[GarySFBCN]

Hello. As you may know, from time to time, I need to move money from the US to Spain. It is very costly to have my bank do this.

Have any of you had any experience with CurrencyFair for currency exchange? Their rates seem fair, but as a company, they are an unknown entity to me.

Gary

[marios]

I have used them for a year and have used 3 other firms before these and have to say they are the best I have used,cheap at about 3 euro per transfer or equivalent,sometimes when I am in no hurry to exchange I put a rate in equal to the International market rate and often get that rate.

I regularly transfer from uk to Spain and visa versa.

[GarySFBCN]

Thanks marios. I’ll give them a try.

[Anonymous]

@gary, try this for size
http://currencyfair.com/home-4?utm_expid=62590378-6

[pizzacheaze]

Also check out transferwise.com, I have always got mid market rates with these and they are really good and quick, it is also peer to peer but not as transparant as currencyfair, you can still set a margin from mid market rate though. For those of you in the UK, Transferwise are also fsa regulated, currencyfair is not.

[Anonymous]

The risk is always calculated against the reward. These companies may not offer the security of a high street Bank. They may have a insurance in place that we are not aware of them.

Personally, I will transfer small amounts in tranches i.e. a kind of amount that I can afford to lose if the company goes belly up.

[marios]

@shakeel wrote:

The risk is always calculated against the reward. These companies may not offer the security of a high street Bank. They may have a insurance in place that we are not aware of them.

Personally, I will transfer small amounts in tranches i.e. a kind of amount that I can afford to lose if the company goes belly up.

Yes I agree with shakeel,better safe than sorry.

[Anonymous]

xe.com offers a better exchange rate on their main webpage, and when you have an account it’s even slightly better, and you can tell them to buy euros when the rate moves to where you like.

The best part is they are also a brick-and-mortar company in Canada, so if needed you could even drive across the border and visit.

Been using them for years to move funds from MD/DC area to pay mortgages in Spain & Germany with never a problem and they answer e-mails very quickly.

[GarySFBCN]

Thanks Carey, I’ll check it out.

[marios]

@Carey wrote:

xe.com offers a better exchange rate on their main webpage, and when you have an account it’s even slightly better, and you can tell them to buy euros when the rate moves to where you like.

The best part is they are also a brick-and-mortar company in Canada, so if needed you could even drive across the border and visit.

Been using them for years to move funds from MD/DC area to pay mortgages in Spain & Germany with never a problem and they answer e-mails very quickly.

Sorry but for smaller amounts the likes of XE will be nowhere near CF,You definitely won’t get better than CF either way.

[Anonymous]

Speaking as a CurrencyFair employee (sorry to spam you, thought it best to be transparent!) thanks for the kind words, @marios!

Re:risks, we’re fully regulated as an Authorised Payments Institution by the Central Bank of Ireland (equivalent to the FSA in the UK) under European Payment Services Regulations. We also offer assistance over the phone if you have any questions, and have a bricks and mortar presence in both Australia and Ireland.

Get in touch if you’d like to know more (we’re on Facebook and Twitter too!) and thanks for the interest, in the meantime:)

[GarySFBCN]

@RoKi wrote:

Speaking as a CurrencyFair employee (sorry to spam you, thought it best to be transparent!) thanks for the kind words, @marios!

Re:risks, we’re fully regulated as an Authorised Payments Institution by the Central Bank of Ireland (equivalent to the FSA in the UK) under European Payment Services Regulations. We also offer assistance over the phone if you have any questions, and have a bricks and mortar presence in both Australia and Ireland.

Get in touch if you’d like to know more (we’re on Facebook and Twitter too!) and thanks for the interest, in the meantime:)

OK, I’m not a CurrencyFair employee. And I want to tell all that my experiences with CurrencyFair have been great. I have received attentive, courteous and competent customer service. And the service is quite easy to use.

[Anonymous]

Got to agree with the above.

I am also not a Currency Fair employee and have been using them since I first heard of them 2 years ago. I don’t think you can beat them. I was paying £25 a pop to transfer to Spain via my own bank and of course getting the low bank rate as a further kick in the teeth. I used to transfer sums that would pay my bills for around 6 or 7 months.

Now I transfer more frequently around every 2 or 3 months, obviously using smaller amounts.

I deposit funds from my bank into CF in the morning. Maybe 1 or 2 hours later it’s in my CF account and then it’s immediately transferred out. Sometimes I see the funds in my Spanish account the same day, but usually it’s the following working day.

Even if you were really sceptical about the company, it’s possible for them to only have your money for literally a few hours before you transfer out. You would have to be very unlucky for them to go under in your 2 hour window! And plus as the CF employee has stated they are regulated.

Personally I don’t think you could beat peer to peer FX, you get a good rate and you are in control of the rate and the timing something I hated about “FX”ing withmy hight street bank as I was not in control.

BTW this is about the 4 or 5 post I have made about CF on this site and I definitely am not an employee!!

[Anonymous]

Oh BTW Roki, if you want to give me a customer loyalty discount you know how to PM me 🙂

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry JP1, I don’t think you’re under suspicion 🙂

I’ll have to look into them and see if they offer a better rate than the FX broker I use. No point in comparing them to a high street bank as that is the worst case. I’m interested to see how they compare to a specialist currency broker.

[Anonymous]

CF offer far better rates. Just a couple of days ago i got €1.199! Never got near that at any of the usual suspects..

[Anonymous]

Thank you Gary and Marios for bringing Currency Fair to my attention. I’ve been using them to convert euros to aus dollars and have got a far better exchange rate than had I gone through my bank. Once your account is set up then it’s very easy to use. You can choose the exchange rate of the moment or put in the rate you’d like and see if you’re lucky. Some people’s expectations are very optimistic! Transfers are quick and cheap. Recommended.

[GarySFBCN]

I just got this email from Currency Fair:

This is an important message from the team at CurrencyFair.

Following our initial assessment of regulatory changes in the United States, including changes arising from the Dodd-Frank Act, CurrencyFair will temporarily withdraw services for US residents while we consider these requirements and how they impact our business model.

This was a difficult and very regretful decision but we are confident we will be able to resume services in the future. The exact date of re-activation has not yet been determined and may take some time. We appreciate your patience and will continue communicating our status and expected return.

CurrencyFair is committed to providing an excellent service, saving our customers money on every exchange while maintaining a strong compliance framework.

What does this mean for you?

Unfortunately, as of 31st December 2013 your account will be suspended and remain so for the duration of the withdrawal period. We will accept deposits into your account up until Friday 6th December 2013 and you can exchange and transfer up until 31st December 2013. Any balance on your account after this date will be transferred back to the account from which they were received.

If your situation has changed and you are no longer living in the United States, please notify us immediately as this only affects US residents.

We would like to thank all our loyal US clients and again apologize that we will not be able to assist you with your transfers for the duration of the withdrawal period.

[Anonymous]

Just checked Currency Exchange and xe.com, with a transfer of 100 euros into dollars:

xe.com: 100.00 EUR = 136.836 USD
currency exchange 100 EUR = 132.79 USD

By using xe.com one misses the thrill of funds arriving the next day, as xe.com takes about three working days to arrive in Dutch and German accounts, and as many as five working days to arrive at Banco Santander in Menorca, via Madrid. Time is money, they say, but I have plenty of time. 😀

[Anonymous]

Thanks Carey, but which company do you mean by Currency Exchange? (website?)

[marios]

Mark he means currency fair, Carey did you use exchange by Market Place or Quick Trade if you used quick trade then you always get a better price using market place in fact I have got better than the international rate at times, it just depends if people are after a quick trade and as I said you usually get better rates in Market Place, also what about charges?, whatever the amount of currency you transfer the charge is always 3 euro.

[Anonymous]

Can we get to the bottom of this? Anyone know who gives the best rate if you aren’t in a hurry, based on personal experience?

[marios]

I’ve used Xe and Currencies direct and without doubt Currency fair is the best, it works like Betfair in that you are exchanging currencies with another person.

[Author]

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