about to buy drops!
If for example the country whose currency you are about to purchase is having a general election or any type of political upheaval the value of that country’s currency could change once the result of that election is known.
With that in mind you may be best off finding a money transfer company that is offering you the best rate possible and then taking advantage of that exchange rate there and then and basing all of your ongoing financial transactions around that exchange rate, rather than leave it until later in the day, week or month to make your money transfer when the value of the currency you are buying may have dropped!
You should never overlook the financial risks associated with moving money from one country to another, much more so if you are using a money transfer type of service. As such you will need to ensure that you have peace of mind in knowing that you funds are safe and secure when using such a service. Is the company FSA registered?
It is with that in mind we would urge you and encourage you to only utilize the services of licensed and regulated money transfer service companies and ones that are going to guarantee your funds are safe and secure at all times.
If you are considering using a money transfer service that does not use for example segregated client bank accounts and does not offer any type of financial guarantees in regards to your funds then you are best advised not to make use of their service and find a company who can offer you those securities and guarantees!
Another thing to look out for if and when you are about to send money overseas, are companies that offer to buy back any unused currency you do not need or require from your original transaction and will offer you the exact same exchange rate as the one they originally processed your transaction with and will also not charge you any additional fees for that buy/back service.
Whilst it may be the case you are unlikely to make use of that buy/back service it is always good to know that any currency you do not use is going to be exchanged back to the original currency when you have such a buy/back scheme on offer to you.
Not all money transfer companies will offer such a service, however those that do may be worth checking out, if not for that particular service just to ensure they are not offering you a better or worse exchange rate than one you may be about to settle on!
Many ex-pats who are still receiving a pension in their home country will of course want to have their pensions paid out to them in the currency of the country they are now living in, and as such will need to arrange a monthly transfer of their pension to their new country of residence.
If you are one such person then it may be worth checking several different money transfer companies to see if they can offer you a discount in regards to the fees charged for moving money overseas and also if they have a facility whereby you can lock in one guaranteed exchange rate over a set period of time.
There are now many companies who do offer a rate guarantee type of scheme and that does allow pensioners living abroad to be able to know in advance for a set period of time, just how much in their now local currency they will be receiving each month, instead of being at the mercy of often volatile currency exchange rate fluctuations.
