I read that Liberty Reserve is cheaper than services such as Western Union and the banks for international money transfers. I have looked at their website but am totally baffled as to how it works. Can anyone enlighten me, please?

The only address on their website is in Costa Rica. Personally I wouldn't trust them with any large amounts.

If you are sending money to someone who has a bank account you should use neither of the services that you mention.

Yes, I noticed the Costa Rica bit. However, it was appraised as safe and reliable in a national newspaper. I would see no harm in trying it for a token small transaction. I need to make regular family remittances and none of the other methods I'm aware of is cheap - especially for outside Europe.

You should also investigate MoneyGram, PayPal, Auctionchex and so on. Western Union are indeed expensive. I'd never heard of Liberty Reserve before now and their web site put me off trying them. It's certainly a good idea to test them with a small amount to see how they go before doing anything larger.

Depending on the situation, you could consider handing over a cash point card and PIN. I wouldn't post them together or do it with anyone I didn't trust 100%, but it's something to think about. Also, you could investigate getting a Post Office Travel Money card, giving it to your relatives and topping it up here.

My view is that the charges made for sending money from the UK are all too high. In other countries where there is a lot more competition, this type of service can be easily found without losing such a big chunk of the money in fees and bad exchange rates.

I used MoneyGram. It was almost as expensive as Western Union. And they gave me problems necessitating several expensive international phone calls and many hours' delay. I never anticipated that they would call me and send me back to the place where I'd paid from 'for enquiries' and that, ther, I would be asked to provide the recipient's passport details - which I didn't have.

PayPal depends on the other person having PayPal too. In the part of the world I deal with it, it's as familiar as planet Mars.

I still haven't got my head around this Liberty Reserve thing but, failing any advice on these pages, I guess I will go ahead with a token amount. The High Street banks simply rip off, I'm determined not to use them for overseas remittances any more. Once I sent £50 notes by post. It arrived safely but the worry wasn't worth it.

There are companies on the internet which claim they will send free of charge for over a certain amount, but I don't feel safe with those guys.

If the transactions were to Europe, I'd just jump on the next available bottom-price easyJet - despite their cocrete seats.

amputee:

There are companies on the internet which claim they will send free of charge for over a certain amount, but I don't feel safe with those guys.

Some places will give a bad exchange rate but wont charge a transaction fee. This is what some mean by "free of charge".

Auctionchex is worth a look. They will issue cheques in a couple of currencies for a small charge. Again the exchange rate isn't that great but it's worth a look for small amounts, particularly if dollars are any use.

With a Post Office Travel Money card, you can load it with pounds for a 1.5% fee and withdraw at cashpoints worldwide at £2 plus 2.75% in fees (or spend like a credit card for 2.75% fee). I'd guess that their exchange rates will be better than Auctionchex or PayPal. I wouldn't post the card itself while there was any money loaded onto it, but it would be safer than posting cash. There are other prepaid cards that work in a similar way but many are more expensive to use. To me this seems worth a try if you are going to be sending money regularly to the same person.

Thanks for this. However, these cards work out more expensive than even banks on larger amounts. I can send any amount for £15 online with moneycorp.

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Depending on which currency you are sending and what amount, there are two Foreign currency firms I have used for over five transfers each. They have a minimum of £5,000 and £10,000 currency equivalent, both are based in the UK and one is a FTSE listed company. They have no transfer charges to foreign bank accounts.

Let me know if the minimum transfers suit your needs and I can pass on the details

ATM

Really depends on which country you need to transfer cash to but the best and safest way surely has to be bank to bank transfers. For Europe we have IBAN + BIC and it's free. Done a search on Google for you and there's some information below that you may find useful.

I used to work overseas about 7 years ago and did have to use Western Union services now and again. Great thing about Western Union is that it's quick and reliable. But should tell you that I re-call 1 instance where Western Union held cash belonging to me for 2 days. Can't remember why. The cash was for my landlord. Literally transferred cash from the UK to the Netherlands to pay my rent via Western Union as the landlord was asking for it ;-)

IBAN, BIC and SWIFT explained

In brief: SWIFT bank transfers are available worldwide; SWIFT codes are similar to BIC. Free cross border IBAN bank transfers within EU countries. BIC + IBAN details are printed on EU/EEA bank statements. google_ad_client = "pub-9484978391734415"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; google_ad_format = "468x60_as"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_ad_channel ="7271953137"; google_color_border = ["FFFFFF","B0E0E6","B4D0DC","CCCCCC"]; google_color_bg = ["FFFFFF","FFFFFF","ECF8FF","FFFFFF"]; google_color_link = ["AA0000","000000","0000CC","000000"]; google_color_url = ["AA0000","336699","008000","666666"]; google_color_text = ["000000","333333","6F6F6F","333333"]; google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

BIC + IBAN is often the cheapest way to transfer money internationally and is now free of charge* in much of Europe under EU/EEA directive 2560/2001. BIC + IBAN international bank transfers are faster, more efficient, and low-cost as they are sent directly through the SWIFT interbank network without using intermediary banks (who deduct charges or fees for their service). IBAN will be progressively introduced in most OECD countries to allow Straight Through Processing of cross border payments.

BIC + IBAN is not available in the United States of America, nor is it likely to be, with the decentralized structure of the US banking system and lack of nationwide banks. Electronic account-to-account transfers are often called wire or ACH transfers in the USA.

I've heard of terrible delays with Western Union and MoneyGram once almost drove me to despair when I was trying to deal with a family emergency, They added to what was already severe stress.

I'm afraid my transfers have to go outside Europe. The banks charge large amounts and sometimes take a l-o-n-g time. They routinely blame their overseas correspondent banks but when I ask why in that case don't they change their correspondents, I am met with a blank stare. Basically, they don't care. It isn't core business, few private customers do it regularly, so it doesn't matter. They can charge what they want and take as long as they want. Just another example of the way they are.

Quoted from amputee's posting

"If the transactions were to Europe, I'd just jump on the next available bottom-price easyJet - despite their cocrete seats"

;-) Quick point on this.

You have to declare at customs if you are entering a European Country with more
than X amount of cash. I think the current value is 10,000 euros / £s. Not sure if you have
to mention anything when you leave the UK but you are asking for hassle if you have large
sums of money on your person or in your bag(s) as you go through security control.

Yes, absolutely with you with those "long delays" and the blame thing that they do when money disappears in the system. I've been there with my bank a few times and it can get a little stressful.

Really depends on which country you have to transfer the cash to.

Even if you do go through you bank, best that you tell them because it might trip a money laundering alert on your account. Your account will be frozen for a while whilst the bank checks everything is legit and you don't need that kind of hassle.

forumbrowser,

Just for information, you need to declare any amount over £10k Sterling when leaving the UK, at Heathrow there is a building near Hatton Cross where you fill out and process the necessary forms.

If transferring more tha £10k through a Foreign Currency firm or via a Bank you are asked to specify the reason for the transfer even if it going from your account in the UK to your account in another country. I have had to do large transfers and only one bank has ever asked for proof of where funds originated from, most probably because I had just opened the offshore account.

Situation is worse in the USA, where you have to fill out a form just to transfer amounts over $2,000 if transacting at a bank. Al Capone would be turning in his grave !!

That's it. Thanks for the clarification ATM.

But it's easy to see why this money has to be declared.

2,000 dollars in the US - now that's just getting a bit paranoid ;-)

OP - where are you transferring the cash too? Which country?

My transactions are to / from Middle East and East Africa. Some banks routinely ask what the transaction is for. Your declaring 'oh, it's not money laundering' doesn't mean they'll assume it isn't. Don't forget that banks can report any transaction at all, not just international, that they deem not to conform to a customer's regular patterns. They are legally obliged to report any suspicious transactions so they report anything at all just to cover their asses - one newspaper said it could be as little as £200. Why on earth don't they concentrate on proper problems instead of micro-matters like this?

As for the question of airports, I would never, ever carry large sums of cash on my person - especially not to East Africa. One of the ground rules of travel there is dress down: this advice stretches to the wallet too - slim it down.