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What is the quickest and cheapest way to send money to a bank account in Poland?


Lefty  13 | 124  
8 Oct 2009 /  #1
Hello,

I'd like to send some money to a Polish bank account from my bank account in the UK but I need to do this ASAP and I also need to do it as cheaply as possible!

Can anyone give me an indication of if it is possible and how much it may cost? I've read some other threads but some services take weeks to set up and I just don't have this much time!

Thanks in advance!

Lefty :)
gumishu  15 | 6164  
8 Oct 2009 /  #2
there should be no problem transfering some money to a Polish bank account from a British one - however I don't know the price they will charge you (but guess it can be pricey) - as for how long is it gonna take - hmm - a couple of days

now - my bro used to work in Northern Ireland and had an account in the Bank of Ireland - he was able to transfer money to a euro account in Poland free of charge (it took two-three days) - as far as I can remember their exchange rates were quite reasonable too
PlasticPole  7 | 2641  
8 Oct 2009 /  #3
The only thing I can think of is call your bank and ask them. Since you can't be there in person, perhaps if you have an ATM card you can use it?
OP Lefty  13 | 124  
8 Oct 2009 /  #4
gumishu

PlasticPole

My bank has demanded £40 pounds for this and also said the transfer can take up to 32 days. This is simply not good enough! I thought this would be straight forwards! I tried to sign up for some other services but they take up to 14 days to set up and I don't have this long :(

I keep looking!

Thanks for answering.
Infotimes  - | 19  
8 Oct 2009 /  #5
There are some companies that can help but they generally work for polish customers.

Companies like:

- Przelewy365
- Grosik

just google them, because I'm not sure if I can put the links on this forum

You transfer money on their accounts in UK, they transfer it into polish account.
Cost - about 4GBP, 1-3 days.
Avalon  4 | 1063  
8 Oct 2009 /  #6
If you have internet banking then it should take a couple of days to transfer funds. My bank in the UK, HSBC normally charge around £8.00.for transferring £1000.00. (maximum charge £21.00. for large amounts) my bank in Poland charges another £8.00. to receive it and they set the exchange rate to convert the Sterling into Zloty but its not usually too bad.

Two years ago I transferred 75,000 Euro from a bank in Spain and it was 2 months for the Polish banks to clear the transfer. I was not paid any interest for the two months that the Polish bank sat on this money.
zakoinfo  4 | 8  
8 Oct 2009 /  #7
Yeah HSBC online charge only £23 for a transfer of £6000. Make sure you do it online though as if you call over the phone it is more like £60, don't ask why!? It clears within 4 days. You just need the IBAN (International bank number) of your Polish account, the Polish bank name and city.
andrewwright  8 | 65  
8 Oct 2009 /  #8
well we have accounts with hsbc(uk) and also pko polska and transfer probably once a mouth and withdraw (atm) every week and never seem to get charged,dont no if its the type of account we have as we said we will be using it in poland alot? but we are happy with it,And transfer normally within 2 days max
drew128  3 | 55  
9 Oct 2009 /  #9
Halifax charge to send and PKO have not taken any fees so far, 2 working days and its here in PL
gjene  14 | 202  
9 Oct 2009 /  #10
Did you check on the back of your bank card? There should or might be some symbols that will indicate that you can use other bank machines to withdraw money from your account. If that is possible then you might be able to withdraw money from your acount for nominal charges.

I was in the States and did that. I had to pay for exchange rate and using another bank machine. But it saved me the hassle of carrying travelers cheques or a lot of money in my wallet.
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
9 Oct 2009 /  #11
moneybookers is the easiest way :)

There should or might be some symbols that will indicate that you can use other bank machines to withdraw money from your account.

Never, ever assume that charges will be 'nominal', particularly where non-Euro EU withdrawals are concerned. In fact, it's dangerous to suggest so - charges from a UK account can be as high as 5 pounds for every 100 withdrawn.
JustysiaS  13 | 2235  
9 Oct 2009 /  #12
there are plenty of companies and small businesses that provide this service, i'm sure there is an old thread on that somewhere on this forum. try western union or opal transfer very cheap and reliable
Lodz_The_Boat  32 | 1522  
9 Oct 2009 /  #13
Try the OTHER ways too...

there are OTHER ways :).

There is a friend of mine... brings down money from other european countries.... by other ways...

His name I have not yet been permitted by him to mention. He is Polish... no worries. Most of my friends who work in UK or other parts easily come into transaction with him.
poleaxe  2 | 32  
9 Oct 2009 /  #14
Or you can use a an old-fashioned briefcase and an old fashioned fixer to do it in for you... depends if £100 or £20k.
Wroclaw Boy  
9 Oct 2009 /  #15
money bookers is the easiest way :)

the verification process takes ages and wiring in and out is three days a piece at best.

If you need to transfer from your UK bank to a Polish one open a sterling account with the Polish bank and wire transfer straight in. Should take no longer than five working days but usually three. The UK chrages should be less GBP - GBP.

The quickest way is Money gram (I think) via the post office. If you have a trustworthy frined or relative with the same UK bank account as you, you should be able wire transfer via on line banking in real time, ask them to visit the post office and send a money gram transfer.

FX Foreign Exchange companies are another option but i wouldnt bother with them unless youre moving atleast £2k.
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
9 Oct 2009 /  #16
The UK chrages should be less GBP - GBP.

I wouldn't trust UK banks not to apply mysterious fees regardless - because it'll be technically cross border and the UK Government has disgracefully allowed UK banks to almost ignore SEPA :(
JustysiaS  13 | 2235  
9 Oct 2009 /  #17
I wouldn't trust UK banks not to apply mysterious fees regardless

i've done a trasfer from my UK account to Polish one once and the charge is at least 20 quid. there are cheaper ways of doing that honestly, even paypal.
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
10 Oct 2009 /  #19
i've done a trasfer from my UK account to Polish one once and the charge is at least 20 quid.

It doesn't help that the banks are less than honest if you ask them to do a transfer - they'll almost certainly send it by the method that makes them the most money.

You'll also never get a straight answer from them when it comes to how much it'll actually cost as well.
OP Lefty  13 | 124  
10 Oct 2009 /  #20
HSBC told me £60!
Natka  - | 1  
23 Jun 2010 /  #22
Whatever you do but please don't use the PKO SA bank. It is a very unfriendly foreign bank we have ever dealt with. We sent $10,000 USD and when it turned out that it went into the wrong account we rejected the money to send it back to the United States, and guess what the money is lost. When we asked to confirm the account if it was a USD account they gave us the wrong account. It has been over two weeks and the money has never arrived in the United States. I am assuming that the Polish bank is using our money.
Trevek  25 | 1699  
23 Jun 2010 /  #23
My bank has demanded £40 pounds for this and also said the transfer can take up to 32 days.

Bloody hell!

You must be transferring a hell of a lot of money for that kind of price (forget the transfer, just come and be my friend!)

I transferred in a week or so with RBS for 20 quid last summer. I don't imagine prices have gone up that much.

they set the exchange rate to convert the Sterling into Zloty but its not usually too bad.

My experience with UK banks is that their exchange rate is pathetic. I usually make the conversion in Poland. I recall transferring about 4-5000 sterling a few years ago. If I'd converted in UK I'd have lost 500 quid on the transfer.
bolek  6 | 330  
23 Jun 2010 /  #24
Whatever you do but please don't use the PKO SA bank

Absolutely true, they change 6% flat, and never send a cheque/money order as the fees are unreal (you will probally have to pay more than what the cheque is worth)

PKO are a bunch of crooks.
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
23 Jun 2010 /  #25
To be fair, their high charges subsidise their extensive branch network. Look at Bieszczady for instance - they're the only bank to be found anywhere there.
bennybeans  - | 1  
23 Jun 2010 /  #26
hire one of my ilegal imagrents
southern  73 | 7059  
23 Jun 2010 /  #27
Western union the quickest,moneygram the cheapest.
jwojcie  2 | 762  
23 Jun 2010 /  #28
Within EU (plus few outsiders) the best way is SEPA:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

It cost 5 Złoty to make such transfer from Poland elsewhere in mbank. I suppose it is also quite cheap in opposite direction.

PS. Be aware, and if it is possible transfer from for example EUR account to EUR account in Polish bank, otherwise you can get some unfavourable exchange rates
terri  1 | 1661  
23 Jun 2010 /  #29
I've just transferred some sterling from my account in the Uk (Royal Bank of Scotland) to someone in Poland. For 400 pounds cost of transfer 20 pounds (4-6 days) or 27 pounds (within 3 days). You can transfer any amount, the charge is still the same. They got it in PLN but rate was ok.

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