Following on from our article on bank charges for incoming foreign payments, some of our lovely Twitter friends asked if we could take a look at outbound foreign payment charges for those who use suppliers not in the UK.
An important thing to bear in mind is that, much like with incoming payments, the recipient of your transfer may also incur charges on their end for receiving a payment from abroad – make sure you establish who is responsible for these payments beforehand, and write it into your contract if necessary.
While we have included the charges for sending an International Draft (essentially cheques for international purposes), having been on the receiving end of a few Drafts we would implore you to not send one – they’re slow, and a pain in the ass.
With that said, here’s what we’ve come up with.
| Bank Name | Transfer Charges | International Draft Charges |
| Lloyds TSB | Under £5,000 – £20 Over £5,000 – £35 (Source) |
£20 (Source) |
| Santander | No charge (Source) | £10 (Source) |
| RBS | Five working days (small amounts) – £10 Four working days (any amount) – £20 One to two working days (any amount) – £27 (Source) |
Under £100 – £8 Over £100 – £18 (Source) |
| NatWest | Under £2,000 / Any amount in Euros – £10 Over £2,000 (Four working days) – £20 Over £2,000 (One to two working days) – £27 (Source) |
Under £100 – £8 Over £100 – £18 (Source) |
| HSBC | Under £2,000 – £9 Over £2,000 (and all payments made by Sole Traders) – £17 (Source) |
Same as Transfer (Source) |
As before, Santander is the cheapest (in this case, cheap as free!) while Lloyds, RBS and Natwest prove most expensive depending on how much you are sending. We’re not 100% sure the Draft charges are accurate for HSBC as they once again hid their fees quite well – if you can find anywhere that offers more clarity please point us in that direction!
Photo by Philip Brewer – CC
