Sending British pounds to the USA

[perfeser]

What is the least expensive way to send pounds sterling from England to the USA?

[stevie21]

In a sealed envelope by post (cash or cheque).
By paypal.
Ask your bank to give you a cheque (in sterling or dollars)
Have the money sent electronically by your bank/Western Union or any other provider.

I'm sure there are other ways.

[paddy_36]

Found this a big problem when buying stuff from the USA - banks make ridulous charges for transferring money to US accounts and for writing cheques in dollars. If it's a smallish amount of money the charges will not be worth it. Paypal would probably be the best (and cheapest) option, which you can use as long as you and the person you're sending the money to has an email address. I don't think you're supposed to post cash to the US, but if it's only a few quid's worth...

[yummy]

You could get your bank or building society to write a cheque that you can send to USA. If you have a current account, then you can do this yourself if you have a cheque book. This will cost you nothing usually. However, it is almost certain that when the payee actualy gets the cheque, they will incur a charge to transfer the money into US Dollars. This charge can vary amongst banks.

As for direct transfers from bank to bank, this charge can also vary. I think the average is about �20. They are fairly safe to do. So your best bet is to find out the involved charges and act accordingly.

Hope this helps xxx