Transferring money from Canada

[barb1314]

We have a friend in Canada who owes us quite a large sum of money. He is proposing to pay us back small regular amounts. What is the best way for him to transfer money from Canada to the UK without everyone incurring bank charges? Would appreciate any ideas you may have.Thanks.

[MarkRae]

> What is the best way for him to transfer money from Canada to the UK without
> everyone incurring bank charges?

There is no legal way to avoid bank charges in this instance...

[Mr Veritas]

The other problem is,you may loose more in bank charges with many small amounts that you would if he paid you back in one lump sum.
I realise this may not be possible,but just thought I would point this out.

[MarkRae]

Have you considered something like PayPal? Your friend could make the small and regular monthly payments, but you could leave the money in your PayPal account until all of it had arrived. That way, you would pay only one transfer fee.

However, some people are worried about leaving money in PayPal accounts for any longer than they need to. Look hard enough on Google and you will find some PayPal horror stories, but nothing's perfect and every financial institution comes with its own set of decriers...

[Buenchico]

There's no way that's totally free of any charges (since there's always a fee or some form of commission involved when exchanging currencies) but here are some suggestions for you:

Probably the easiest way is to use a service like Ikobo. They send you a Visa Prepaid Card and your friend tops it up periodically from either his bank account or his credit/debit card. You can withdraw the money from any cash machine with the Visa symbol (which, to the best of my knowledge, means every cash machine in the UK) or use the card to pay for goods in shops or online:
https://www.ikobo.com/

I've used Ikobo quite a lot and I'm a big fan of it, but an alternative is to use PayPal. People often only think of PayPal in relation to eBay transactions, but you can use it to transfer funds which are unrelated to any purchases:
https://www.paypal-ma.../send_to_a_friend.htm

Services like Western Union (available at a wide variety of shops) and MoneyGram (available at the Post Office and elsewhere) are also popular for international money transfers, but they can be expensive to use.

Chris

(PS: While I'm happy to recommend Ikobo, Western Union and MoneyGram for transferring money between friends, they should never be used for internet purchases. It's far too easy for someone to receive your funds and then simply disappear, without sending your goods).

[barb1314]

Thanks so much everyone.I knew some bank charges would be involved,I worded the question slightly wrongly.Nothing is free.I'd thought about Paypal so will look into this and Chris,I've not heard of the pre paid card so will also investigate that.It's a difficult one really because he can only afford small amounts and it has to be worth doing.There's also the exchange commission to think about.I knew someone would have some ideas here so thans to you all for your help.