I am about to pay for a horse I have found in Belgium. Given all of the payment options (transferwise, xe, currency transfer), I was wondering if this collective group has any experiences or recommendations. My bank charges an incredibly high exchange rate, so I’m looking for alternatives. Thanks!
@anony2 I’m not suggesting that my way is the only - I know that there are many options. I purchase between 4-10 every year from Europe. Most are in the €40-75,000 range ($45-85,000 USD). I have found my banks to be the best, most reliable currency exchange providers. I use Chase and BB&T. One caveat: I have a private banking relationship with both banks and this means that while they do charge a fee (usually in the 2% range), they do approximately honor the prevailing market exchange rates.
For what it’s worth, I also have found that the foreign seller often has a much higher confidence level in the transaction if they know that it’s being facilitated by major bank. Practically speaking, their higher confidence has translated in a little more wiggle room in negotiations. The €50,000 horse can get to €45,000 if they are confident that they will have their money reliably within the same business day, and they won’t risk taking the horse off of the market.
I have heard very good things about TransferWise, but I haven’t personally used it. Another factor to consider is US Treasury/IRS reporting requirements for certain types of transfers. My CPA has advised me to use my existing bank relationship as the documentation is more at hand to support any inquiry/audit. I’m not sure if this is a significant factors or not - just something that was mentioned to me.
I’m eager to learn what you end up doing and how it works out. Good luck!
2 Likes
Wire transfer through my bank (Ally). They are online only and it wasn’t very $$$
You should get the cost of the horse in US dollars and then wire that amount from your bank. My bank has a $ 25.00 wire fee. Most banks ask if you want to wire Euros or US dollars. Then there is no exchange rate to worry about.
1 Like
Then you are transferring USD to a EURO account which will cause issues on the receiving side and will result in fees being deducted from the funds received by the seller.
1 Like
I recently used Transferwise. It saved me a couple thousand as compared to doing the transfer through my bank (Bank of America).
2 Likes
I second/third Transferwise. Saved me thousands compared with my bank, but it did take a couple days longer than expected. I was told 48 hours and it took closer to 4 days.
I usually do direct bank transfers for large amounts (>$15k), but have used transferwise up to $10k and been totally happy with it.
1 Like
my credit union charges a flat rate for the service
For my CU I have to be aware that the exchange rate is set by the market and that a transaction has to be executed while the market is open.
If you are on the west coast, that means a morning transaction. Friday afternoon will find my transfer likely waiting until monday to get the exchange set. After that it is usually less than 48 hours for the recipient to acknowledge the transfer.
if the seller is experienced, they will likely have all the numbers and codes you need for the transaction. You need bank codes and other identifiers beyond the recipients name and account number
Thanks all. It looks like I am going to go with currencytransfer.com (if they will ever clear me). They limit transaction to greater than 5k british pounds, and as a result are able to charge lower fees. That said, I haven’t been able to actually confirm it yet…as I haven’t been cleared. OFX was another I considered. Will let you all know how it goes after I get it done.
I have paid in US$ for both my last two German imports. Was not an issue at all and the seller did not report any problems. I send normal bank wires and the cost was somewhere around $30, IIRC.
1 Like
It could be that they have a USD account, it would make sense if they deal with US riders on a regular basis. I know that I can’t get USD sent to my EURO account with the bank having issues.
Not international, but my TB went on Paypal (and therefore my CC) as did the stud fee for my mare’s breeding this summer. My CC statements were… interesting… this fall!!!
I’ve used trasnferwise and it went very smoothly for a syndicate on a $$$ horse. Worked great, would do it again.
I know for a fact that the last transaction was with a UK seller whose account was held in pounds sterling. No issues at all. That was in September.
YMMV
Wire transfer. I’ve done it twice. Both times in Pounds sterling. VERY low fee from my bank ($30)
No issues.
Em
Some people may not be aware (and I mention this only because a friend who has bought numerous high-dollar horses from abroad didn’t know this before we talked about it) - while your bank’s fee for a wire transfer or electronic funds transfer might be very reasonable, it is likely that the exchange rate they are giving you is significantly worse than the actual daily exchange rate. You should compare the rate they offer you to the daily rate - you may save a good amount of money by using Transferwise or one of the other similar services.
1 Like
THIS!!! Exactly. It’s not the $30 charge, you’re getting killed on the actual exchange rate. I work in finance, so I could see the market exchange rate on my bloomberg terminal the first time and I remember it was like 2-3% higher. On a $30K transaction or more that hurts.
Update, currency transfer cleared me within 6 business hours of opening my account and uploading my documents. I did an EBT from my bank to them (10 dollar fee for next day), and was able to lock in my rate. The exchange rate was about half a penny off of mid market rates, as compared to my bank which was 6 cents higher per dollar. My horse was not $$$ or even $$ but it did save me a few hundred dollars. The transfer of funds from currency exchange to the sellers happened the same day that currency exchange received my funds. Minimum transfer is 5k british pounds, but I would highly recommend the service. They charged no wire transfer fee and the rates are extremely low.
1 Like
