I've submitted yesterday a SEPA bank transfer directly in EURO from my UBS private account.

The amount was 1000 euro. With SEPA you don't pay anything (well, UBS decides to charge 0.30CHF even if it doesn't cost anything to them - but it's ok anyway).

Today I check and I find that they have charged the sum of 1'485.49 CHF which is 22 CHF higher than the expected 1462 CHF.

I've checked both xe.com and Yahoo finance and they both report that the exchange rate should have been of 1.463. The transfer date is today 03/03/10 so the rate applied is just either higher or wrong.

I wonder what authorizes UBS to decide an higher exchange rate than the one advertised by the currency markets. I'm maliciously thinking that they do so to overcome the fact that with SEPA they cannot charge any commission as this circuit has been setup to let EU banks exchange money at no cost.

I'm ready to call UBS tomorrow and see what has exactly happened, but I ask anyone in this forum if this is a normal practice and whether there are more honest banks which simply charge the money at the correct exchange rate.

If yes then I'm ready to drop UBS for anything better.

Isn't there usually an average exchange rate shown on Yahoo or currency converter site, which is different to BUY and SELL price? This is how it works. You buy you lose, you sell you lose and bank is the one who makes money!

How do you think banks make money ?

On these small amounts the buy/sell spread is always quite big. Even on big amounts (mio's) the rates are not so wild

Yup, but I wonder whether there are banks which are less greedy than others. It would be nice to see which exchange rate would apply a post.ch account, for example.

Agree xe.com is the buy/sell average.

Check UBS directly on-line, they'll list both buy/sell prices.

But anyway, UBS will always get your money...

You've been here since 2007 and you still haven't worked out that Switzerland is one big cartel ?

As for the rates they are all pretty much the same, it's not run by the Swiss banks but by the international market.

What you're going to save on amounts less than 10k you'll waste in time and effort looking for a rate tahat nets you a few more pfenning

Subtract 2 cents per dollar/euro (which ever currency is worth more) on the exchange rate on xe.com, and that is your fair price. It gets hairy when a bank gives you a fair rate, but hits you with the fees. Deutsche Bank gives the market exchange rate for taking money out of a foreign atm, but it costs €5,99. Ouch.

I have tried this. The post offers fair rates, but little different from UBS. Interestingly, last month when buying Euros, I got the best rate at the Post's ATM after all charges are accounted.

Alternatively, you could use xe.com to get their rates -- although the advertised rates on the public website are the buy/sell average (as other posters have pointed out). When you actually make a transaction, you are subject to a buy/sell spread as well.

The only question is how big the spread is -- it varies from provider to provider. If the difference is 20%, you need to decide whether it's worth all the hassle of dealing with a second provider (like xe.com) to save CHF4.

I use XE for my USD transfers, but for EU transfers, I just stick with PostFinance and accept their rates... The convenience factor outweighs the potential savings.

I'm pretty sure when you are sending money it says the UBS sell rate is used.

Maybe when you are sending money by UBS you should use the UBS currency convertor not the xe.com one?

http://www.ubs.com/1/e/index/bcqv/calculator.html

Every bank has its own exchange rates, they normally change several times during the day.


With UBS I recommend checking the rates here:
http://www.ubs.com/1/e/index/bcqv/calculator.html

This source is more comprehensive, login to e-banking required:
https://wb3.ubs.com/caches/fin/sec/g...%26node%3D6007


A SEPA order has to be placed a day in advance, so in practice you cannot predict what the exchange rate will be. The e-banking system of UBS does however display the rate that applies at the moment you enter the payment.

I use SEPA orders from UBS quite reqularly, it is a good deal for CHF 0.30. Do not expect the bank to do it for free.

Thanks for the links however I didn't get the exchange rate displayed at the moment of the transfer, I'm pretty sure of that. And 0.30CHF is not a good deal, SEPA transfers are for free and my bank in Italy doesn't charge a penny for them.

There is a common misconception that all wire transfers in the SEPA region are (by law) free to the consumer.[citation needed] The European Parliament merely mandated that a bank charge the same amount for local/national wires as for SEPA wires (which may be transnational). Banks still have the option of charging a wire transfer fee of their choosing, as long as it's charged uniformly to all SEPA banks

That's what wikipedia says anyway.

We've been using Swissquote for changing CHF to US$ because their rates are better than those at UBS. You can start trading after you set up a free account with them. I'm not sure how their exchange rate for Euros compares with UBS.

No rip off that I can see, rather a misunderstanding on the part of the poster. It's just the way the money markets work - making money out of consumers.

SEPA is only 'free' when making a transfer from a EUR to a EUR account. If you transfer EUR from your CHF account, both banks (sending and receiving) will charge you. In my experience you should transfer between your own CHF > EUR accounts first, and then make a EUR > EUR SEPA transfer out of Switzerland.

Depends on the bank / account that you have. My account at PostFinance allows be to send CHF > EUR SEPA transfer with no additional fee. I subscribed to the 'Plus' set. The only catch is I have to originate the transfer using eBanking. If I go into a branch, there is a charge for the service.

Do UK banks/building societies (accounts in GBP) accept SEPA transfers FROM Switzerland?

There's a difference between the underlying rate as determined by the international FX market and the spread offered to retail customers, which is merely a price for a service bundled in with the price of the wholesale product.

Its called making a profit. Most banks would like to do that.

The rate that you see online is the average, or the mid-point of the bid and ask price. that is not the price at which the dealer is buying or selling.

It is also normally valid for million dollar transactions. not for 50 bucks. the spread (diff between buy and sell price) widens for smaller transactions.