Transferring money to myself while in the UK

[JayM]

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.

Go to www.exchange4free.co.za and ask them how to do it. I'm in the process of sending money to an overseas account and they have been superb.

BTW, using your SA credit card while 'resident' (even temporarily) overseas is illegal and can land you in trouble. What you're doing is using your foreign travel allowance for the wrong purpose, and they will also stop you from withdrawing more than 1m.

 

[chrisc]

I have used my SA credit and debit cards overseas plenty of times. You need to notify the relative banks beforehand that you are going and show them your passport and travel confirmation. What you use the money for overseas is your business

Got a much better rate from Capitec Bank than with Nedbank. Also, Nedbank added two different fees to each of the transactions, not much (about R22) but completely unnecessary IMO

 

[deweyzeph]

BTW, using your SA credit card while 'resident' (even temporarily) overseas is illegal and can land you in trouble. What you're doing is using your foreign travel allowance for the wrong purpose, and they will also stop you from withdrawing more than 1m.

Your foreign travel allowance is exactly that, an allowance for foreign travel. I've been overseas in the UK for 6 months before and used my SA credit card almost every day. Never had a problem.

 

[Lukcydog]

I haven't read everyone's comments but the ones about FNB allowing you to JUST transfer money to the UK or wherever is total BS. All banks in SA are subject to exchange control regulations. When you want to transfer money overseas, this has to be declared to the reserve bank by said bank. For the yearly R 1mil allowance you don't need a tax clearance certificate but if you want to use the R4mil allowance you need a tax clearance certificate. NO BANK CAN GET AROUND THESE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS. SA is a !@#$% to do business in due to the exchange controls.

I have a bank account in NY as well as equity in Germany. Everytime I want to do a transfer i have to fill in Reserve Bank forms in order to transfer the money. Going overseas I use my credit card of which falls under the R1mil yearly allowance.

What the OP wants to do seems a bit of a catch 22. Working and living in the UK for six months, I presume some form of contract and then coming back. Possibly getting paid his salary in SA and needs to pay his living expenses in the UK from his SA account.

 

[deweyzeph]

I haven't read everyone's comments but the ones about FNB allowing you to JUST transfer money to the UK or wherever is total BS. All banks in SA are subject to exchange control regulations. When you want to transfer money overseas, this has to be declared to the reserve bank by said bank. For the yearly R 1mil allowance you don't need a tax clearance certificate but if you want to use the R4mil allowance you need a tax clearance certificate. NO BANK CAN GET AROUND THESE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS. SA is a !@#$% to do business in due to the exchange controls.

I have a bank account in NY as well as equity in Germany. Everytime I want to do a transfer i have to fill in Reserve Bank forms in order to transfer the money. Going overseas I use my credit card of which falls under the R1mil yearly allowance.

What the OP wants to do seems a bit of a catch 22. Working and living in the UK for six months, I presume some form of contract and then coming back. Possibly getting paid his salary in SA and needs to pay his living expenses in the UK from his SA account.

It actually is that easy. As long as you do not exceed the R1 million annual allowance FNB allows you to transfer funds overseas via your online banking account, no BS. All documentation, regulatory requirements, etc are taken care of via your online banking account. It's obviously not as straightforward as transferring money to a local account, but you do not have to go into the bank, you do not have speak to anyone and you do not have to fill in any physical forms. All formalities are taken care of online.

The R1 million allowance is more than most people will ever need. That's way more than most people make in several years.