Yahoo Finance 'Why don't banks charge the same for money transfers?'
My wife makes periodic transfers of 25,000 Canadian dollars (£14,290) from her account in Canada to a Canadian dollar account with Barclays in the UK.
Recently, the Canadian bank, by mistake, made the transfer in sterling so Barclays’ automated processes immediately converted the sterling back into Canadian dollars.
The Canadian bank very courteously immediately reimbursed my wife’s loss. However, this enabled us to compare the commissions charged by each bank.
EP, Suffolk
The Canadian bank charged 1.5pc commission, and I understand from Barclays that for a transaction of this size a personal banking customer would be charged 2.75pc.
Both banks’ costs will be similar. Barclays said its foreign exchange rates were calculated in a clear way and its daily rates could be viewed online, in branch or over the phone. Mid-market rates, like the stock market, fluctuate.
