I want to move 50k chf from my UBS current account to my UK Natwest current account.
The 'on line' help at UBS said it'll cost me 5chf to do that using my UBS online banking service.
Normally I'd be 'ok' but.. I've never done it before and I see lots of discussions on here about having to use 3rd parties like Wise (who seem to be offering to do the same transfer for 190chfs) to avoid large bank charges
The conversion rate can be bad (assuming you pay CHF to a GBP bank account). Often they take 200 pips on transfers like these. So you do not only pay CHF 5 for the transfer but loose out on GBP you receive at NatWest.
You can also call UBS and ask them what rate they would offer. I have agreed with UBS that they take only the agreed pips on cross currency transfers and not the standard 200.
I doubt that they will match the rate of Wise/Revolut but it can ́t harm to ask.
Beware that if you wish to make large transfers with Wise or Revolut (in my case) you may need to go through money laundry checks, so make sure you have the documentation ready in case the transfer gets stuck.
That being said, the same could apply to regular bank transfers
UBS and other conventaional banks would charge a spread over the interbank/ mid market rate (which is where they make their money) These spreads are usually quite high and you would loose a lot of money.
By your estimate of 190CHF of wise for 50K chf works out to around 0.38%. I think UBS spreads is a minimum of 1.7% over the 5CHF they charge. So you may end up paying. CHF575 for the same transfer with UBS.
So.. am now swinging back to Wise. To be clear.. (that link seems to be talking about credit card transactions) but that's not a 855 chf 'fee' it's that what ends up in the UK bank will be 855chf less than converting 50k from chf to gbp using the 'standard' rate ?
correct, I used that as proxy reference for spread but you can contact UBS for the exact currency change spread. Yes thats as much less CHF which will end up as GBP (just another form of a fee).
My experience is that if you have a Bank Client Advisor, then perhaps ask them " what can you do to help me (with the standard rate)? ", as they might have some leeway to help (mine improved the rate considerably).
IMHO It is in their interest to help if you are likely to need the service again in the future, and arguably it lowers your risk if you talk large sums.
Just to draw a line under this (remember, I'd never done a big transfer before)
It was way, way better to use Wise
I got scared by advice on this thread to use UBS and then gave up trying to get any sense out of them about making the transfer and guaranteeing a rate
Revolut was 'easy' but you can't see the exchange rate that will be applied. I pushed the button and for my transfer, I was 'charged' around 200chf on the exchange (the difference between the exchange rate revolut used against the [rate that you see on google - whatever that's called])
Wise - once set up - was quick and easy, I loaded my Wise account with CHFs from my UBS account and then made the transfer to Natwest. I could see an exchange rate that looked the same as on google that would be applied and just took a fee of 40chf which was taken out of the CHFs to be transferred.
You absolutely can see the exchange rate on Revolut but I don't think you can fix it. Revolut can charge a 0.5% loading on transfers made on the weekend. You always have to bear that in mind. Otherwise Revolut is always better in my opinion as it has no other conversion fees, although there are sometimes withdrawal fees. I pay for premium which I pay for each year by doing a quick buy/sell when the market is moving.