Is it worth opening an Interactive Brokers account purely to to do this - believe they offer the best rates. Any watchouts?
TIA.
I have to convert a fairly large amount of CHF and USDs to Euros in the coming months to buy a house in the Euro zone.
They got rid of the inactivity fee not long ago so I don't see any other problems. Make sure to exchange the money and withdraw it as soon as possible (after the settlement period) otherwise you will pay negative interest if the currency is other than USD.
I do exactly that. Better rates generally even compared to Wise
I didn't realise that there is negative interest on the Euro as well.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=46385
It's seems to be the case for amounts >50k in CHF, EUR and: