RetireJapan

Hi all. I have a question about international money transfers. I want to transfer money (around £10,000) from my account in the UK (Lloyds bank) to a bank account in Japan.

The go to these days seems to be Wise, it is comparatively cheap, but not free. However, I contacted SBI Shinsei bank and they informed me that there is a flat fee of 2000 yen to receive the international transfer in yen, but that is refunded for anyone that holds a silver rank or better with SBI Shinsei. So it is essentially free. One thing they did mention was that depending on the country and or bank the money is coming from, there may be different banks with other fees that they may be routed through.

Also, there is of course the fee that Lloyds will be charging to send the money and exchanged pounds into yen. But they would be the same with Wise I imagine.

Does anyone have any experience sending money through Lloyds and or SBI shinsei? Or any thoughts in general about money transfers?

Adamakin86 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:05 amdepending on the country and or bank the money is coming from, there may be different banks with other fees that they may be routed through.

This lack of transparency was the motivation for creating Wise. Any other provider, the only way to tell what the fees are is to send the money and see how much arrives at the other end.

Adamakin86 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:05 am...exchanged pounds into yen. ...

Do not have Lloyds do the foreign exchange, have them send pounds. Shinsei will receive the transfer and you'll then have a sub account with those pounds, here.

Why? I'd give big odds on a bet that shinsei has a far better exchange rate than lloyds.

adamu wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:19 am

Adamakin86 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:05 amdepending on the country and or bank the money is coming from, there may be different banks with other fees that they may be routed through.

This lack of transparency was the motivation for creating Wise. Any other provider, the only way to tell what the fees are is to send the money and see how much arrives at the other end.

I see. That makes sense. Thanks!

captainspoke wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 1:24 am

Adamakin86 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:05 am...exchanged pounds into yen. ...

Do not have Lloyds do the foreign exchange, have them send pounds. Shinsei will receive the transfer and you'll then have a sub account with those pounds, here.

Why? I'd give big odds on a bet that shinsei has a far better exchange rate than lloyds.

Gotcha. I’m going to give Lloyds a call anyway to see if they can shed any light on possible fees along the way. But I’m guessing you’d be 110% correct on Shinsei having better exchange rates.

I went with Wise in the end. Neither lloyds nor sbi could tell me if any other banks needed to be used to send the money! Thanks for the help!