Transferring money from Poland to UK

Hello All

Just a quick one...

I am in the need of transferring a large amount of money from a Polish Bank (PKO) to an account in England.
What is the best way to do so... may sound silly but I just have no idea and don't speak Polish, so although I could speak to someone from the bank whom might speak English, I may get a better answer here.

Thank You

Don't do it through a bank - you will get an appalling exchange rate. The best way I have found is through a dedicated foreign exchange broker. Here is a page that gives a live comparison of rates: fx compared

transfer wise is also good but you don't know your final rate when you transact, which might be a problem for you.

However, banks don't fold too often and if they do then a government usually steps in to compensate customers up to a certain amount.

Let's not forget that many people lost every penny when this company went pop: theguardian.com/money/2010/oct/04/crown-currency-exchange-collapse

InWroclaw - I have just checked current rates. At Barclays £10 000 would get you 45 000 zlotys. Most of the brokers on site I mentioned would give around 52 000 zlotys. That's 7000 zlotys for peace of mind.

The directors of Crown Currency Exchange are standing trial at the beginning of next year so I think it's fair to say that whatever went wrong there was not the result of inherent risks in the currency exchange business. Even their business model - allowing clients to buy foreign currency for delivery up to a year in advance and presumably holding on to their deposits - looks dodgy to say the least. Regular brokers take your payment and immediately pay out to your nominated account - the time the money is with them is exceedingly short.

However there is more good news:

MoneyCorp is owned by Royal Banks of Scotland.

All the companies are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and maintain segregated accounts for client funds.

If you wanted to mitigate the risk even further, you could a strategy along the following lines. If you use a bank (I chose Barclays at random but all the high street banks have similar rates) you will lose 7000 zlotys with certainty. Therefore parcel your original £10000 into 8 chunks (£1250 = 6500 zlotys at a broker, so a little less than the 7000 ) and sent each separately, waiting for one chunk to be delivered before you sent the next one. In the unlikely event that the broker goes under you will then only have lost the same amount that you would have paid Barclays for their service. It's hassle, for sure, but beats being charged 14% of your money for essentially nothing.

Yes - they have to. Many are also backed by larger institutions.

Being registered is not the same as being covered by the compensation pool. The firm that went bust was also registered and that's why some clients thought it meant they would get compensation if the firm failed. Whenever using such a company, ensure they are covered by the regulator's compensation scheme or are authorised and playing by the rules, not just registered with the regulator. So please remember: 'registered' does not equal compensation if it goes t!ts up - it just means registered.


theguardian/money/2010/oct/09/foreign-exchange-money-safe


All the companies are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and maintain segregated accounts for client funds. No, not as far as I know, sorry. Registered is not the same as Authorised, and only Authorised ones are expected to segregate funds.

In any case, I think the OP means from Poland with a Poland based service. In which case, they need to check the compensation arrangements before sending from Poland.

Official page: fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register/use/differences

Note these are only some of the differences, not all.


Just to say again: Registered is not the same as Authorised. Payment services providers are NOT covered by the FSCS (compensation scheme backed by the government in the UK) but are expected to segregate funds in some trading.

For the UK, the list of firms known can be checked here to see if they are Registered or Authorised. and note the Notice:

There's no harm at all in being risk averse, especially when your own hard-earned dosh is concerned (I certainly am), but worth mentioning that the real basis of any financial transaction is trust - the regulatory and contractual aspect essentially kicks in in the remote chance that something goes wrong. The bottom line is whether or not you trust the company to hold your assets for the duration of the transfer. After all, it's in their interest too that things work out. In any case, if a financial institution goes tits up you're probably fecked in the short term anyway despite the schemes, excuse my language.

I haven't used this company myself however others have recommended it to me. It's also part owned by Sir Richard Branson whose reputation and experience means he is obviously cautious about what he gets involved with. Worth having a look at:Poland transfer

All good points of course.

If I were sending over a large sum I'd do it in smaller pieces whichever service I used.
Alior Bank has a kantor account. [kantor.aliorbank.pl/?language=en] I am only guessing but I assume that they are covered by Poland's compensation scheme with their money transfer service. Their rates appear favorable. Even if covered by that scheme, one should still only send small chunks at a time IMHO.

As you speak fluent Polish, Jon, maybe you'd be kind enough to have a look there and see if they pay compo if they go t!ts while doing someone's forex transfer and what the limit is.

Spot on. A friend (I shouldn't really gossip because he looks at this forum sometimes) was buying a flat in Warsaw. He brought cash back from the UK (quite a lot), had pre-arranged something with a reputable kantor and went straight there from the airport. The kantor laid on a security guard to accompany him home or to he bank or whatever. He took care to have proof of the money's origin in case of airport issues and it all worked out.

Sounds like an interesting solution! I think I'm right that in the UK the police can detain someone who carries more than a couple of grand in cash without proof of its origin. So that would need to be sorted at the UK end. Of course, some readers may not realise that here in Poland security guards seem to be allowed to overtly carry a firearm. In the UK of course, ordinary (probably all) security guards are not permitted to carry any weapon whatsoever. Your friend must be a very confident chap, I don't think I'd have the guts to carry a lot of cash! I think 2K when I bought a car in Herts was the most I ever had on my person!

You wouldn't believe the half of it :-)


I think that's rare but possible. The risk was having to explain on arrival in Warsaw (amounts over either 10 or 15,000 EUR, I forget which). In this case, I think he'd got a secured bank loan in the UK so presumably there would have been some paperwork, albeit in English.

I know a kantor who will give you 52,400zl for £10,000. And he'll meet you in the branch of your bank so you can go to the cash desk with him, withdraw your £10,000 from your account, immediately get the 52,400zl right there and have it counted into your account before the £10,000 goes into his pocket. So your money never leaves your bank and you get the best rate anybody offers.

What kantor is that? Mind mentioning the name? Thx

Would he however do this vice versa? Złoty to pounds?

Well thanks for the answer anyways, I will certainly research the best and most suitable option. Although I may lose a little, I think bank transfer would be the safest and most hassle free for myself. Although taking a look at the PKO change rate, the last time I checked it wasn't that bad as far as I recall, maybe somebody could confirm?

One final question, what's the deal here if it's from a joint account? do both parties need to be involved here? Just for the record, I'm simply taking my share of our money from this account

Yes. Although he might well need notice so that he can be sure to have the pounds ready.

Bank transfer is the way to go. However, there's no reason to get stung for exchanging the currencies. According to pkobp.pl today it's 5.1169 and 5.3793, meaning that on £10,000 you'd be losing 1,231zl.


conti.waw.pl

I found WorldFirst to be better. Their transfers by the way are more or less instant.

Personally I use PayPal for any kind of transfer.

I've used them too for certain things but can you convert currency with them?

What is the advantage of PayPal? I fail to see the point. Other than fashion, or making it easier for the business in question (such as Ryanair, who refused my debit yesterday grr)

Are they any cheaper than cards? Paypal is certainly a hell of a lot more hassle from what I know (another password etc etc to remember...)

Why dont you have a look on transfer wise?

I've tried it. Other services are better.

well you can send money to people just using a computer without needing their bank details.
People can pay you for goods and services , again without needing your bank details.
Also you can buy stuff online without having to enter your bank details.
Also, if you are really good, they offer you a Mastercard linked to your PayPal account.
Yes you do have to remember another password, but that is not a 'hell of a lot of hassle', surely?

Mmm - my bank does that...I just cut and paste the clients' bank number and hey presto. Still don't get it - but thanks for the detailed reply.

I don't like the fact that services like Paypal read your IP address and automatically assume you are fluent in Polish, at the very moment when you are stressed, and have to transact in a hurry.