Exchange Rates

[ms2002sss]

Hi there,

I need to get a lot of money to China. I am in the UK and looking at the exchange rate on Yahoo Finance it tells me the rate is 14.1 to the £. It has been fluctuating between 13.8 and 14.1 for a few weeks now.

If I transfer from bank to bank they give me a rate of 12.9 and only allow me to transfer part of the amount I want to send. They also charge £21 each transaction.

If change the money before I leave, the Travel agents will give me 13.5 to the £

If I carry the £ to China I can exchange it with the "touts" who wait outside the bank at 13.9

So where do I get 14.1 for my pound and how is the best way to get the money to China. I dont fancy carrying that much cash, but I dont want to lose over £2,000 with a low exchange rate.

Suggestions please.

[novemberfog]

I doubt you can get 14.1, because that current rate that it is trading in the money market. However, you cannot buy and sell directly on the money market, so you need a broker (bank, currency broker, etc.). The broker has to make a profit, so that is why you are seeing lower rates at banks and exchange services. They buy your sterling pound at a lower rate than market value, and then sell it at market value and make a small profit.

I don't know about China, but in Japan I can get good rates if I use my foreign bank card on a money network like Star. They offer much better rates at the ATM than local banks or the exchange services in the airports. But I can't really recommend that because I don't know anything about the situation in China. In Tokyo, Citibank is the only bank that will accept a foreign bank card. So it is not easy.

Anyway, your best bet is to carry enough to set yourself up. Before going to China, have the rest of your money in the hands of family. Then, once you have a bank account ready, you can do a wire transfer. Sure, you won't get great rates, and there will be bank fees, but it is the safest way to avoid having to carry or safely store/hide a large amount of cash.

[roddy]

A possible alternative is finding someone here who has surplus RMB - plenty of people working here get paid more than they can spend in RMB, and need to get that converted into foreign currency. You, meanwhile, have plenty of foreign currency and need RMB.

[Craig]

travelers checks and direct bank transfers also get a better rate in country than cash if either is convenient for you.

[adrianlondon]

I was going to suggest a cashpoint until you pointed out that you'd lose £2000 on a bad exchange rate (13.9 against 14.1). I now know what you mean by "a lot of money"

Your best bet is to try a broker.

[novemberfog]

I missed the part about losing £2000, damn that is a lot of money. It sounds like you are going to be moving a hefty sum of money, so you might also see if you can work with a private banker, especially if you do not need all of the money up front and at once.