How many of you like to save money on your car insurance, shopping around a bit when renewal time comes? And do you make a point of checking you’re getting the best deal on your household bills too? We all like to save a few pennies along the way, and sometimes it’s not always obvious just how easy it is to do. For anyone buying property or living abroad, the best example of this is using a currency transfer firm instead of your bank to send money between a UK and foreign bank account.

Article written by The Overseas Guides Company

Today Smart Currency Exchange, an FCA-authorised currency transfer firm based in London, gives five key reasons how it saves clients money and helps them when they buy an overseas home.

– When clients use us to repatriate or send money abroad for them, they typically get 2-4 per cent more deposited in their bank account than if they had asked their bank direct to make the same transfer. This is because our exchange rates are consistently better than the banks – sadly, many people remain unaware of this. We only charge transfer fees on transactions less than £3,000 too.

– Most of our clients are overseas property owners or people on the verge of purchasing abroad. We’re constantly talking to these people about their plans and experiences, so there’s not much we don’t know about the buying processes in popular overseas destinations. This additional knowledge is reassuring for clients – and is something you don’t get at your local bank!

– Planning is everything when buying overseas property, especially when it comes to making payment for your new home. Here’s a thought: the price of a foreign property in Sterling will change between you agreeing the foreign currency price and completing the purchase a month or two later – it could get more expensive. This is purely down to the movement of exchange rates. We have clever ways of countering this unnerving effect, allowing you to fix a budget in Sterling and a foreign currency.

– We don’t put clients on hold for half an hour, transfer them between departments or get them to drop into a branch to speak to someone! Our service is about as personal and efficient as it gets. Clients are on first name terms with account managers, who can exchange currency and arrange the transfer of funds for them over the phone. Or you can drop them an email.

– Sounds almost unbelievable, but when we make a foreign transfer or repatriation for a client, the money arrives in their designated account faster than if a bank had made the same transfer. Same day transfers to euro accounts are not unusual. As you can see, our focus is all on making life easier and cheaper for overseas property buyers and expats, and we believe years of experience make us pretty good at it.

For more information on why using Smart Currency Exchange to transfer your pounds to a euro, dollar or other foreign currency account, instead of asking your bank to do it, download Smart Currency Exchange’s free report or visit the Currency Zone.