Transferring money to myself while in the UK

[insertNameHere]

I will be going to London for six months early next year. I intend on opening a bank account there, and then transferring money to myself. However, I heard from Standard Bank today that it is only possible to transfer money overseas in person. In other words, I have to personally go to a Standard Bank branch and transfer to a UK account. This is clearly not possible for me.

Does anyone know other methods of transferring money overseas while still overseas? / What have other South Africans who have gone to the UK done? I could try other methods like Western Union / Moneygram, but it does not look like I can initiate these methods while overseas.

 

[Crowley]

What about opening a PayPal account and transferring the money to yourself that way?

 

[Sinbad]

Draw the money at atms with your credit card

 

[deweyzeph]

Switch to FNB, you can do international transfers to any overseas bank account via their online banking site.

 

[Nomad]

Switch to FNB, you can do international transfers to any overseas bank account via their online banking site.

Do this. Also download the FNB app on your mobile before you leave. Also let FNB know you're going overseas. Also ask FNB if you'll be able to do what you want.
You should have no problems.
Standard bank app doesn't work from other countries (although the I haven't tried their new app).
Also, FNB.

 

[shortestpath]

I did UK to SA transfers for 2 years and the fastest cheapest option was to literally do a cash withdrawal and then deposit... Any bank transfer will give you a rubbish rate and charge all sorts of fees...

since then there are a few more options tho' try www.tranzfers.com or www.currencyfair.com

 

[deweyzeph]

I did UK to SA transfers for 2 years and the fastest cheapest option was to literally do a cash withdrawal and then deposit... Any bank transfer will give you a rubbish rate and charge all sorts of fees...

since then there are a few more options tho' try www.tranzfers.com or www.currencyfair.com

If you read the post carefully you will see that we are talking about transfers from SA to the UK, not UK to SA.

 

[shortestpath]

If you read my reply carefully you will see that the principal still applies regardless of which direction you are transferring...

 

[SauRoNZA]

Draw the money at atms with your credit card

I was wondering why it's even a question when such an obvious answer exists.

 

[deweyzeph]

I was wondering why it's even a question when such an obvious answer exists.

Drawing cash is not practical for large sums of money such as paying rent, etc.

 

[insertNameHere]

Do this. Also download the FNB app on your mobile before you leave. Also let FNB know you're going overseas. Also ask FNB if you'll be able to do what you want.
You should have no problems.
Standard bank app doesn't work from other countries (although the I haven't tried their new app).
Also, FNB.

Thanks. I actually made an FNB account today. Afterwards, I went to my other bank (Standard Bank) where the person said that due to South African regulations, it's not possible to transfer from SA to UK from the UK. He was giving me forms which would allow someone else to send money from my account to me in the UK on my behalf (which I don't want to do). Hopefully this teller was wrong about the regulations. I will find out from FNB tomorrow.

 

[Nomad]

Thanks. I actually made an FNB account today. Afterwards, I went to my other bank (Standard Bank) where the person said that due to South African regulations, it's not possible to transfer from SA to UK from the UK. He was giving me forms which would allow someone else to send money from my account to me in the UK on my behalf (which I don't want to do). Hopefully this teller was wrong about the regulations. I will find out from FNB tomorrow.

You're welcome.
You won't have a problem with FNB, set up an Internet banking profile and you're sorted. There should be a tab that says Forex that will allow you to send money from your account to an international account.
Don't know what the guy at Standard bank is talking about, just go into FNB and confirm everything to be safe.
Having the app is super helpful when out of the country wrt sending family airtime and doing local transactions. The Forex tab might even be available on the app now but I haven't tried it yet. If it's not, you'll just have to log on with a pc.

 

[SaoirseB]

I arranged with Standard Bank before I left. They had me complete some form, can't remember what. But it allowed me to use my cheque card overseas. I was then able to just draw money from ATMS that side. The exchange rate was a killer though.

 

[deweyzeph]

There's no need to explain anything to FNB. Simply open up an account and login to internet banking when you're overseas and do your transfers.

 

[insertNameHere]

Just for the record, I spoke to FNB today. They said that I can do any international transfer through Internet Banking. The yearly limit is R1 million (by default). Thanks everyone

 

[Nomad]

Cool enjoy your travels

 

[shortestpath]

Do yourself a favour, compare the rate the bank gives you against the midmarket rate at www.xe.com and take into account any bank charges/commission, then compare it to total cost of a p2p transfer using the links I posted earlier.

I'm pretty sure the banks will be much more expensive.

 

[Nomad]

Do yourself a favour, compare the rate the bank gives you against the midmarket rate at www.xe.com and take into account any bank charges/commission, then compare it to total cost of a p2p transfer using the links I posted earlier.

I'm pretty sure the banks will be much more expensive.

Have you actually done this yourself? I know you said you've used it to transfer to SA from the UK and that the principle is the same but have you actually tried what you are suggesting and used them to send from SA to the UK?

 

[Voicy]

Switch to FNB, you can do international transfers to any overseas bank account via their online banking site.

Nope, doesnt work.

I've tried the exact thing and got bombarded by FNBs international agents emailing me personally telling me I cant send myself money.

according to them, I have to get an original SARS tax clearance form, collect it from a SARS branch for the exact amount i intend on taking across. Not a word of lie. For each transaction...even when I tried it with just sending R1000 to my Norwegian Bank Acc.

Its absolutely laughable. You can try paypal, or get someone else to send you the money from a different name via FNB, but it still flags as a SARS requirement with a buttload of paperwork.

What I ended up doing is just drawing a metric ****ton of cash from the local ATMs here on my FNB credit card...at rates FAAAAR lower than what currency exchange buy/sell rates rip you off on. I think it was something like R15 per transaction for a couple of thousand at a time.

Then just walk into your new bank and deposit the cash. We do cash deposits at ATMs here, so I draw notes on my CC, then use my norwegian bank card and put the same notes back into the ATM. Problem solved.

Once I get permanent rez here I have no idea how Im getting all of my SA investments out of the country and into Norway. Ill find a way.

SARS and FNB can go suck it.

 

[shortestpath]

I haven't used the p2p transfer options myself, mainly because I haven't had the need. A friend of mine that has just moved back to SA has been using them with no problems. As with anything, google them, make sure they are regulated and reputable, etc. Its essentially no different to a moneygram transfer...

Also be aware that there is usually a 3-5% cash withdrawal fee on CC atm withdrawals and a 3-5% cash deposit fee at most SA banks. I used to withdraw using my debit card rather than credit card, if your debit card has the Maestro logo on it should be fine for international atm use. It was a lot of effort but saved me about R2k a month at the time, these days I would use the p2p transfer option personally...