Banks, money changers and credit cards make a killing every time you send money from one country to another. If you look at the spread between the purchase and sale rates in an airport money changer, you’ll soon figure out that for any amount over $1000 you’ll want to cut the fees.
CurrencyFair is the service I use right now.
To move money over one thousand Euros you’ll need the following information:
- Proof of identity (passport / Drivers license)
- Proof of address (bill, bank statement from last 3 months)
- An email address
- Two bank accounts – one in each of the countries you’re moving money in and out of
- You’ll need to instruct your bank in the source country to send money to the CurrencyFair account in that country.
- A cell phone for two factor authentication. I use my google voice number so that I can receive SMS verification codes wherever I am in the world.
Things to watch out for:
- For me to transfer money to a new account in the US, I need to tell my bank who it is and then they might make a trial deposit to prove that I own the account. That’s if I’m setting it up online. So I have to go to the bank in person and set up the first transfer. Or send a letter. So that takes a while. Best get the infrastructure in place before you need it
- My daily online transfer limit when I set up a new account is $500, so I needed to call my bank and get this raised.
Click on the image below to get started, and I get sent some money when you start sending funds. Is this an unnecessary expense? It’s cheaper than paying someone to sit in an airport kiosk all day and night and move physical money around.