Best way to send money from the UK to the US?

Hi all,

I've seen some stuff on how to get money to the UK from the US, but what's the best way for the other way around?

I took out a $5,500 student loan last year and I'm due to start paying it back in December. I didn't end up using all of the loan and still have about $3,000 in the US bank account. Now, I have to transfer $2,500 in pounds (about 1,550 pounds) to the bank account so I can write the check to good old Sallie Mae.

What is the best way to do this? Should my husband wire money from Bank of Scotland to Wells Fargo? Should it go through the bank, or Paypal? We both have verified accounts. Is there another way to do it? We'd like something that's fairly quick and gives good exchange rates.

Thank you very much.

open an account with xe trade. best exchange rates and low wire fee from banks to us to uk

If this is just a one-time transfer, it will be much easier for you to transfer from your husband's account to yours.  I just transfered from my Barclays account to my Wells Fargo account and it was very simple.  Note: I was charged $10 from Wells Fargo to receive the money and £35 from Barclays to send and it took 3 days. 

If you will be sending money back and forth often, and xe trade account may be a better option.

Thank you for your response. It will be just a one-off thing because I'll close my account after I've paid off the loan when I go back to California to visit family in December.

Is it that easy? Any tips? We tried to do this from Barclays to Bank of America and neither bank seemed to know what to do   

An idiot's guide would be much appreciated!

I went to Barclay's international money desk (not the regular bank counter) and they knew exactly what to do. 

You just need the SWIFT/BIC number (Bank of America's is BOFAUS3N) and they will ask you for an IBAN number, but American banks do not have these, so your routing number is what they need in place of this.   Of course, you will need to supply your account number too. 

It was easy for us because we both have online banking. My husband did his transfer online and I saw it in my account a couple of days later

I have online banking too, but it requires a sort code. US banks don't have sort codes.


mirrajay:

How do I get my routing number? Is it on my statement? Thanks for the SWIFT/BIC number!

Your routing number is the number that is on the bottom of the check next to the account number (if you have a checkbook from your US account).  If you dont have it, just call your bank in the US and ask them.

No checkbook, but thanks for that!

I am a Wells Fargo customer in the US and was able to look up my routing number online, so you may want to give that a try if you arent able to call them.

You genius  Got it