Currency Exchange Update
As there have been significant changes in the currency markets over the last few days, I thought I’d drop you a line just in case you were thinking of exchanging currency.
I have kept this update to the main currencies. However, if you require a quote for any other currency types, please just email me here, or call me on the usual numbers, displayed at the end of this email.
Today, US markets have shown the Dollar making modest gains against the Euro and Pound, while the Yen has dropped across the board.
Euro to US Dollar: The Euro has lost some of the ground that it gained yesterday. After hitting a two-week high of 1.3785, the rate has dropped back slightly. Bear in mind that we were at 1.50 just a few weeks ago. If you have Dollars to change to Euros, you may want to talk to us even if you don’t need the money changed straight away. As long as you have a 10% deposit, we can secure the rate for the balance to be paid when you need the money.
Pound to US Dollar: We were at 1.63 Dollars to GBP a few weeks ago, but we’re now around 1.58. The rate was a little lower at 1.5625 yesterday. Likewise, if you have Dollars and want to buy Pounds, talk to us as soon as possible. If you have Pounds to change to Dollars, let us know what rate you’d like to change at, and we’ll contact you as soon as it reaches that level
The Yen has been the big loser over the last few days.
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The US Dollar to JPY has changed significantly since the low of 88.55 on Feb 12th. Today, the Dollar has strengthened up to 91.10.
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The GB Pound to JPY has shown the same improvement from 140.70 yesterday, to 143.65 today.
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The Euro to JPY was similar, from 122.30 to 124.85 today.
The Pound to Euro hasn’t shown significant moves recently. However, if you have a sum to exchange, now would be a good time to talk to me as we can either fix a good rate for you now, or elect to notify you when the rate reaches your preferred level.
If you have to send money by a certain date, please let me know and I will carefully watch the rates for you. The current Interbank rate for GBP:EUR is around 1.15
The UAE Dirham is, of course, tied to the US Dollar, so my comments on the current rates for the US Dollar apply to the UAE Dirham. If you have Dirhams to change to euros, pounds, or yen, the rate is with you at the moment.
Don’t forget, you can use our online buying facility for smaller amounts.
If you’d like to know more about buying online, have a look at this explanation where you’ll find a link to our site for online buying.
I hope you’ve found this helpful, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Good time to Sell Euros and Buy Pounds?
Some of you may recall my article on the 27th of January.. “Is this a good time to buy euros with pounds?” Well, it transpires that it was. Now the situation has reversed.
The Pound value has dropped against the euro, since that article. We had a case, this week, where a customer may not have been able to complete on his house purchase as the exchange rate had dropped so much that there was a shortfall of a few thousand euros on completion day.
This could have been overcome if the client had bought a Forward contract at the exchange rate that existed on the 27th of January. If he had done this, he would have been sure that he would have had sufficient funds for his property purchase.
So,…. Is it a good time to sell euros and buy pounds? Probably. No-one can say for sure, but it would appear that the pound is as weak as the euro, when compared to the US Dollar and the Yen. The eurozone is still dragging the Greek finance problem around and the Pound is still suffering from a wave of poor economic results. So, some would say that the Euro and the Pound have levelled off. Experience shows that this staus quo rarely remains for long.
The easiest way to look at this is; if you need to change your money at some point and you need to achieve a certain amount, then you have these options:
- Exchange all of your Pounds for euros at today’s rate. This is called a SPOT Contract. It ensures that you fix the rate today and you get your money transferred, to where it needs to be, in good time.
- Exhange some of your Pounds for Euros and risk the exchange rates going in your favour by the time you need to have the rest of the money changed. This is HEDGING in its simplest form. It does mean you can sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that you’ve made sure you don’t lose too much if the rates don’t go your way.
- Exchange your Pounds for Euros, at today’s exchange rate with just 10% deposit. Then pay the balance when you need the money in the future. This is called a FORWARD Contract. This is the way that most of my clients are now exchanging their money. By paying just a 10% deposit, our clients can relax, safe in the knowledge that they have the right amount of money for their property purchase.
Of course, this doesn’t just apply to Pounds and Euros. It applies to any tradeable currencies. It also applies to much smaller amounts than usually needed for property purchases.
Contact me here, for some free advice on how to get the best currency exchange rates to suit your circumstances.
Euro weakens, Pound Strengthens
Is this a good time to buy euros with pounds?
With the interbank rate just moving between 1.158 and 1.147, EUR : GBP, this could be a great time to buy euros. The exchange rate was just 1.02 a few weeks ago.
However, the age-old problem exists for many of our clients. If there´s no particular need to make the exchange today, most people would hold-off, believing that we may go higher yet. Maybe the exchange rate will go higher than 1.17 peak just a few months ago?
Lessons from that peak at 1.17 may be very valuable. The rate dropped rapidly to 1.13 / 1.14 and those clients missed the opportunity. If I relate this to £10,000. When the rate dropped from 1.17 to 1.13, this represents a loss of 400 euros.
Relate that 4 cent drop to £100,000, and the loss then becomes 4,000 euros!
How can you avoid losing out when an exchange rate drops? This depends on when you need the money. I am here to help, but I can´t predict the rate changes. Here are some suggestions:
SPOT DEAL. Buy your Euros now while the rates are relatively good. As you´re already registered, all you need to do is call me (or email me using the form below) and I´ll get you the most competitive exchange rate at that moment. The exchange rate will be better than the bank. Also, we don´t charge transfer fees, or commission.
FORWARD CONTRACT. If you don´t need the money straight away, but you would like to secure this great exchange rate opportunity, I can buy the money for you now, for delivery at an agreed date. I buy this on my clients´ behalf with just a 10% deposit. This is a very flexible arrangement as I buy the currency in a particular way that secures the exchange rate. If the exchange rate drops again to 1.10 from 1.15, then you will have saved 5,000 euros on a £100,000 deal, with just £10,000 deposit.
If you´d like to discuss how I may be able to help you, please call me or any of the team on this page.
Alternatively, just complete the short form below:
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Why use a Currency Broker for your Business
It’s likely that you’ve already used our Currency transfer services for your own personal use.
Maybe you bought, or sold, a property overseas, or you need to regularly transfer money to pay for bills abroad. Some of our clients just use us to occasionally transfer their wages.
However, few are aware that we have busy section to our business that deals entirely with business transfers.
Why use a currency broker, rather than your business bank, to make transfers overseas?
They are all the same reasons that you used us in the first place!
- We offer better exchange rates
- We transfer to most countries for FREE
- We are currency exchange professionals.
Currency exchange is all we do, so we are well positioned to aid your business. We don’t just save you money on costs. We help you to make money by aiding you to manage your business risk better.
How do we help you to manage your business risk when trading overseas?
Fluctuations in local currency can have an impact on your profit. If unfavourable changes in currency levels occur between your decision to commit to a contract, and when you have to pay for it, then your business will lose margin.
There’s a simple remedy. Buy a time option forward currency contract and fix the rates for a reasonable period. This could be for the duration between your tender acceptance and the moment when you may have to pay for goods or services. Your profit margin is then fixed and you can go about your business… what you do best.
We can also help by micro-managing the currency purchases that you make. We don’t charge for this service, it’s what we do all of the time for clients! We can then alert you when the rate has come close, or achieved, to what you desire.
Payroll services for staff overseas.
We have many business clients who now ask us to make the payroll transfers for staff overseas, each month. Some are happy to simply make the payment on a particular date each month, but most prefer us to keep an eye on the rate for them with a one-week window at the end of the month. We then contact our clients as soon as the rate seems to have peaked, so that they can take advantage of the best rates available. This isn’t something a bank offers.
In addition to Free currency transfers, we offer:
- Better exchange rates than the banks
- A dedicated currency dealer
- A Rate Watch service
If you are already using us for your currency exchange, consider how much we could help your business to retain profits in these difficult times.
Please contact your local currency dealer at GCEN here to discuss our business services further.
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Buy your smaller currency deals online
If you have a relatively small foreign currency transaction to make, take advantage of our online currency buying facility.
If you need to instruct us to make a transfer, but it’s out of hours, this system is ideal. Just login HERE and put the currency amount you wish to buy / sell in. The system will then clearly state how much you will either need to pay, or how much you will receive. If you’re happy, then it’s as easy as buying anything else online! It’s safe and uses our SECURE SERVER.
This service is available to any client who is currently registered with GCEN. In order to use this facility, all you will need is:
- your CLIENT NUMBER
- your PASSWORD
- your DESTINATION BANK account details
- and a DEBIT/CREDIT CARD for payment.
If you aren’t yet registered or can’t remember your number or password, please contact one of our dealers here.
You can buy all deliverable currencies and sell the following currencies:
British Pounds, Australian Dollars, Utd Arab Emirate Dirhams, Euros and US Dollars.
If you wish to sell other currencies, please contact your GCEN dealer.
There is a new lower limit, per deal, of just £200 (or equivalent value) and you can buy up to £5000 or equivalent value. If you wish to trade above these values, please email, or call, your GCEN dealer.
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Keep Your Currency Transfers SAFE
With the recent behaviour of Banks, it’s natural to consider the security of your money, when planning large currency transfers.
The good news is that, with GCEN, you win all the way!
We are one of just a few Currency Brokers, registered as a businesses in the UK, with Financial Services Authority registration. This gives our clients greater security. Our FSA number is: 504346
There are a few other considerations when choosing who to make your foreign exchange transfer through:
Is the Broker Established?
You need to make sure that the Broker you prefer has at least 3 year’s of audited accounts behind them. This indicates that their auditing accountants are reasonably happy for them continue trading on the basis of them being a viable business. GCEN now have many years of trading and the auditing accountants are Berg Kaprow Lewis and our accounts advisors are Grant Thornton.
Experienced?
You need to be confident that your currency dealer has the relevant training and experience to handle any size of currency transaction. This is where some brokerages differ. However, this is where Brokers differ greatly from Banks.
Most currency transactions at banks are handled by a teller, who has little, or no, experience in foreign exchange. This is not to suggest that something may go wrong with your transfer. It’s more likely to be a poor exchange rate on your deal. This can cost you many thousands.
Specialist brokers will use their experience to help guide you to the best deal available. At GCEN, we regularly train our dealers and will also provide a “Rate Watch” service for clients who are waiting for a particular rate, but don’t have the time to sit and watch the exchange rates.
Looking after your interests.
By using a broker, you’re more likely to receive a specialist service, when compared to the Banks. Currency dealers are more likely to be up-to-date with all of the changes in the currency market. This is likely to include pre-negotiated deals by the brokers with the banks to save their clients from the crippling receiving fees that banks charge when clients just simply transfer from their own bank.
How is the money protected?
As we mentioned earlier, GCEN are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK and are registered as a money service business, with an appropriate registration number. GCEN are also regulated by HM Revenue and Customs ( with a Money Laudering registration number: 12137189). Finally, a reliable broker will keep your money safe in client accounts, which are entirely separate from their own business accounts.
GCEN is a commercial currency broker based in the United Kingdom, with overseas offices in Dubai, Spain and Portugal.
Contact your local GCEN currency dealer here
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If you have Aussie Dollars, possibly good time to Sell
AUD vs USD over the past year.
Australian Dollars have just started to recede from their highest position for years. Could this be the time to sell your dollars for any other Major currency such as sterling, USD, Japanese yen or the Euro?
You don’t have to have all of the money for the deal. With us, all you need is just 10% as a deposit on a “time option forward currency contract”. You can then sitback and relax if the rates drop!
If you have Australian Dollars and have been thinking of selling your aud, perhaps now is the time to take advantage of this great exchange rate. By making a time option version of a forward currency deal, you can draw off the total deal when it suits you at the original preferential rate you’ve bought at.
For the many of our customers who buy aed, uae Dirhams, with AUD, this is a great opportunity as the aed is pegged to the US Dollar.
Just call your currency dealer for more information and the current Australian Dollar rates.
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Contact your local currency dealer
Get the best exchange rates available today.
NO COMMISSION…
NO TRANSFER CHARGES…
BEST BUY and SELL EXCHANGE RATES.
Contact your local currency dealer:
Lucy and Emma in the Mojacar Office, Spain
Marie in the La Zenia Office, Nr Torrevieja, Spain
Pay your Deposit with a Card
How to beat the currency exchange system with credit card payments on property purchases.
Pay your overseas property deposit with a credit, or debit, card and get a better rate of exchange than you would by using the card abroad.
If you find yourself in the fortunate position of being able to buy that property abroad, and you need to place a deposit on the property to secure the one you want, then there is an answer. It doesn’t matter if your deposit has to be paid to a builder, your lawyer, or your overseas bank account.
Pay your initial deposit with your debit, or credit, card.
Pay your property deposit with a credit card and save
However, before you get too excited, consider this. I was in Spain towards the end of last summer, and used my UK Bank debit card to draw some Euros at the “Hole in the wall”. I drew money on two consecutive days. The exchange rate between the pound and the euro had barely altered, but one bank gave me 1.19 euros to the pound. The other bank gave a rate of 1.23 euros to the pound. If, like me, you suffer from terrible thirst when it’s hot and you need £200 to pay for the drinks, the difference is €8. “Just €8!” I hear you say.
Well change that figure of £200 to £3000 as a house deposit and the difference between one bank’s foreign exchange rate and the other’s is now €120. Not a huge amount, but still worth saving.
FX-Foreignexchange have a facility, through their currency exchange partners, where you can now pay your initial deposit to secure a property abroad by using your debit or credit card. You get an even better rate than the banks can offer. It’s a safe way to pay and painless.
Just call FX-Foreignexchange on 0044 (0)1480 458400, (or email for them to contact you from here) , register your details with them, give them the details of where you want your deposit to go, and they take the payment in your local currency, change it, and send it to the account you’ve asked for it to be sent to.
Paying your overseas property deposit couldn’t be easier. You may even want to spend the money you save on a special dinner to celebrate how clever you are!
A couple of little things, FX-Foreignexchange can’t take card payments over £10,000, and they can’t take less than £2500. On the basis that most initial deposits for new homes abroad are €3,000, or £2,500, this shouldn’t present a problem.
The other area to consider is if you use the same company to change your further stage payments, the difference when using my example, is €1,200 when you change £30,000.
That’s a bit more interesting than the €8 I saved!
Money Transfer to Canada
Money Transfer from the UK to Canada
There are many ways to transfer your money from the UK to Canada. In the past, most people have called their own bank and asked them to change their GB Pounds to Canadian Dollars. Currently, there are so many more cost effective ways to do this.
If you choose to use your bank, it’s likely that they will not necessarily:
- Grant you the best rate of exchange available at that moment
- They are likely to charge you a commission
- They will almost definitely charge a fee for making the money transfer to Canada
If you knew about a way to save on each of the 3 areas, it’s likely you would use it, especially, as the foreign exchange specialists are usually faster than the high street banks as it’s all they do!
Some Expats, or second home buyers, in Canada simply open an account with HSBC as they allow the client to have accounts in Canadian Dollars and GB Pounds.
- The advantage of doing this is you have flexibility to move the money between your accounts when the currency exchange rate suits you.
- The disadvantages are that HSBC don’t have as many branches as Canada’s own local main banks in the cities. And, you are unlikely to get a great rate of exchange each time you switch between accounts.
Foreign exchange specialists, like fx-foreignexchange.com are now the more likely route for a second property buyer, or expat, to use for larger currency transfers from the UK to Canada. They already have an account with HSBC in Canada and the UK.
The advantages of using FX-Foreignexchange to exchange your £’s to Canadian Dollars are:
- The service is safe and swift.
- They generally offer a better rate of exchange (Saving thousands on larger transactions).
- They don’t charge a commission.
- They don’t charge a fee to transfer the money.
- You can also set a rate of exchange that you are prepared to deal at, and FX-Foreignexchange will contact you when the currencies meet that figure so you can buy at the best rate of exchange.
The disadvantage, when compared to a high street bank, is difficult to see as there doesn’t appear to be one!
If you are looking to exchange GB Pounds into Canadian Dollars, call FX-Foreignexchange on +44 (0)1480 458400 for a quote, or simply ask for an explanation on how to save money when transferring abroad.
Or go to the fx-foreignexchange site
