British Expats Needlessly Spending Millions on Bank Transfers
London, UK (PRWEB UK) 30 September 2013 -- Pryce Warner International Group – According to an article on expatforum.com, a study by the British Post Office shows that British expats wasted £228M last year by needlessly transferring money via UK banks.
The study also showed that 1.5 million British expats spent an average of £152 every year on international money transfers and exchanges.
This money was spent despite there being several easy and often free alternatives.
David Retikin, Director of Operations at Pryce Warner International Group, commented: “One of the first things we advise all new expats to do is to find a way to spend as little money as possible on currency exchanges and bank transfers, and if possible, none at all. One way to do this is to use a multi currency investment account instead of a savings account. While these are free to set up, they usually require a minimum deposit rate that can be quite large. However, these act as very effective means of pooling savings from different locations into the currency of your choice. They are also currency diversified, which means they are not as vulnerable to currency fluctuations as high street exchange rates.”
Many expats living abroad are retired, and therefore transferring UK pensions rights into the local currency every month. This was found to be a highly expensive process, costing individuals £184 for the pleasure of receiving their pension every year.
Expats can benefit from international pension schemes like QROPS and QNUPS, which can allow an individual to transfer (non-state) UK pension rights into their local currency.
The study by the Post Office also noted that individuals could simply open a local bank account in which to deposit local earnings. This would mean that there would be no need to transfer or exchange money.
In addition to this, the study noted that the amount charged by banks varies considerably, which means consumers often don’t know how much they are paying or why.
Aneil Fatania, Pryce Warner International Group, http://www.prycewarner.com, +44 2077355885, [email protected]
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