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TransferWise is one of the new breed of international money transfer services that, unlike your bank (or dare I say Western Union), transfers your cash to foreign currencies at the market rate.

Anyone looking to transfer money internationally should give TransferWise some serious thought. Your bank almost scalps you on every foreign transfer you make with it via their horribly punitive exchange rates (sometimes disguised behind low – or no – “commission”), so any market rate option needs to be looked at.

The TransferWise service is extremely straightforward. You arrange the transfer via your TransferWise account (providing details of the recipient account, obviously). The full payments to be made and received are made extremely transparent via your TransferWise account before you commit to the transfer, so there are no hidden shocks.

You can even make transfers via debit/credit card, which is incredibly convenient.

You then transfer the money into TransferWise, who pass it on to the beneficiary account in the new currency.

TransferWise is also extremely fast, with the transactions sometimes completing on the same day. 

I have now used TransferWise several times, and have no complaints whatsoever. Whenever I need to transfer cash internationally it’s my first port-of-call, offering both value and speed.

How much better is TransferWise?

While I openly admit to not having independently verified the below, the following is TransferWise’s graphic (as at the time of writing) comparing how much you would get via a transfer with them and various UK banks:

So that’s a minimum additional €26.11 on a transfer of just £1000, rising to €41.80.

What’s the catch?

Ordinarily, TransferWise makes its money via a small commission charged.

What’s improved?

Whereas TransferWise used to charge 0.5% commission on GBP to Euro transfers, they’ve just changed it to a much improved 0.35% + 80p. That means that for all but the smallest of transfers, you’re going to be better off. With the larger transactions, you could really save a lot.

One more thing… Eliminating even the improved catch!

While you’ll still generally find TransferWise to be the best value option, regardless of the commission fee, we are making life very easy for you by making your first transfer (minimum £200, maximum £500) absolutely free!

To benefit, you simply need to sign up via this link.