How to receive sizeable foreign payment from third party?
October 14, 2017 7:39 AM Subscribe
I live in the US and am expecting a sizeable payment in Swiss Francs from my ex-employers pension fund in Switzerland. What is the most cost-effective way to do an electronic foreign currency transfer to the US? (More inside)
I moved from Switzerland to the US and because of that need to cash out of my Swiss pension fund (similar to a 401K for those of you in the US). The pay-out will happen in Swiss Francs and I want to convert it to US Dollars or potentially hold it in Swiss Franc and convert it over time to minimize currency impact. The amount is sizeable and therefore there is a significant impact from receiving poor exchange rates.
I successfully have performed previous international transfers from my own account through worldfirst at competitive exchange rates. However, I will receive this payment from a third party and worldfirst and similar services (e.g., TransferWise) only seem to work if you are the person doing the transfer not if you are the recipient of the transfer.
I am concerned about just using my bank or broker as from past experience I know they will charge very poor exchange rates.
Are there any solutions out there where I can receive foreign currency and convert it to USD at competitive rates or just hold it in the foreign currency and convert it at later point at attractive rates? Googling it has been challenging as everyone says they offer competitive rates, but in reality the rates are often not that good.
I moved from Switzerland to the US and because of that need to cash out of my Swiss pension fund (similar to a 401K for those of you in the US). The pay-out will happen in Swiss Francs and I want to convert it to US Dollars or potentially hold it in Swiss Franc and convert it over time to minimize currency impact. The amount is sizeable and therefore there is a significant impact from receiving poor exchange rates.
I successfully have performed previous international transfers from my own account through worldfirst at competitive exchange rates. However, I will receive this payment from a third party and worldfirst and similar services (e.g., TransferWise) only seem to work if you are the person doing the transfer not if you are the recipient of the transfer.
I am concerned about just using my bank or broker as from past experience I know they will charge very poor exchange rates.
Are there any solutions out there where I can receive foreign currency and convert it to USD at competitive rates or just hold it in the foreign currency and convert it at later point at attractive rates? Googling it has been challenging as everyone says they offer competitive rates, but in reality the rates are often not that good.
I move euros in the opposite direction using XE Trade and I'm happy with the exchange rate I get. My friend also recommends Transferwise.
posted by humboldt32 at 10:13 AM on October 14, 2017
posted by humboldt32 at 10:13 AM on October 14, 2017
Best answer: I guess the main problem is that if you don't initiate the transaction the transfer services won't help you much. So assuming that's your main problem and that you're no longer eligible for a bank account in CH your best bet would be to find a bank outside CH that will let you open a chf bank account. Preferably with the lowest fees you can find but you may not have a lot of choice. If you bank with an institution that has an international banking arm that would make it easier. You can then control transfers from that account.
You might also want to think about how soon you may want or need to use the money. What would constitute an acceptable exchange rate and what might trigger the rate to go there? In the last 6 months the interbank rate went from pretty much parity to 1:1.05 and back down to 1:1.02. My point is that there is enough underlying fluctuation that if you pick a rate you find acceptable a movement beyond that can 'cover' everybody else's margin.
I'd also post this question on the Englishforum - you're not the first American trying to get their pension fund out of CH.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:54 AM on October 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
You might also want to think about how soon you may want or need to use the money. What would constitute an acceptable exchange rate and what might trigger the rate to go there? In the last 6 months the interbank rate went from pretty much parity to 1:1.05 and back down to 1:1.02. My point is that there is enough underlying fluctuation that if you pick a rate you find acceptable a movement beyond that can 'cover' everybody else's margin.
I'd also post this question on the Englishforum - you're not the first American trying to get their pension fund out of CH.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:54 AM on October 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
You can receive money on TransferWise if their Borderless feature is available in your area.
posted by 3zra at 11:27 AM on October 14, 2017
posted by 3zra at 11:27 AM on October 14, 2017
Seconding Transferwise. Way cheaper than HSBC. Flat $10 (CAD for me) fee and the midmarket rate. As opposed to the roughly 1.5 ~ 2% that HSBC 'offered' for their "premier" customers. You do need an account in both currencies. So you'd need to open a CH account (probably wherever you are.... HSBC does offer accounts in other currencies, at least here) and have your third party transfer it directly into your CH account. Then transfer the funds to yourself. (or as 3zra noted, see if their borderless accounts are available)
posted by cfraenkel at 12:36 PM on October 14, 2017
posted by cfraenkel at 12:36 PM on October 14, 2017
Response by poster: All thank you for the feedback.
metaseeker, I contacted HSBC and found out the US affiliate only has USD accounts. They can open accounts in other countries for you, but don't have a presence in Switzerland and therefore cannot open an account there. I was with USB previously, but they made me close the account when I moved to the US due to regulatory reasons.
humboldt32, 3zra and cfraenkel, I have looked at transferwise and similar services. The challenge is that they always require you to transfer from an account in your own name and this is a third party that will transfer the money. I do not have an account in Swiss Francs, nor have I been able to find a way to open such an account while in the US. I looked into the transferwise borderless accounts, but at least for me, they do not seem to provide Swiss banking details that I could pass on to the 3rd party similar to the Euro accounts that they do offer.
posted by eurandom at 2:21 PM on October 14, 2017
metaseeker, I contacted HSBC and found out the US affiliate only has USD accounts. They can open accounts in other countries for you, but don't have a presence in Switzerland and therefore cannot open an account there. I was with USB previously, but they made me close the account when I moved to the US due to regulatory reasons.
humboldt32, 3zra and cfraenkel, I have looked at transferwise and similar services. The challenge is that they always require you to transfer from an account in your own name and this is a third party that will transfer the money. I do not have an account in Swiss Francs, nor have I been able to find a way to open such an account while in the US. I looked into the transferwise borderless accounts, but at least for me, they do not seem to provide Swiss banking details that I could pass on to the 3rd party similar to the Euro accounts that they do offer.
posted by eurandom at 2:21 PM on October 14, 2017
You might want to try speaking to somebody else at HSBC - I'm sureI've seen a branch at Paradelatz in Zürich.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:15 PM on October 14, 2017
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:15 PM on October 14, 2017
Take a look at Citibank. I've lived in five different countries (but not the USA, sorry), and Citibank has been the best option for me for transferring pension funds and other large-ish sums from place to place, usually without fees at all, and often with pretty competitive exchange rates. They do offer accounts in other currencies (here in Australia, anyway), and I think catering to international travelers/nomads is basically their Thing. I don't know what the US branches are like, but hopefully similar.
posted by lollusc at 6:23 PM on October 14, 2017
posted by lollusc at 6:23 PM on October 14, 2017
Response by poster: Thanks, lollusc, I also lived in 8 different countries and used Citibank the first few moves. However, they don't have a retail banking presence in Switzerland and don't appear to offer transfers to/from Switzerland.
koahiatamadl, you are correct that HSBC is also present in Switzerland, however it offersr private banking and corporate banking, not retail banking making it not really an option for my needs.
posted by eurandom at 6:38 AM on October 15, 2017
koahiatamadl, you are correct that HSBC is also present in Switzerland, however it offersr private banking and corporate banking, not retail banking making it not really an option for my needs.
posted by eurandom at 6:38 AM on October 15, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
UBS also has a similar service, but they sure seem to have a lot of fees.
Zenbanx was great for this but they got bought out and shut down.
Revolut and Monzo seem to be preparing to enter the U.S. market but it might take months to years.
posted by metaseeker at 7:51 AM on October 14, 2017