I just started using a company that goes by the name of Custom House. They're own by Western Union so it's a pretty legitimate company. How it works is basically you wire them the money, and then they deposit it to your bank account in the USA through ACH or they can send you a check. ACH is not consider a wire transfer so your bank will not charge you. Custom House uses Bank of America in Geneva as their intermediary bank but they don't charge a fee for incoming transfer. In addition, since you're sending money to BOA in Geneve, there's no fee at all for you to send with Post, Credit Suisse, ZKB, etc.

I just did 2 transactions with them and the exchange rate came out a bit better than what Post Finance was offering. The instruction for Custom House is a bit confusing, but to simplify it, use the Iban number they give you and make a transfer as if you're sending money to another person in Switzerland. Ignore the Swift and BIC code. Make sure to fill out the Bank Address they give you along with the Order ID and Account ID (these need to be filled in the notification for beneficiary section). If anybody has any question, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for the info, might give them a try, it seems almost too good

Also known as 'xe.com'

Use them frequently.

IS xe.com free?

"Nothing in life is free," my father used to say to me. What's clear is this: XE.com does not charge any additional fees beyond the bid-offer spread on its rates, which are usually very competitive.

When transferring small amounts (>$10k) they offer extremely competitive rates, so for my regular transfers back to a USD account they're perfect. For larger transfers, you might be better off using a fee-based broker. What you "lose" in fees you'll "gain" with a better exchange rate.

Personally, I ignore the whole fees vs. rate argument. I simply want the company that will give me the most USD for my CHF. How the get there, via fees or exchange rates, matters not one jot.

xe.com is mighty fine. Good rates, no fees, and fairly straight-forward process.

Can you please give a brief explanation of the process like the OP did for Custom House? That would be GREAT! Thank you.

xe.com is Customs House, so the process is the same.

1. Log onto XE. Lookup exchange rate and book the trade.
2. Identify where funds will come from and go to, and by which method.
3. In my case, wire xfer in CHF -> ACH deposit in USD
4. Wire money from my CHF account into xe.com's CHF account
5. Wait 3-4 days
6. Money is magically in my USD a/c in the USA

Easy peasy!

Or, in their own words...

1. You book a trade to convert currency.

Using our secure website, you can obtain a risk free rate quote. If you like the quote, you can place an order to lock in the rate - we send you confirmation for your records.

2. You send us the funds to convert.

Funds can be sent to us by Wire Transfer, EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), or ACH (Electronic Check).

3. We convert the funds.

Your funds are converted at the previously locked in rate.

4. We deliver funds to your recipient.

We deliver by Wire Transfer, EFT, ACH, & Draft.

Grrrrreat! I just looked at their website and you need a bunch of ID at the ready to sign up, so I'll need to set aside 30 minutes or so for that process, but after that it should be easy. What great news. Paying for money transfers gets really expensive! Thanks again for the run down.

The initial paperwork is a bit of a hassle, but once you've got your account set up it's all very easy.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but long time lurker with a tax question. If you are using a FX broker like xe, do you declare that money to US tax authorities as income? Or no problem.

Also, someone mentioned BOA in Geneva. If you have a BOA account, are you able to deposit in CHF in Geneva and withdraw in US?

No answer on this? Anything further?

Transferring money won't make any difference on if it needs to be declared as income or not.

+1 for XE.com Have happily used them for many years.

I'm not an expert on US tax, but I would assume that you do not treat money transfers as income as this is simply moving an asset from one place to another. No different than moving money from a bank account to share trading account for example. However, any FX gain from trading would likely need to be declared as income.

Richard Branson has a new company with low fees. www.transferwise.com

Here is the article:

https://transferwise.com/blog/2014-0...t-hidden-fees/

Skype is also now proposing a low fee international wire service. Have not used them yet but may soon. However, if anyone has had experience doing so, feel free to share


And, wiring has nothing to do with taxation, however, big amounts coming from abroad might trigger questions from the tax man.

I've been using CurrencyFair for a while now. That's peer-to-peer FX market, so there's very little spread. Very pleased so far.

Thanks for the info on xe.com! Does anyone know offhand what the fees are for transfers from CH --> USA from big banks like UBS or Credit Suisse? Is it absurd to use these? Aren't they a bit safer?

About 10 chf if done online, it depends on a no of things.