I’ve never had to transfer a large amount of money from the UK to Tenerife but it is one of those things that you may need to do one of these days.

Although the most common reason for sending money overseas  is to buy property that is certainly not the only time you might need to get your hands on emergency funds. The whole subject came to mind for me when a friend mentioned the cost of a expensive private surgery that she was intending to have. Her family were looking into sending over lumps of cash through their bank which was going to cost them a lot of money in charges and currency transfer costs.

After a panicky couple of days they hit on an online Currency Exchange and Transfer service which offered private client services as well as business accounts. With great relief they were able to sign up and within the day had organised to send money to Tenerife for their daughter’s operation and had saved a lot of cash on bank charges.

Should you be buying property (or indeed selling property), a professional  Currency Exchange and Transfer service could make a huge difference. For one thing the exchange rate is fixed at an agreed rate so you have more control over fluctuating exchange rates – a little detail that if neglected no doubt cost a lot of people a lot of money in recent months.

Having looked into the subject a little recently it struck me that there is a key difference in the way these organisations operate. The best assign you an account manager who takes sole responsibility for your transactions and deals with you on a personal level. Other organisations simply assign you whoever is available at the time which must surely make tracking your transactions a tad stressful.

In looking into this a little I found that James Stanton of Foremost Currency was by far and away the most helpful consultant.  He took the time to answer my questions fully and with great patience considering he knew from the start that I had no intention of actually transferring any money to Tenerife at the time. You can email James  through that link or contact me for his phone number if you prefer.