An easy way to save money when you purchase a property abroad is to use a currency transfer specialist to send pounds from the UK to your foreign bank account.

The exchange rate they offer you will be much better than anything a bank could offer you, their service more efficient and faster, and they have clever ways of securing exchange rates.

Most readers will already be familiar with this simple way to save money when buying their property, however many might not realise how helpful currency transfer specialists can be after you’ve bought, when you need to send smaller amounts of money to and from the UK, on a regular or ad hoc basis. This could be for the upkeep of the property or spending money for when you visit (if your property is a second home), to send money to relatives, pay university fees back in the UK or receive your UK pension in your foreign account, whatever.

In short, if you want to save money every time you make a transfer abroad, regardless of the value of the transfer, it’s worth using a currency exchange specialist! And actually, you’ll be surprised how much you can save.

One of the great benefits about opening an account with one of these firms is that so long as you have an account overseas, they will be able to transfer money for you. The only thing to check is that your chosen currency specialist doesn’t have a minimum value – some do, typically £3,000 to £5,000.

Currency exchange specialists will always offer you a better exchange rate than the banks, even for relatively small transfers. As a typical example, if you used one to transfer £2,000 from the UK you would receive around €60 more in your euro account than if you made the same transfer direct through a UK bank – and that’s without taking into account any sending fees. Multiply that over a year or two, and it starts to add up.

Some currency specialists, such as Smart Currency Exchange, charge just £5 for all transfers less than £3,000, more to cover their own costs than to earn any commission. On the other hand, UK banks will charge anything between £15 and £25 to make a transfer to a foreign account, regardless of the value of the transfer.

Bear in mind, fees at the receiving end of a transfer are dependent on the foreign bank, whether it’s a currency specialist or a UK bank sending the money. Also worth noting is that some currency specialists won’t charge any extra to pay money into an overseas account that’s not in the name of the client sending the money – so you could send money to a friend or relative abroad through your account and not pay any extra fees to do this.

Finally, don’t forget currency transfer specialists typically offer much faster transfer times. It could take up to five days for transferred funds to appear in your overseas account if transferred by a UK bank, while a typical transfer time for a currency specialist is up to 48 hours – and actually, it’s not uncommon for funds to arrive the same day.

For advice on making currency transfers, including how to minimise exposure to exchange rate movement, call Smart Currency Exchange today on 0808 163 0102 or to find out more visit the Currency Zone.