Good news on expat pensions!
With experts predicting that up to 20% has been wiped off the value of many pensions overnight* after the biggest stock market crash for three years, anxious expats should ensure they don’t lose out further when transferring their pension overseas.
Many astute expats are already avoiding bank charges and unfavourable exchange rates by utilising the world's first ever peer to peer online foreign exchange marketplace. CurrencyFair enables customers to find a better deal through individual buyers and sellers of currency rather than the banks, therefore providing expats with access to more competitive rates. The key requirement is a current bank account operating in the currency required.
The latest figures suggest that there are approximately 3 million British expats living abroad, many of whom are retired and drawing on a pension from a UK company. This figure looks likely to rise further over the next few years with growing numbers of Brits disillusioned with the current economic situation and looking for a new life overseas.
Brett Meyers, CurrencyFair founder said: “The need to transfer a pension into a different currency is clearly becoming more and more common due to modern day lifestyles, so it is vital that there is a system in place which allows you to get the best deal possible.
“Banks trade currency with each other at the interbank rate. If you look to your bank to carry out a monthly pension transfer you could be paying around 3 to 5% over the interbank rate. On top of this the bank will probably charge something in the region of £25 to transfer the exchanged funds. CurrencyFair customers pay, on average, 0.35% over the interbank rate and £3 to transfer the funds. This means a CurrencyFair customer with a monthly pension of £2000 a month could be saving up to £1500 a year.”
CurrencyFair’s customers are able to exchange currency instantaneously with others, or place their own trade on the marketplace and wait to see if someone matches the rate. This unique business model enables CurrencyFair to offer great value and in many cases customers are exchanging at rates which are usually only available to money market professionals dealing in millions and have often been achieving a better rate than the interbank rate.
How to transfer your pension overseas using CurrencyFair:
Step 1 - Deposit your funds into CurrencyFair’s ring fenced client account.
Step 2 - Exchange anonymously with other customers on CurrencyFair’s unique marketplace.
Step 3 - Transfer out to your desired account.
* Saga, the over 50s-group said some pensioners could have seen up to 20 per cent wiped off the value of their retirement funds by the FTSE 100’s fall.
ENDS
For interviews contact Brett Meyers on +353 (0)1 244 9585 or brettmeyers@currencyfair.com. Download high res photos and further information including fact sheets, user stories and pre-recorded interviews here: www.currencyfair.com/media-centre.
About CurrencyFair
CurrencyFair is the world's first peer-to-peer foreign exchange marketplace. CurrencyFair customers are able to exchange funds and transfer them overseas at a fraction of the cost of traditional banks or brokers, due to its unique and innovative p2p model. CurrencyFair was incorporated in April 2009, and went live online at the start of May 2010. Since then, thousands of customers have been served, saving them millions of Euros in bank fees and exchange rate charges.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, CurrencyFair is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under the European Communities Payment Services Regulations 2009. CurrencyFair Australia is regulated by ASIC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
