Best currency transfer rates

When living abroad, you will find yourself in the situation of having to send money to your home country. Therefore you will need to know what options you have for sending money internationally and how you can get the best currency transfer rates.

Whether you want to buy a property, launch a business, send money to a friend or repatriate your salary, there are many different ways to send money overseas. However, finding the best transfer rates is not always easy.

Let´s see what options you have when you want to send money abroad:
MTOs (money transfer operators) such as Western Union or MoneyGram help you send money really fast. You go to one of their offices, fill in a form and they send the money to your receiver. Using a MTO is about urgency and rapidity, not about costs. Don´t forget to have your ID with you.

Online Transfer Services – another option for sending small amounts of money overseas. You need a bank account or a credit card and Internet access, so does the receiver. Once you set up an account with an online transfer services platform and pay a small fee, you can transfer the money.

Banks don´t offer competitive exchange rates. Besides, they charge high fees for every transfer you make through them.

On the other hand, foreign exchange brokers (FX brokers) are very well known to offer the best foreign exchange rates on the market, particularly for transferring large amounts of money.

Working with them is pretty straightforward. You open account with a broker and fund it from your bank account. One of the many benefits of working with a FX broker is that they give you solutions tailored for your needs with benefits like fixed exchange rates for a specific time period. It´s worth mentioning that if banks charge you high commissions, FX brokers charge no fees at all.

So, you have two sources of saving money when working with a broker: not paying commissions and competitive exchange rates.

When looking to compare currency exchange rates and FX brokers, use a comparison website. Comparison websites make sure the brokers they work with meet all legal and financial regulations and bring you the best rates.

Peer-to-Peer Money Transfers are a new and innovative way to transfer money overseas, where you and your receiver trade directly at a rate close to the international market. You just have to set up an account with a peer-to-peer transfer platform, pay a small fee and start trading.

Obtaining the best rates depends on several factors like: the amount transferred, the urgency of the transfer, the company chosen for the transfer and so on.

The larger the amount of foreign currency you need, the best currency transfer rates you will get. When deciding between different international money transfer companies and their services, it is important to compare the “effective exchange rate”. This takes into account all costs, which may include fees or commissions. This will reveal how much of a foreign currency you will receive at the end of the day.