International US$ accounts vs. wire transfer, Paypal and xe.com -- advice sought

I have a monthly charge on my US credit card to pay for storage fees that I’ve been paying online with dollars from my US savings account. That account is now running low and I need to start pay using the sterling.

I’ve been reading some of the posts in this forum and it seems that most people either use bank wire transfers, Paypal or xe.com to send money from their UK£ current accounts to their US$ checking accounts.

But I was wondering how international dollar accounts work (specifically HSBC) and what experience people who use them have had.

Do such accounts allow for easier and less expensive transfer of money? A wire transfer from a sterling account at HSBC to a US$ account costs £9. Is it possible and/or less expensive to transfer money from a UK£ to a UK-based dollar account to pay a US$ credit card?

I've tried a couple ways and eventually, either just wire transfer it or send a "for deposit only" check to my US bank

I'd be curious to hear what people's opinions of xe.com are. My questions are if it is worth doing? Was there a fee that I cannot seem to find listed there? Do they have a minimum?

Ultimately, my husband and I usually rely on wire transfers between a US HSBC account to a UK HSBC account. We have found the fees to be reasonable (depends on the amount of the transfer) and the exchange rate to be comparable to some of the better rates listed for that day across banks.

Thanks, Rutabega

I've been happy using Paypal.  Its quick, gives an ok rate and charges less than the bank for the transfer amounts I have been doing.

I'd be curious to hear what people's opinions of xe.com are. My questions are if it is worth doing? Was there a fee that I cannot seem to find listed there? Do they have a minimum?

I use xe and I really like it.  I've got a US-based employer that pays me into a US bank account, and I use xe to move the money to my UK bank account.  Xe debits my account in the US and does an ACH/EFT payment to my account in the UK, so there are no fees from either bank.  The only fee is in the exchange rate, which winds up being less than a wire transfer fee would be.  I haven't used Paypal for this, so I don't know what their fees are.

I've transferred as little as $200, but I don't think there's a minimum.  There's a maximum, but all you have to do is call them to get it raised.  The only down side is it usually takes about a week from the time I place an exchange to the time it's in my account in the UK.  The money comes out of my US account pretty fast, but it takes 4 or 5 business days to clear into my UK account.  I think this is pretty much the case no matter what method you use to move money, though.

Hope that helps.

Oooh, thanks for posting this question. I need to send my mom some money as she's gone and bought something for me but I don't want her to be shortchanged due to the exchange rate or anything.

Would you recommend using XE when sending money to someone else? (btw, I didn't even know they did money transfers)

My mom does have a paypal account, I was thinking of just giving her my credit card details and asking her to use the card to put money into the paypal account. Which route do you think would be best? It's only for about $150.

If you have a paypal account, you just send her money from your account.  No credit card details need to be shared.  Then she can withdraw the money from her Paypal account to her bank account that is linked with Paypal.  If you send the money in GBP, and she wants it in USD it will give you an option to pay the fee or make her pay the fee to convert. For only $150, the fee with be very low.

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I know there is a very similar one on moving money but I wanted specifically to get an idea of how a UK-based dollar account works.

If it’s possible, I would like to transfer pounds from my UK-based current at HSBC to a UK-based dollar account at HSBC, and then pay my US-based credit card (all online).

I’m uncertain whether the money can be transferred easily (like moving money from my current account to savings) or if it constitutes a wire transfer because I'd like ideally to do this every month to pay my bill instead of wiring/converting large chunks of money.

Does anyone know? I was hoping for some background information before I call the bank.

Camoscato: I’m now leaning towards using xe.com to transfer the money and your explanation on how it works is a big help.

My two cents and I am sure I may change how I do it but...

I am continuing working in the US so my checks will be direct deposit in the US and pay my bills they online bill pay (no need to have it here lose my a$$ in the exchange then exchange back to pay US bills).

As for getting money in he UK I will pull money out of the ATM and pay my minimal fee or "pay" our joint account there in UK

I am sure there are better ways but I havent figured then out yet

I'm using xe.com to start transferring money from the US to the UK for our move there.  It seems pretty straightfoward so far and less expensive than other wiring options as far as I can tell. 

The UKs remittance basis of income and capital gains taxation makes it very "not pretty" when you try to prepare a UK tax return if frequent remittances to the UK are made.

Take some tax advice if need be...

The UKs remittance basis of income and capital gains taxation makes it very "not pretty" when you try to prepare a UK tax return if frequent remittances to the UK are made.

Take some tax advice if need be...

Sounds like advice will be necessary at some point.  Right now we are not resident and non-domicile in the UK, and the transfers are from a non-income producing account - so I don't think this is a big issue for us. 

If you have a paypal account, you just send her money from your account.  No credit card details need to be shared.  Then she can withdraw the money from her Paypal account to her bank account that is linked with Paypal.  If you send the money in GBP, and she wants it in USD it will give you an option to pay the fee or make her pay the fee to convert. For only $150, the fee with be very low.

Excellent. That's what I needed to know. Cheers hon.