Best way to wire money to Europe?

[Steve]

Completely unlike our experieces, Lisa. We used xe.com several times now, and when I screwed up once, Customer Service was very helpful. It really is weird! Steve, did you go forward with xe.com?

I have not tried xe.com. In the end I decided that a possible small saving in exchange rate wasn't worth abandoning the secure method I now use for repeated transfers to a specific account in the UK - not quite the same purpose as this thread is mainly discussing.
For what it's worth, I found a page at http://www.xe.com/xetrade/about.php describing how XE partnered with Custom House ULC for foreign exchange and in 2009 Custom House ULC (the partner) was acquired by Western Union. Western Union is THE major player in international money transfers. I own some of their stock, so I should (but apparently don't ) know about the relationship with XE.com. I do know that they, and everyone involved in transferring money internationally, have been required by regulatory authorities to implement extensive mechanisms to ensure that the services aren't being used for money laundering purposes. Lisa, your bad experience may be a side effect of the early implementation of these initiatives - seems very strange to me.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I have not tried xe.com. In the end I decided that a possible small saving in exchange rate wasn't worth abandoning the secure method I now use for repeated transfers to a specific account in the UK - not quite the same purpose as this thread is mainly discussing.
For what it's worth, I found a page at http://www.xe.com/xetrade/about.php describing how XE partnered with Custom House ULC for foreign exchange and in 2009 Custom House ULC (the partner) was acquired by Western Union. Western Union is THE major player in international money transfers. I own some of their stock, so I should (but apparently don't ) know about the relationship with XE.com. I do know that they, and everyone involved in transferring money internationally, have been required by regulatory authorities to implement extensive mechanisms to ensure that the services aren't being used for money laundering purposes. Lisa, your bad experience may be a side effect of the early implementation of these initiatives - seems very strange to me.

Steve, since our unbelievably bad experience, I found a forum detailing similar ones. I have to admit we were both atounded. Ron spoke to several people. He asked, "are you saying as a senior academic I can't use your service to deposit $$ in a UK account for the purposes of renting an apartment while doing resarch?' He was told "no and we can't tell you why." This after he submitted very personal info. Leaves us wondering, is he on some kind of watch list? And why.
I know that this is not the intended use of this forum. But it is travel related.
Today, I'm off to the bank to do it the old fashioned way.

 

[Steve]

Most disconcerting! Given the current state of things, dealing directly with the bank looks like your best approach. Best to make use of this fallback option while you are still in Canada and can physically deal on site with your home bank. While you are at it, it may be worth exploring if you can set up some arrangement with them in case you need to do further transfers later when you are in the UK.