How to Transfer Large Sums Between Your Bank Accounts Abroad

Something I never thought I’d need to know as an expat was the finer details of how to transfer large sums between bank accounts abroad. I arrived in the UK with a wedge of travellers cheques kept verrrrry securely which I knew would keep me going until I found a job & set up a UK bank account. This is a sponsored post.

When I arrived (way back in pre-Smartphone days, can you imagine!?) I had my savings with me, I had a 24-month travel plan, a brand new A-Z London map book and a “temporary” thirst for exploration. No need for anything more permanent, right?

So very wrong. It’s funny, recently I’ve found myself discussing how I never intended to stay longer than my first two year visa – and yet here I am, coming up to my 16th year anniversary of life in London. Isn’t it funny how you have this grand plan – and then life happens.

I (accidentally, after swearing off relationships) met a fella, adopted a small feline, got married in a 10th Century Church, retrieved my stored boxes of belongings from the other side of the world and settled the suitcase in the shed. (Well, it gets pulled out all too often to go adventuring – but that doesn’t suit the narrative device of this blog post, so just go with me here.)

I picked out bedside table lamps, framed up prints with sweet New Zealand memories to hang along with my husband’s guitars, put down roots with fellow long-term expat friends, bought a laptop with video capabilities for long chats with the whanau and discovered just how to itch those homesick pangs that happen infrequently.

In terms of actual practical stuff that has to be done, settling in the UK had all the usual Visa intricacies, I learnt how to understand the varietals of accents, eventually stopped thinking in dollars and cents transferring mentally to pounds and pence, plus so many small things that I didn’t realise I was adapting to until the next time I boarded a plane for Aoteoroa.

(Fun fact: the first time I flew home I was homesick enough to change myself to a window seat just to catch my first glimpse of that distinctive New Zealand coastline, abandoning the Mr seated in the aisle further down the plane. Charming behaviour huh?)

Student Loan Repayments

Settling long term in the UK meant that I had to start thinking about sorting out obligations at home. One of the biggest commitments was with the New Zealand Inland Revenue department, settling my student loan payments slowly but surely in chunks as big as I could afford without affecting life here in Old Blighty. Payment after payment winged it’s way around the world until I finally got the best letter ever – the confirmation of my zero balance. Music to my ears!

It would have been so handy to have known about Money Transfer Comparison when making those large payments – they’re a product comparison company that reviews many different products and services across a multitude of verticals and countries. They work with 14 money transfer companies – more than any of their competitors – and review over 30 firms in total, including firms they deliberately choose not to work with.

Sending Money Ahead of Trips Home

We try to get home every 3 to 4 years – basically as often as we can forget how long it takes to fly to the other side of the world, though one year I somehow managed 3 trips in one year – and something we have to consider is how to send money ahead of us. The trips are never less than two weeks – my most recent was two whole months of New Zealand summer – and we need a fair amount of spending money. (Mostly for pies and brunch if I’m being totally honest.) Sometimes at the end of the trip we even have a little left over and get to transfer money from NZ to UK!

I keep a New Zealand bank account ticking along just for these trips (and for buying birthday and Christmas presents from lovely, small NZ businesses) and from so far away I want to be assured that I’m sending these funds with the best possible companies, and that I’m getting the best rates as well. Enter stage left Money Transfer Comparison.

Longterm Investments

Something I may need to start thinking how to transfer large amount of money internationally is for longterm investments at home. It would make sense to have a (metaphorical) foot on each side of the world – and investing in bricks and mortar always seems like a wise idea. One day I may even have to send payments back to cover mortgage payments for a little place close to a golden beach lined with turquoise waters, who knows what life will bring! Hmmm, maybe a nice little bach in Tauranga, or a smart little holiday let on Waiheke Island… we can but dream.

To ensure those investments are working the best for me from the beginning, I need to be sure that I’m getting the best value from my transfers. Money Transfer Comparison cleverly realised banks are heavily overcharging clients on international transfers. There’s a viable solution for that – commercial firms that buy and sell currency on wholesale and manage to provide better service, while charging lesser fees – the key is working out who is the best fit for your particular needs when receiving large sum from abroad.

This post was sponsored (sharing my own personal experiences as an expat in London) in order to keep our wanderlust strong and the travel fund topped up for future fun and blog posts.

Fellow expats: how do you find transferring money from your new home to your old home?