There are four simple steps to transferring money from the UK to Canada; these are identity check, get an exchange rate, make your payment and finally, the money is sent out!

Identity check. In line with the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Regulations, money transfers are subject to identity checks to protect you from falling foul of organised crime and ensure that when you transfer money from the UK to Canada it ends up where you intended.

Exchange rate. At Regency FX we ensure you get the best exchange rates possible when you send money from the UK to Canada.

Make your payment. Simply complete the details and send money from Canada to the UK.

Usually, you would be looking at around 2-3 working days.

Payments can be slowed down as the Canadian banks will have to do their own checks as the money comes across from the UK, some are faster than others at completing these checks.

If you send your money in the morning it usually arrives faster than if you were to send it in the afternoon; also if you send it after 2pm it will be counted as the next working day.

There are two main options when it comes to transferring money from the UK to Canada and they are: using your bank or using a money transfer specialist.

The easiest way to put it is that banks are an easy option and may appear as convenient however, they have high charges.

Transfer fees and exchange rate are the two main costs when transferring money internationally.

Transfer fees are a standard fee that is charged by a bank for every international money transfer; the fees vary depending on which bank you use.

For example:

-Barclay’s charge £25 for a standard transfer or £40 for a priority transfer if you do it in a branch however, if you do it online it is free. The receiver is also charged £6.

-NatWest charge £15 under £5,000 or 0.3% over £5,000 with a maximum of £40.

-Lloyd’s charge £9.50 and the receiver is charged £12.

So, as you can see every bank is different when it comes to transfer fees and some banks also charge the receiver as well! Along with the transfer fee you also must think about the exchange rate.

The exchange rates that the bank offer as deemed as uncompetitive and expensive.

The exchange rate margin for the big banks within the UK are around 3-5.4%. If you are planning on sending a small amount of money the costs will not seem that terrible however, if you are planning on sending larger amounts of money then the costs can seem catastrophic!

When transferring money to Canada from the UK you will need a SWIFT code, Canadian SWIFT codes are 11 characters for certain branches.

Money transfer specialists can generally offer you a better exchange rate than the banks, this is since they have far less overheads than the bank so those savings can be passed straight onto the customers.

Furthermore, a lot of money transfer specialists do not charge transfer fees, these can add up if you are making multiple and frequent payments.

Some of the UK banks can charge up to 5% to send your money from the UK to Canada!

For example, with a £240,000 transfer you could be paying £12,000, that is a lot of money to be spending out on fees and charges!

The main thing to look out for to ensure that a money transfer specialist is safe is to check to see if they are regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).

If they are regulated by the FCA then they are required to separate your funds from the company funds and they will put your money into a safeguarded client account, ensuring that it is safe.

To find out if a company is regulated by the FCA you can check the FCA register online.

There are plenty of online live rate's websites such as XE and FX Street however some of these rates are not real.

Some of the rates you see online are ‘interbank rates’ these are rates that are only available for banks themselves and large financial institutions.

These rates are not available for customers, not even large corporations can use these! These rates will usually have an exceedingly small disclaimer near them saying something like “for informational purposes only”.

For a real accurate exchange rate, get a real quote rather than looking at the live online quotes.

To put it shortly, no there is no limit.

As these two countries have a close political and trading relationship there are no exchange restrictions with money transfers. Although, there are no limits set by the company, the banks themselves will have their own daily limits.

HSBC and Barclays have a daily limit of £50,00, NatWest and Lloyds have a daily limit of £100,000.

When looking at sending large, frequent amounts of money to Canada it might be worth looking for a money transfer specialist as there will be a lot of fees to think about if you are considering using your bank.

Exchange rates move every few seconds and even the smallest changes can affect the exchange rates massively.

Money transfer specialists can monitor the rates for you and help you get the best one possible, they can also alert you if the exchange rate moves in your favour!

Another good thing about using a money transfer specialist is that there is someone experienced for you to talk to instead of having to figure it all out on your own!

A small move of 1% on a £200,000 transfer is a difference of £2,000 to you and if you are not monitoring the rates, you could miss an opportunity like this!

It is all about optimising your timing when transferring money internationally to reduce the costs that you must pay out, therefore some guidance is helpful.

Banks and online-only operators will not offer the same guidance when it comes down to exchange rates and the process.

Bank staff are more trained in the savings accounts and mortgages side of things and have little experience with international money transfers and the most help you could get with an online-only operator such as TransferWise and Revolut would be webchat or support emails.

A lot of customers prefer talking to someone for guidance when sending large amounts of money!