I transferred some savings last year, because I emigrated.<p>All the normal British banks offered very poor exchange rates.  Traditional money exchange sites, which seemed to target people making large foreign purchases (houses etc) or people looking to invest in foreign currency were better, but as soon as I signed up on the website I received calls from their staff, which annoyed me.<p>In any case, the rates were still beaten by <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.TransferWise.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.TransferWise.com&#x2F;</a> (London startup). Transfers with TransferWise aren&#x27;t instant, they wait until there&#x27;s a transfer in the opposite direction.  But I wanted a relatively obscure European currency, and my transaction was only in the queue for about 45 minutes.