What Advantages are there to Using an Independent Foreign Exchange Service?

by ETF Base on November 6, 2013

As we head out of the Great Recession, economies such as the United States and Brazil are beginning to show a greater reliance on exportation, with the former aiming to double its exports over the next five years.

According to a study carried out by HSBC, global trade is expected to quadruple by 2030, giving businesses every reason to find the best foreign exchange service today.

For large corporations and businesses, it is quite easy to find large and well-known currency exchange providers, as the majority of the time they take their business requirements to the international corporations that can be found on the UK FTSE index.

The task of finding a reliable, cost efficient foreign exchange provider therefore, is much harder for your average SME.

Of course, the immediate thought for many mid-sized companies is to allow whichever bank they have an existing relationship with deal with their foreign exchange requirements.

The problem here however, is the fact that the majority of banks will charge large fees for each exchange carried out. Sometimes this can be as much as £40 – this adds up quickly when a firm is making a large number of transactions per month.

The issues inherent in this method don’t stop there however, as many of the aforementioned larger foreign exchange providers also charge for their transactions, or in the least, offer deals so that the first exchange is free, with the client being forced to pay charges thereafter. Equally, these companies often require a certain amount of trading to be performed each month, something which may be outside the capacity of some small businesses.

In addition to this, many of the systems used by larger exchange companies are yet to break into the 21st century, with the vast majority of them relying on telephone salespeople to broker and purchase rates on behalf of their clients.

For those that are looking for quick, clean and understandable foreign exchange however, they could well look into the market of the lesser known, independent foreign exchange companies.

In order to keep exchange rates low, many independent foreign exchange companies rely on totally automated systems, so that their clients can work straight from a stream of live international rates; helping them get the best possible deal without having to go through an intermediary agent on behalf of the provider.

On top of this, many independent companies, such as 4xcurrency.com, do not charge fees for exchanges and boast that their service is free from hidden charges. These are the type of companies that SMEs should look out for; those which give them a digestible, transparent rate that is not inflated with commission or other such fees.

Of course, for those who are independent traders, such as retirees and people simply looking to send money abroad, these independent exchange companies are also the ones to search out if they are looking to save money when making currency exchanges.

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