I've searched the forum, and I can't exactly find the answer of what I need to do - I think i need a really basic explanation!
I'm selling my UK property, and I'd like my funds to be paid to me here in Switzerland, but obviously I'd like to minimise the cost involved.
It's a large sum of money and a one off, but I'm not sure of the best method. I was thinking either:
1) Solicitor pays money to my UK account and send it to Switzerland with Wise
2) I pay it into my GB IBAN Revolut account and move it to my Revolut CHF account - but I think there are charges above a certain amount
3) Solicitor pays it directly into my Swiss account (i think this is the worst idea!)
4) I have a Swissquote account - From other threads I *think* this might be the best solution - but I'm not actually sure what to do (do I need a FOREX trading account?)
Any other ideas?
I'm not in a desparate hurry for the cash, so I can wait for a good exchange rate, I'm just not sure what to do/how to do it, so any help would be gratefully received!
If you are selling a property in UK, I believe the local laws dictate that you get paid in UK, otherwise you could be performing a criminal act. Then it is your problem to transfer the money to CH.
As mentioned, Swissquote works, but in general transfer costs are not very high for banks especially for large amounts (since they are capped, you can ask your bank). However, if you are transferring a large sum to a Swiss Bank, you should inform the bank first before taking any actions. Otherwise your money can be blocked and then the charges will mount rapidly.
For Swissquote: Swissquote IS a bank in Switzerland. First you open a bank account, then you decide if you would like to have trading options or not. It is not compulsory to have a Forex trading account in Swissquote.
For large amounts phone Swissquote they will give a better rate than on their website/app...
PS. I opened a GBP account here and transferred the amount from my UK bank. LLoyds charge £9.00 per transfer with a maximum daily amount of £100,000 (in 2016)...
I've been in this situation selling several UK properties. In every case the quickest and easiest was have the solicitor send the money to my UK bank account and from there I transferred it to my Swiss account. I booked a very good rate with the bank and paid some bank charges which were not excessive. +- £ 80 each time on large amounts.
All the hassle of going through Revolut, Swissquote etc was not worth the saving of perhaps a hundred pounds or so!
Thanks all for this, it's been really helpful, I'm a lot clearer now - revolut was quoting over 1000CHF, so I think the bank will be significantly cheaper!
(Still not figured out how to thank people in posts so please forgive me!)
I always use currencyfair.com - they charge a flat rate of EUR3 and the rates are as good as anything I can find elsewhere. Six-figure transfers have not been a problem.