Whether you are buying a property in another country, sending money to family or are a business that is buying or selling abroad this article will prove helpful. Here we briefly explain the best way to find a reliable and trustworthy international money exchange service.

A good starting point is working out who offers the service for the lowest cost. There are two factors you need to consider to work out which is cheapest – the exchange rate and the fees. Read on to understand more about this.

Competitive exchange rates 

Before writing this article, we went out and got ten quotes for changing £2,000 into US dollars. The variation between companies was remarkable.

The worst company wanted to give us $132 dollars less than the one that offered the best exchange rate. On such a small amount of money that is a huge difference, and a good demonstration of why it is so important to check what exchange rate will be used for your transaction. If you were exchanging £20,000, and used the worst firm, you would get $1,320 less than if you used the best firm.

Low fees 

However, you should not only look at the exchange rate. It is also important to understand the transaction fees too.

Again, for our experiment the transaction fees varied greatly. For the ten quotes we got, the fees were between £10 and £33. Therefore, to find out which firm offers the best value for money you need to factor in both the transaction fees as well.

Transparency

Usually the firms that offer the best deals and service are the ones who are the most open and transparent. They advertise their fees on their website, have detailed FAQ sections and their terms and conditions are written in clear and concise language that is easy for people to understand.

Trustworthy and properly regulated

Once you have narrowed down the list of possible firms by cost and chosen one, you need to double check their credentials. Check that they are registered with the relevant financial services regulators. The honest firms will include their registration number somewhere on their website.

To be safe take this number, go to the relevant financial regulators website, key the number into their membership finder and make sure that the firm you are considering using is properly registered there. Just because a regulator’s logo is included on a firm’s website does not mean that you can trust them. It is always wise to double check these things.

Easy to Contact

You should also try to find a firm that is easy to get in touch with. If something goes wrong and you do not see your money to the expected timescales, you will want to get help quickly. Generally, it is not a good idea to use a firm that only gives you the option of contacting then via email.

Follow these guidelines and you will easily find an international money exchange service that you can trust. One that will offer you a good service at the right price.