Can I Draw Dollar From Us Account Abroad

What is an international money transfer and how do they work?

Whether it's wiring funds to a family member living overseas, or paying the bills on a foreign property, an international money transfer lets you move money from your account in the UK to one in a different country.

Yet it's not that simple – there are fees and charges involved, as the company doing the transfer for you needs to make money. The two costs are:

The fee (the obvious charge). A fee charged per transfer, this can be a flat fee or a percentage of the transfer. Some providers will advertise themselves as being fee-free, but don't fall for that. In that case, the company will be making its money by giving you a worse exchange rate...
The exchange rate (the hidden charge). It's often difficult to get hold of the exact rate and compare it, as some providers don't publish rates – you often need to call up or log in to find the rate you can get that day.

However, while the multitude of fees and rates can be confusing, you can compare companies quite easily by asking this one simple question:

"After all charges, how many euros/yen/dollars etc will I get for my pound sterling?"

It sounds simple but sometimes it's hard to get an answer. Exchange rates change throughout the day. To compare providers properly, you'll need to do it all in one go. Our section below on the cheapest ways to send money abroad has more info on how to do this.

Once you've sent the money, it generally takes a few days to arrive with the recipient, though it depends on the method you use and the country you're sending the money to. You can opt for instant transfers, but these are usually at a high cost – we run through the best options below.

But before you start, we need to say this in big letters...

There's no guarantee your money's safe if a firm goes bust while it's holding your money

If you've got money in a UK savings account, there's a whole protection scheme set up to cover you if the provider goes bust. With foreign exchange money transfer companies it's a different ball game.

This is crucial to understand – if you use an online transfer company (or any transfer company that holds your money) and it goes bust while it has your money, THERE'S NO GUARANTEE YOU'LL GET ANY OF IT BACK.

Here's what protection does exist for these companies...

If it's 'authorised' by the Financial Conduct Authority (which all in this guide are), your money should be kept separate from the firm's own money, assuming it does things by the book.

Each day, by the close of business, an authorised firm is supposed to separate your money from its own funds, putting it in a different account with whoever it banks with (often a high street bank). This is known as safeguarding. Provided the firm has followed this process correctly, you should be able to get your money back if it gets into difficulty – but there's no guarantee.

It's also worth noting that even if a failed firm has followed the safeguarding rules, getting your money back may not be the quickest process. Unlike with savings, there's no given timescale for compensation – so getting a refund could take a while.
If it's only Financial Conduct Authority-'registered',there are no safeguards for your cash (but we don't feature such firms).

Some smaller firms are only registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means there's no safety process if something goes wrong with the firm – and your money isn't protected.