Thursday, August 04, 2016

How much does international business payments cost?

With the help of a research agency, TransferWise called up the high-street banks in the UK to see what sending £2000 to Germany, the US and India would cost for businesses. Turns out, it’s a lot, but they won’t tell you if you don’t ask.

Exposed: the hidden cost of transfering £2,000 to euros

The up-front fees charged by banks varies between £9 and £25. Santander is the most expensive, and Natwest is the cheapest. But that's not all, the banks all added a mark-up to the exchange rate. The worst one is again Santander, who added on 3.47% in the exchange rate.

It doesn’t end here however. We also investigated how much the recipient pays on the other end. Commerzbank in Germany took £14 and Bank of America took £24. Only in India were there no receiving fees.

Sending bank fees for £2000 to EUR


Name of bank
% exchange rate mark-up
International transfer fee
Exchange rate mark-up in £
Total sending fees
Barclays
2.02
£25.00
£40.39
£65.39
HSBC
2.07
£9.00
£41.45
£50.45
Lloyds
2.45
£15.00
£48.99
£63.99
Natwest
1.73
£12.00
£34.66
£46.66
RBS
2.29
£12.00
£45.72
£57.72
Santander
3.47
£25.00
£69.36
£94.36
Read the research here.
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