banking between the US & UK

[Matt B]

Hi all,

Anyone have suggestions for moving money between the US & UK? I
presume the NIH stipend comes as US dollars, and was wondering if
anyone has experience in an efficient way to transfer/access the money
in the UK without being mercilessly pillaged by transactions fees.
(Capital One credit cards supposedly carry no international fees --
any experience on that front?)

Cheers,
~Matt

[Admin]

Previously posted responses:

Hi,

I lived in Cambridge for two years, and I never got a UK bank
account. My Bank of America debit card could withdraw cash from any
Barclay's ATM for no fees, and at the actual daily rate you would see
on google finance (none of those inflated rates you see at the
airport).

My Visa card does charge a 4% transaction fee for every purchase made
in GBP, but also gives the actual daily rate. Interestingly, if you
can ever get someone to credit your credit card in GBP, you will get a
4% bonus!

At the time, there was a $500 limit on my withdrawl on my debit card.
So I could only get 250GBP at a time (more now I suppose, but I rather
not think about it!) So this means each month I was making 4-5 trips
to the debit machine, and walking home with a huge wad of cash. Never
had any problems personally. And then I would pay my rent in cash
each month, as well as all my other expenses.

All the best,
Brad

**************************************************************************************

Hi Matt,

I opened a UK bank account (Llyods) and take out a large amount of
money
from my US bank account once a month at the ATM outside and just walk
into
the bank to deposit it. I asked my bank for permission to increase
the
amount of pounds I can take out at a given time.

Hope this helps,
Kelly

******************************************************************************************

Hi Matt,
Capital One credit cards do give you the daily exchange rate with no
fees.
I pay it off online each month directly from my U.S. bank account
(where my
NIH stipend goes) and haven't had any problems.

-Matt