To elaborate a but further there are a couple of models one can use -

Revolute model - CC/ Financial Services company, works on very thing margins and on a subscription model.

CurrencyFair model - Peer to Peer FX - works by matching different buyers and sellers and charges a nominal amount per transaction

Banks - Typically offer very limited options they earn revenue with commission/ fees and an unfavourable spread. They prefer others to do the hard work for them.

Currency Exchange - used mainly for low volume holiday money trade - services based on commission or fees and the fx rate spread

Specialist Currency Traders - Used for higher volumes, they typically make their money by packaging a clients trade and sell it on to be used for hedging (or on some cases speculation)

Wealth model - When you have a couple of million to exchange - you will have access to a complete suite of options including an options trade which none of the other models offer.

All these models offer different levels of services, protection and options.

Interactive Brokers UK is the lowest rate I found, lower than the specialist FX brokers. They are an investment broker, they don't rely on making profit on spot fx transactions

They charge interbank rate plus a tiny spread. E.g. I paid CHF 1.87 to change 15k GBP earlier this year (2 USD being their minimum fee)

https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk...ex.php?f=49818

You would need to go through the hassle of Know Your Client to open an account and the process to transfer in money is a bit special (need to enter the incoming payment in IB as well as in the sending bank). Transfer in from UK banks is free, one outgoing payment to CH bank per month for free. If you plan on regelar transfers it is worth it

p.s. it was not the reason for posting and I am dubious when people do this but I do have an IB referral code I am happy to share, as we both get something. Hope this is not against EF etiquette

Thank you,

You can send me your IB referral as I am waiting to arrive to Switzerland to open my IB account.

Can you tell me regarding transferring the exchanged balance (GBP exchanged to CHF) to a CHF bank account? any limitations/hidden fees/things to watch out for?

I might be opening both Neon and UBS accounts.

PM Sent.
Only restriction in sending from IB to a CHF account is that only one outgoing transfer from IBKR is free per month. Otherwise it costs ~9 CHF wire fee I believe

+1

withdrawing CHF doesn't attract any fees? Where is their CHF account?

IB policy is one free withdrawal per month, see link below. A 2nd withdrawal in CHF would be 11CHF (apologies I suggested 9CHF earlier)

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/e...f=1544&p=cash1

People recommending Revolut must be out of their minds.

There have been several reports of Revolut blocking accounts with no warning and basically providing no support. Yes, providing proof of origin for the money appears to unlock the account after a review period, but is not guaranteed.

Same happens with Wise, although less common.

I have personally never experienced an issues with Revolut, but I still wouldn't trust it for such a high amount of money.

I was recently in a similar situation and opted for my high street bank. I paid ~£30 but it was definitely worth is. Received the money the same day.

However, I opted for a GBP to GBP transfer (to a Swiss bank).

You clear it first with Revolut, tell them the amount, where it's coming from and provide some evidence.


If it is coming from one of your own accounts, their is very little risk of it being blocked as Revolut correctly assume the original bank has already done their due diligence about provenance of funds.

£30 for a large amount of money???

Yes. It's irrespective of the amount. I used MetroBank, you can call them up and check with them.

Without knowing details why those accounts were blocked, this post is complete non-sense.

Blocking of accounts happens in big banks, PayPal and Wise as well.

I mentioned before I personally know people who transferred 200k+ sums from the UK to CH to fund down payment. Yes Revolut asked to show source of funds, but this is as easy as uploading a PDF bank statement/payslip/whatever.

If funds are dodgy, forget about transferring them electronically at all. Even crypto exchanges will ask to prove the source of funds.

I am sure you are right. As stated, I have never had any issues with Revolut.

However, the major "concern" with Revolut is their customer service which is unhelpful in situations like the one I described (account getting locked). There are dozens of reports on this.

Therefore, regardless of how "very little risk" there is, I personally would never risk having £50,000 or more locked in an account with no way to speak to someone in person or over the phone.

Again, this is me. I would rather spend £50 or even £100 and do it through a high street bank. (I actually paid £25 or £30 with MetroBank, GBP to GBP with a CH IBAN).

The difference is that I can talk to someone in person if I go to a branch. I don't have to chat with a different person every time I reconnect. Again, people are free to do whatever they want, but I think OP should be informed of the well-known issues experienced by people using Revolut. I have never any issues with Revolut, and I actually transferred £1,000 with them to a CH bank. But that was the maximum I felt comfortable sending.

I'm not sure how a minion at Lloyds branch is anymore useful than Revolut support. Most of them don't decide anything. Saves you a trip to the bank incase of issues.

You are not wrong, but I personally feel better being able to be there in person, talk to a manager, clearly understand what they need, be able to go back and talk to the same person.

It is down to personal preferences, I am just warning OP of potential issues.

Personally, I would rather be warned and make an informed decision. People can easily dismiss my comments and carry on as usual.

I presume that's just the commission and then you are robbed blind on the fx rate...

Fine you get to talk to some useless muppet in an office who has no decision making abilities and can do nothing.


Unless of course you have millions, or owe the bank millions, in which case you have no real problems

There is value to being able to get hold of (strangle) someone, even if they are a minion. It is easier to escalate, relatively speaking

With Revolut / Interactive Brokers etc. one gets passed through a call centre and ticket system. At IB I was once put on hold for 59m59s until the line cut. It was a minor issue, but it made me wonder what would happen if I had a black swan event e.g. account hacked and money withdrawn

There is a trade off, IB is still the best offering for my personal situation, but at some point in the future I may transfer to a physical bank

I would suspect the same but in this case there was no exchange as it was a GBP to GBP transfer. If it were me I’d still be nervous about the potential ‘creativity’ that may be applied by intermediaries on the way, converting from and back to the starting currency with some amount disappearing into the ether!

The FX rate is certainly less convenient, but at the end of the day the difference is not massive.

Real example with current rates & fees, if you were to transfer £50,000 today.

Revolut to Swiss Bank: you will receive CHF 63,344 (incl. fees CHF 315.76 & 1 CHF = £0.7854)

MetroBank to Swiss Bank in GBP, then converted within the same Swiss bank: CHF 63,102 (incl. transfer fee from Metrobank of £25 = approx. 32 CHF)

Revolut is cheaper by CHF 242 (let's remember, we are transferring £50k, not 5k).

Personally, I am happy with spending a bit more but use a high street bank.

PS: In case you were wondering, when transferring £100k the difference would be approximately CHF 360.