Global Reach just gave me a quote, £20k 6th Dec 5pm gmt+7, 42.59 no fees, so 851,800 (haven't clarified but assume 500 Baht receiving fee would also apply)
Interbank at time 42.7467.
Bangkok bank TT buy at time 42.
*****
, net 845,950 Baht
Wise at time 42.7570, £110 fee (0.5%), net 850,430 Baht
Currency club 849,867
Currency fair 851,923 (assume receiving charge of 500 Baht to come off too)
So Global Reach better than Wise but only by 900 Baht / 0.1%
Currency Fair better than Wise by 1,100 Baht / 0.13%
On CurrencyFair and Wise, you can put a limit order, or automated transaction, that triggers if a rate reaches a given level. These need time and care, but are great for grabbing a rate that is only available briefly due to a momentary spike.
Santander Zero claims to be a zero fee card, but actually adds a 0.83% margin to the Mastercard rate, which already has a 1-2% margin on GBP.
Halifax is genuinely a zero fee card, gives you the Mastercard rate, but as mentioned that currently includes 1-2% for GBP.
The Visa rate is best, adds just 0.3% to the ECB interbank rate, which is what Wise gives. So for spending on card, too, Wise comes out a percent or two better than fee free Mastercards.
At least until the UK gets its macro-economic house in order, it looks like these zero fee cards lose their edge for us (which is partly the reason for my re-evaluation here).
I've also written to currencies direct, torfx, global reach and moneycorp, as they're recommended by moneysavingexpert for >£5000 transfers, although given none have come up in this thread, and they keep their rates private until you've uploaded and fully cleared your passport, bill, etc, I'm doubtful.
Ah well spotted! I've been withdrawing with them for years wondering why I hadn't noticed, I even complained to my bank a couple weeks ago, guess it is due to Sterling's recent volatility.
These details are fantastic, thank you so much, I would never have figured this out myself.
This was just my first transaction, be nice to know the fee structure, this thread is for probably £40k a year indefinitely. Ivan one last question, Dave Goodman suggested transfer into a local foreign currency account with Bangkok Bank (can you open a GBP account with Bangkok Bank, or just USD?) This involved a 0.25% max 500 Baht fee for the deposit, and a 0.25% fee to convert, on top of their TT buy rate (which helps with the currency rate lottery). You've suggested a 200 or 500 Baht receiving fee, then a probable UK bank Swift fee. Is that a fair understanding?
On zero fee credit cards there's the 220 Baht fee (what's the max an ATM will dispense?), I've also found MasterCard rates to be often padded by 2%.
Good points about the rate lottery, I think you can set up automatic buys with Wise if a rate is reached, which is really good functionality, but haven't tried. Currency fair was better than Wise earlier today, but I've not used it so not sure if there are any surprise fees.
Enormous thanks, it is all very clear thank you. Santander Zero is another. I do think that at times the difference in rate won't compensate. For example on 29th, running your calculations for the rates on those dates, with Wise, 417,710 would have arrived, whereas bank to bank, 421,718 would have arrived, because on that day Wise's rate wasn't as advantageous to compensate for their ~1.5% fees.
My Wise calcs were based on a much smaller transfer, if they taper fees my calculation will be wrong.
