I've been using CurrencyFair for about a year now, after stumbling upon it. Beforehand, I just sent a wire straight from Chase in the US to my bank in the UK (Oh, dear).
It's been absolutely fantastic. I was a little hesitant at first, sending smaller amounts through at a time. But now I'm regularly transferring 5 figure sums without a worry in the world.
The rate you end up with is way better than what you get straight from the bank. And if there's no rush, I just set an order up at a rate I fancy, and wait for the market rates to wobble a bit, and someone fulfills it.
Because of the way it works, your money isn't actually the money coming out of the other end (it never is, I guess, it's all electronic) -- it means that I can deposit $X from my bank in the US, and have that appear as £Y in my bank in the UK, on the same/next day!
I haven't personally had any need to contact them, but I've read their customer support is good, too.
Thanks for pointing that out. Though, it's a little more complex (and intrusive) than that.
I'm on an H-1B; every year the FBAR needs to be filed detailing how much money there is back home. Regardless of how it was earned, or whether it existed before I started working in the US.
Comments
I've been using CurrencyFair for about a year now, after stumbling upon it. Beforehand, I just sent a wire straight from Chase in the US to my bank in the UK (Oh, dear).
It's been absolutely fantastic. I was a little hesitant at first, sending smaller amounts through at a time. But now I'm regularly transferring 5 figure sums without a worry in the world.
The rate you end up with is way better than what you get straight from the bank. And if there's no rush, I just set an order up at a rate I fancy, and wait for the market rates to wobble a bit, and someone fulfills it.
Because of the way it works, your money isn't actually the money coming out of the other end (it never is, I guess, it's all electronic) -- it means that I can deposit $X from my bank in the US, and have that appear as £Y in my bank in the UK, on the same/next day!
I haven't personally had any need to contact them, but I've read their customer support is good, too.
Cheers for the kind words, and I'm glad you're having such a good time using us.
Also, if you ever need to contact our support team, you won't be disappointed. They're always going the extra mile to help our customers out ;)
Keep in mind that when you transfer large sums of money abroad, you have to report it to the IRS.
Anything over $10K requires an FBAR form (TD F 90-22.1):
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f90221.pdf
Transfering the money to trusts requires a 3520 form:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3520.pdf
Plus you should also read this:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Forei...
Thanks for pointing that out. Though, it's a little more complex (and intrusive) than that.
I'm on an H-1B; every year the FBAR needs to be filed detailing how much money there is back home. Regardless of how it was earned, or whether it existed before I started working in the US.