Getting money into the US

[phem0r 16]

I've used travelex's international payments to transfer money to my fiancee in America before. Got a decent rate, they give you a better rate the more you transfer and there's no fee over X amount. You just bank transfer to them and they bank transfer into said US account

I personally wouldn't dream of carrying all that cash on me

Edited May 16, 2014 by phem0r

[Hotter Otter 1,211]

I'm taking over $20000 and there's no way in hell I'm carrying that on my person lol.

[US/UKHubbyUKWife 1]

I've used transferwise.com and I think it's a good service.

[pmarshall 9]

And safer than traveling with all that cash.

This is another service some people use http://www.hifx.co.uk/personal/online-transfers.aspx

Thank you

[Kiwinyc 62]

I have used Transferwise multiple times and they are very good. 0.5% commission and competitive exchange rates.

[pmarshall 9]

I have used Transferwise multiple times and they are very good. 0.5% commission and competitive exchange rates.

Is a us bank account needed ? Hard when your English ;-)

[phem0r 16]

Is a us bank account needed ? Hard when your English ;-)

Transfer it into your partner's account..

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Is a us bank account needed ? Hard when your English ;-)

Well where do you plan to keep it in the US? Most put it in a bank or credit union. Something has to be on the US receiving end of the transfer.

[pmarshall 9]

Well where do you plan to keep it in the US? Most put it in a bank or credit union. Something has to be on the US receiving end of the transfer.

Under my pillow ;-) ill get the misses to open one

[christeen 966]

Open a account with an international bank like HSBC or UBS, then when you arrive, do an inter bank transfer.

[pmarshall 9]

Open a account with an international bank like HSBC or UBS, then when you arrive, do an inter bank transfer.

Bank transfer mmmmm bad exchange rate and fees !!!!

[christeen 966]

Bank transfer mmmmm bad exchange rate and fees !!!!

How much intrest you earning Nader your pillow?

[pmarshall 9]

How much intrest you earning Nader your pillow?

Still not paying the fees and bad exc rate at a bank. XE.com seem good

[Kiwinyc 62]

Global transfers between HSBC Premier accounts are fee-free, I've yet to see what the exchange rate is like but its supposed to be the cheapest way to get money across according to an article I read in the Wall Street Journal recently. Better than normal interbank exchange rates anyway) Citibank is the other bank that does similar. HSBC will open a US account for you from the UK before you move here and link them together in Online Banking.

My husband and I opened a joint Bank Of America checking account on one of my visits before I actually moved which I use to transfer money in. It has an ATM/Mastercard debit card.

[Owen_London 65]

Bringing 20000 in cash is completely bonkers. It's perfectly legal, but you really don't want to have that amount of money about your person in a public place. And in any case, you still have to change it into dollars, be that in the UK or in the US. This leads onto the next point: retail banks make their money on currency exchange by giving using poor exchange rates. And yes, that includes transfers between pound and dollar accounts with the same bank.

If you are transferring a significant amount of money, you should use an online currency broker. This is a non-exhaustive list:
xe.com
torfx.com
usforex.com (or ukforex.com) (I found them the best value of the online exchanges recently, but that may have changed)
hifx.com (I believe for UK residents only)
xoom.com
currenciesdirect.com
moneycorp.com

Also:
transferwise.com
This is a relatively recent start-up based on matching transfers going in opposite directions. The other sites listed make money by having different exchange rates depending if you're buying or selling. This company instead charge a fee, but use the mid-market exchange rate. When I transferred my UK savings, they had an attractive exchange rate, but transfers were limited to a few thousands pounds or dollars. I believe this limit is now much larger, but since their fee percentage seems not to reduce as the size of transfer goes up, they are unlikely to be competitive when you want to move large amounts.

Sign up to the websites and get an online quote from them, or phone for a quote. Don't just use the calculators on their home pages, as sometimes this just shows the mid-market rate (which you won't get, except at Transferwise, who charge a fee instead).