There's only one exchange rate

Re:There's only one exchange rate by narcissus on Thursday October 25, 2012 @09:02AM (#4697419)

I normally transfer my money via XE trade: to be honest, I take their word for it that they are giving me a current rate with no fees, but I do know that the rate they offer me is only ever valid for something like 20 seconds...

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Re:There's only one exchange rate by paulgb on Thursday October 25, 2012 @09:45AM (#4697615)

XE is upfront about the fact that they have a spread, that's how they make their profit. Compared to banks XE takes a lower spread, though.

  TransferWise quote: 1000 GBP -> 1236.93 EUR
  XE quote: 1000 GBP -> 1223.99 EUR

  Wells Fargo rate: 1000 USD -> 952.56 CAD
  XE quote: 1000 USD -> 977.42 CAD

So XE beats the bank, but TransferWise (which only offers GBP<>EUR) beats XE.

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Re:There's only one exchange rate by narcissus on Thursday October 25, 2012 @10:07AM (#4697689)

Cool. Unfortunately I need AUD and CAD, so I'm out of luck :)

I knew that XE made money on a spread of sorts, but I thought that it was more related to the fact that between the time they offer me a rate and the time it takes to do the transfers, they've been able to work the fluctuations to their advantage.

I guess I see it as different to the 'the rate we offer you is not the actual rate' type spread. I mean, it's different in that they offer me a 'spread-less rate' but they end up with the spread due to the time it takes to make the transactions.

Assuming I'm correct about my understanding of how XE makes money (and please correct me if I'm not) then out of curiosity, are both of these processes equally considered to be a spread, or is one a more 'traditional' example than the other? Hopefully that question makes sense!

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Re:There's only one exchange rate by raverbashing on Thursday October 25, 2012 @10:12AM (#4697704)

Funny how my bank beats XE for EUR->GBP (and yes, it's close, but XE loses - found out that after signing up for XE )

I'll look into TransferWise as well

I was furious at the spread like many, but then understood the problem (not that I'm happier) still, a lot of money is spent on wire fees as well.

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Re:There's only one exchange rate by bryanlarsen on Thursday October 25, 2012 @09:51AM (#4697640)

XEtrade is even worse than the banks. The banks will pretend that there's no fee, but at least they will generally tell you the spread you'll be charged as long as you specifically ask for the spread.

XEtrade charges you a different spread for every transaction, and doesn't list it explicitly in their quote. You never know in advance what it's going to be. They're virtually always better than the bank rate, but you don't know that in advance.

If I can ever get my bank to offer me their commercial rate for currency trades I'll switch from XEtrade in a heartbeat.

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