Top tips for sending money overseas

If you're sending money overseas, you should consider using an exchange specialist instead of your bank. You could save hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands by planning out your transfer with The Irish Times International Money Transfer Service, provided by exchange experts Moneycorp.

Here are Moneycorp’s top tips on how to get the most from your international money transfer.

Alternative to the bank  
The first port of call for international money transfers is often the bank. It is convenient and secure, and you may not be aware that there is an alternative. A foreign exchange specialist, such as Moneycorp, is just as secure and convenient and will offer a more bespoke service that will help you achieve more for your money.

Banks will usually give you a less favourable exchange rate than an exchange specialist. The savings with a specialist can be anything up to 2 per cent. This means if you are transferring large sums, you could save hundreds, even thousands.

The typical fees of €20 per transfer that banks tend to charge will hit you hard if you are making frequent or regular payments. Moneycorp’s fees are normally much lower and can be as little as €5.

Get expert guidance  
With exchange rates constantly changing, getting the most out of transferring money overseas can be a difficult business. The Irish Times International Money Transfer Service assigns all its customers their own personal professional currency dealer who understands the ins and outs of the currency markets. Your currency dealer will offer you free expert guidance to help you through the transfer process. It's important to discuss your requirements so he or she can tailor your transfer to your needs and get you the best possible exchange rates.

You could also benefit from the automatic updates Moneycorp shares with its customers. You could enjoy daily market briefs and updates on currency market movements and exchange rates.

Bigger savings with bigger transfers
The more money you need to send, the more money you stand to save.

If you are buying or selling premises abroad or need to make a bulk overseas payment, you are likely to save thousands by using a foreign exchange specialist. You will only have to face one transfer fee and will benefit even more from favourable exchange rates. If you bulk your small payments together, you could save hundreds a year.

Lower fees with regular transfers
Moneycorp also offers a regular payment plan. This can help you budget for your weekly, monthly and annual international payments and stay on top of changes in the exchange rates.

You can either choose to fix the amount of euros you send (the currency you receive will vary) or the amount of foreign currency you receive (the euros debited from your account will vary), or you can fix both and lock into a favourable exchange rate.

When collecting your euros via direct debit and automatically sending the currency abroad, Moneycorp will charge you transfer fees that can be as low as €5. This can mean significant savings on your mortgage payments, maintaining your property, paying bills, sending your pension overseas or any other regular payments you may have.

You can manage your regular payments online, making it easy to handle multiple international transfers.

Save on fees online
A foreign exchange transaction is often just half of the task of managing international transfers. The time taken to process payments each month can add up and eat into your time. Managing multiple international payments is made simpler with the online platforms provided by Moneycorp.

Online accounts allow you to track international payments: you can keep a simple automatic record of what money you're paying in, how much currency you're getting in exchange and where it's going. You can trade currency 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the touch of a button wherever you are. In addition, you can often still benefit from expert guidance, with daily market briefs and exchange rate updates automatically sent to you via email and sms.

Don't leave your transfers to the last minute
If you prepare in advance, you can have more flexibility to get the best deal on your money transfer and make sure extreme rate movements don't catch you out. With a plan for your future transactions, you can benefit from the bespoke money saving transfer services on offer. For example, you can choose from the following:

• Forward contracts: These allow you to fix an exchange rate today for a transfer at a future date. Forward contracts can help protect against adverse currency movements and can be used to lock into a favourable exchange rate with a 10 per cent deposit up to two years in advance.
• Limit orders: You can specify a higher price at which you would like to trade at. If the market moves to this level, your order will be fulfilled automatically.
• Stop loss orders: These allow you to set a minimum level at which you would be happy to buy/sell your currency. Your order will be fulfilled automatically if this rate is reached in the markets.

Of course Moneycorp will still be able to offer you a same-day transfer, but the more time you have to send your money overseas, the more options available to you.