How do I get the best rate on a GBPUSD transfer?

A reader asked: I want to send US dollars from a sterling bank account. How do I get to the best rate when transferring a large amount of pound sterling to a U.S. dollar account?

When it comes to finding the best deal on sending currency, as with most things, it is a good idea to shop around. Not all currency services offer the same rates, and charges can vary considerably.

High street banks often have the worst currency exchange rates and charges on the market. So although it may seem most convenient to just go with the transfer services offered by your current bank account, this is likely to not give you the best deal.

For example, while Nationwide offered a pound sterling to US dollar exchange rate of 1.31358, the actual mid market rate – the real-time midpoint between the buy and sell prices of currencies on global markets, representing the ‘fairest’ rate – was significantly higher at 1.34470 (correct as of 8th January 2026).

The difference may seem small, just a few fractions of numbers behind the decimal point, but the result can be thousands of pounds (or dollars) lost unnecessarily, especially in big transactions when sending large amounts of currency, as you mentioned is your plan.

By comparison, Wise, which is more of a money transfer app, not a bank (though it does also offer some banking-type services), was, on the same date, offering dollars at the mid market rate, giving you a much better deal.

Generally it is much better to use a specialist currency broker when sending foreign currency from a sterling bank account. International payments can be made cheaper and faster than your bank.

A bank could charge up to 4% in exchange rates costs, whereas a currency broker will normally be under 0.5% from the mid-market. If you were transferring £100,000 from pounds sterling to dollars, for example this could mean the difference between bank charges of £4,000 and currency broker charges of just £500.

A currency broker also has another advantage, it can offer what are known as ‘currency forwards’ – these let you lock in the currency exchange rate for conversions and transfers for up to one year in advance.

At the very least currency forwards give you peace of mind you’ll know the exchange rate you’ll get at some future date, and, depending on market fluctuations, could secure you a better deal versus the rate available when you actually need to convert and transfer your cash.

To use a currency broker you’ll need to set up an account with them, but this is a relatively quick and painless experience. You can do it online and will be asked a few anti-money questions to prove the money you are sending is legitimately yours.

Currency brokers’ entire focus is currency transfers, so they tend to be faster than a bank (as well as cheaper) and they are usually able to send money the same day.

Finally, when you’re sending money from the UK remember to only use financial firms registered with and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Good Money Guide, for example, only features and reviews FCA-regulated currency brokers.