TransferWise or XE?

[SCOTTANDVICKI 11]

Hello everyone

I'm interested in people's experiences of either TransferWise or XE. We have some money that we'll need to transfer from our account here in the UK to my husband's account in the States. I'd read good reviews of TransferWise and their rates seemed wonderful but then my husband read some things online that accused TransferWise of writing their own positive reviews.

I've heard XE can be unreliable with timescales (takes a lot longer than they suggest to arrive in the receiving bank account etc) so I'm looking for some trusted perspectives from those who have used these services. I don't really want to take a gamble with our money when it's such a crucial resettlement time for us.

Thanks

Vicki

[kevz900 5]

I haven't used the two companies that you mentioned but I have used Moneycorp to transfer from the UK to the US. It's nice and easy to set up an account with them and the rates are good, plus they don't use a third party bank.

[N&S 32]

I've used XEtrade on several occasions, several directions (UK->US, US->UK, Germany->UK, UK->Germany) and had only positive experiences with it. But then most of the time the transactions weren't that time critical for me, so I wouldn't have paid that much attention if it took a day or two more than they said...

[swji89 41]

I've just booked my first trade through XE Trade today and wired the money to pay for it. Hopefully they process the trade promptly next week. I'll let you know how I get on, as I picked the free ACH option rather than wiring it for a fee, as the whole point is to do this whilst not paying a chunk for the privilege!

The only problem I foresee is that my trade limit is only around $8,000 (don't know if this has something to do with me selecting quite a low amount for 'average transfer' when setting up the account as I worked on what my previous highest transfer to America was through my bank). Any idea how they are with raising the limit so I can transfer my savings across when the time comes?

[spahawk 10]

I used Transferwise to move approximately 135k in small chunks. All the payments reached the intended account and the process is ridiculously easy. I have not used the other methods but can recommend Transferwise. I was moving around 15k at a time. I could have gone larger but played at a level I felt comfortable. They also offer excellent rates.

[swji89 41]

I used Transferwise to move approximately 135k in small chunks. All the payments reached the intended account and the process is ridiculously easy. I have not used the other methods but can recommend Transferwise. I was moving around 15k at a time. I could have gone larger but played at a level I felt comfortable. They also offer excellent rates.

I might try Transferwise for my next payment to my fiancee for further wedding stuff haha, and then see which is best for me. Thanks for the heads up that it will let you transfer more, though.

[swji89 41]

So, update on using xe.com. With the ACH/EFT option it's past the 7 days they said it would take for the money to reach my fiancee's account and there's still nothing. They haven't responded to my email about it yet and for some reason I can't get their phone number to work. I get that it has the 00 prefix on it, but it just ends up with a dead dialling tone when I ring it. It's supposedly 00-800-932-66400 - am I doing something wrong in punching it into my phone as is?

Can anyone advise?

[swji89 41]

I still can't get the number to work but as they've now emailed me, consider my above post moot. Apparently the fact that my mobile number is TPS registered might be causing a problem with calling numbers like XE's which have international dealing codes :S

[MeekMeek 3]

I have used transferwise several times (amounts between $2000 and $30.000 dollars) and everytime it went without a problem. It is a very simple process and each time it went faster than transferwise had predicted to begin with.