Dealing with a variety of currency requirements has helped us to identify three core facets which inform our approach to each instruction.
Although structured foreign exchange services tend to be more obviously useful to those converting and transmitting sizeable one-off amounts, at CrossbarFX we pride ourselves on the dedicated offering we carry for individuals and families who simply want to send money from one account to another.
Every currency transaction is personal; equally, each payment carries with it it’s own set of specific requirements. Private client payments are those sundry transactions that may not be for a specific purpose per se. We do not delineate or discriminate based on volume, destination or regularity.
How does one send money from one country to another? Why does my bank make the process arduous? How can I improve the speed with which I send money as well as the rate of exchange?
Our team are on hand to answer all these questions and more. Your requirements do not need to be intricate or urgent; if you’re sending a payment for a mortgage, topping up your foreign currency bank account or sending emergency funds to family and friends, we can help.
Whether buying or selling property, sending funds for a mortgage payment or repatriating rental income earned in another country, using a specialist company that knows about the particulars of not just the banking systems you’re using, but also the effects changeable rates of exchange may have on your position, is a good way to operate.
Your dedicated CrossbarFX dealer is familiar with all the particulars associated with sending or receiving your currency, whether it be arriving from your French notaire, forwarding to your Spanish abogado or depositing in to a designated Escrow account.
When using CrossbarFX you can speak with one experienced currency dealer throughout the buying or selling process and this gives us the opportunity to introduce other solutions that might further reduce or, at the very least, fix your costs.
Territory specific knowledge and the ability to convert your currency at commercial rates of exchange makes the process through which you have to go faster, more efficient and less expensive – and this is what we offer.
Whether you are dealing in wine, precious metals or one-off custom pieces, our acumen when dealing with the luxury sector has few rivals. Discretion and precision explain why we are called on by a number of the UK’s leading niche market operators to assist with not only their import and payment activity, but the currency concerns of their clients and suppliers too.
Through in depth research and committed development of our contacts in the niche product and luxury import space we have built up a reputation for supreme competition, a lightness of touch and a confident consultative approach.
The expectations of suppliers, carriers and shippers also has a prominent part to play in the way we approach dealing with this sector. Short run, rare or limited edition orders can carry a premium, so our narrow margins are even more valuable when bringing product to the UK and selling further afield.
Law firms, accountancy practises and change/management consultants are allowed to work with foreign currency dealers and thus benefit their corporate and individual clients to the same extent as were a private client or company to engage us organically without having been referred or recommended to do so.
As well as dealing with clients of professional services businesses we handle the direct operational foreign exchange activities of many of our referers.
Firms with offices around the world or dealing with freelance consultants outside the UK can remit and repatriate or settle fixed contract work at a lower cost than by using their primary banker, all through a fully authorised foreign currency provider like us.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ensures that client monies are not at risk and, because we receive better commercial rates of exchange than professional service businesses who only have a limited or infrequent currency need, the customer – whether that be the firm themselves or their clients – improve their conversion rates by a comfortable 1-3% margin, if not more.
Issues such as buying or renting accommodation, schooling, savings and asset transfer, domestic removals and even buying a vehicle, all come under the umbrella of relocation whether that be to the UK or from it. More often than not foreign exchange has a part to play in these undertakings.
CrossbarFX assists companies moving to or establishing offices in overseas territories and relocating staff, stock and equipment; one off payments for logistics, or regular transactions for salaries, share dividends or overseas licenses.
Be assured you are talking to a firm well versed in dealing in relocation related private client concerns. We welcome your call to talk through what you need done and how best we can achieve it.
Our directors and a number of our associates have first hand experience of relocating to and from the UK and the complications that can arise from sending school fees, buying property, engaging domestic staff and making ready for your arrival in another country.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods tend of be seasonal in terms of geographical sourcing. This can present a problem for clients dealing with multiple currencies, numerous beneficiaries and an array of suppliers in more than one country.
Speed and margin drive payment services in this market; this suits our team excellently because our unique operational proclivities are closely aligned with the need for quick and competitive execution.
Our ability to centralise the booking process and the fact that we provide an experienced support team to vet and oversee your payments means CrossbarFX sits as a truly valuable tool for any business growing in this fast paced segment.
Being able to undercut our banking competitors both on rate and on speed of transmission means we outperform the high-street across a number of vertices whilst making sure there is no additional cost to bear on the part of our clients or their suppliers.
Some banks raise eyebrows when considering the import and export activity of certain rural, niche industry sectors and this is precisely because they don’t understand who the client is.
Renewable energy and sustainable technologies are increasingly part of our portfolio precisely because they tend not to garner the attention of more mainstream financial services operators. Margin as well as longer term cost analysis is key to these businesses and our experience with bio-mass and sustainably sourced fuels in particular, equips us well to plan with our clients for their longer term success.
We encounter a number of smaller or fledgling businesses who think they are are still required to visit their local bank branch to send a foreign currency payment. This is just one example of the extent to which high street banks aren’t introducing their customers to easier, more efficient and more competitive ways to do business. Our excellent rates of exchange and simple procedures show up the inadequacies of the services many businesses and co-operatives think they have no alternative but to use.
With our Head Office located in the heart of the Lake District and consultants permanently based in London and the North East of England, CrossbarFX is uniquely placed to provide tailored and expert advice, guidance and rates of exchange to manufacturing and agricultural businesses of all sizes and covering a great many geographical and specialist areas.
We deal primarily with owner managed and family run businesses as well as a number of landed estates, fisheries, grain and vegetable traders and a variety of specialist food producers and specialist equipment makers.
Single farm payments, buying equipment from overseas, exporting fresh produce or making long term payments for research and development, the list goes on.
With our excellent rates and simple procedures we’re confident in our ability to show up the inadequacies of the services many businesses and co-operatives think they have no alternative but to use.
For families based in the UK or overseas with children studying in another country the process of transferring a set amount to pay for fees and expenses can be complicated and, in some cases, confusing. Many UK based private schools and Universities ask for deposits and periodic instalments on a termly basis; with the constant movement of exchange rates this means the annual or quarterly cost of schooling can go up or down with the market.
With first hand experience of dealing with these payment issues across all stages of the educational journey, CrossbarFX’s team understand both the stresses and the useful tools that can offset uncertainty and providing a compelling saving.
Not only will our rates of exchange reduce the cost of paying school or university fees in the UK and internationally, but clients benefit from upfront and candid guidance as to the best time to transact and how to minimise cost increases over the year and longer term.
In recent years our dealing team has identified a growing payments trend amongst individuals and families travelling abroad for medical procedures and treatment.
Clinics located abroad invariably invoice in their local currency and it stands to reason that the work of a currency specialist might be just as useful to someone settling a medical invoice as anybody else engaged in international currency transfers.
Furthermore, those receiving insurance reimbursements can often elect to be paid in the currency in which the expense was incurred. Doing so may mean benefits in terms of capitalising on changes in the rates of exchange prevailing at the time of the foreign currency spend.
CrossbarFX can send funds directly to clinics, units and consultants. We do so on a same day basis and making use of the same industry leading rates as any other type of foreign exchange transaction we undertake.
Whether operating in high-end niche segments, online e-commerce , or high-street high-volume multiple outlet retail locations, companies with a product offering sourced outside the UK benefit hugely from expert guidance on currency movements and unparalleled competition on exchange rates.
In a sector where custom tends to dictate payment frequency, our expert currency dealers prioritise consistency. Quick turn-around companies do not want to trawl the internet or ring multiple currency companies to compare exchange rates.
In the retail segment our tailored services work just as well for luxury brands or wine importers as they do for ‘pound store’ wholesalers and online businesses. Clients are provided with a formal ‘payment advice slip’ on release of their payment which can serve as a formal ‘proof of payment’ to incentivise overseas suppliers to release product.
Invoices can be sent directly to a client’s dealer to trade ‘at best’ thereby cutting out drawn out or lengthy email conversations.
The UK is a hub for importers and exporters across a variety of spheres so to say we cater for importers and exporters is about as broad as a company can get. At a basic level we aim to ensure payments are made quickly to overseas suppliers and at the best exchange rates available.
The vast majority of importers in the UK already work with currency companies because, naturally, the two areas cross over wildly. Being able to receive payments from overseas customers for our UK based export and manufacturing clients means they needn’t hold their own currency accounts. We notify them of the arrival of a payment, and guide them as to the best time to sell their currency at the best rate.
As well as our much praised responsiveness, identifying smarter ways for a company to execute their payments, whether that be through grouping multiple payments to the same supplier or ‘netting-off’ incoming foreign currency payments against foreign currency invoices yet to be settled, are just some of the ways we have refined and improved the operating practices of a CrossbarFX client.
We work with a number of ‘sales agents’ and ‘manufacturer’s representatives’ based in the UK who receive commissions from brands (producing all manner of products) located abroad. Customers of these agency style businesses tend to pay the overseas supplier direct in a foreign currency so being able to introduce or rely on a foreign exchange specialist who can shave upwards of 2% off the sterling cost of that purchase is valuable to both the agency and to their customers.
Furniture, specialist lighting, bespoke one-off items or decorative pieces, antiques, valuations, interior design sourcing, luxury furnishings, ‘works of art’ – often these can be provided to individual clients by stand-alone specialist suppliers or by one-stop shops offering packages or turn-key solutions.
An ability to centralise any foreign exchange or international payment concern when you’re dealing with a number of suppliers, complimented by the best exchange rates on offer, is highly prized amongst our clients.
Businesses without a physical high street presence face a unique step of concerns.
Suppliers are often reluctant to release product prior to receiving at least a payment confirmation, let alone payment for an actual shipment; hence, our ability to provide all of the mandatory paperwork, coupled with the speed with which we can credit global currencies, makes for a seamless and integrated service offering; cost effective, anticipating obstacles and tailored to how you would like to work.
Companies focused on operating with as few overheads as possible enjoy a set of foreign currency accounts and a suite of foreign exchange tools that would ordinarily only be provided to established firms.
By leveraging off of our currency turnover, a small online retailer can operate using commercial rates of exchange, tailored product selection and expert advice and guidance at the end of the telephone.
CrossbarFX has worked for years with both film financiers and distributors, but we have recently seen an increase in the number of producers and agencies interested in understanding how to limit the effects of frequently changing exchange rates on overseas location shoots and promotional campaigns outside the UK.
A UK based production company has to manage costs through pre and post production as well as during shooting. Identifying those tools that can both minimise the risk of exchange rates moving unfavourably and maximise the benefit gained from improvements in the rate is core to our work with this sector.
The repatriation of fees and profits from both syndication and distribution rights, as well as dividends and movie rights are all enhanced by the uniquely priced commercial rates of exchange we offer as standard.
UK based companies offering expert niche services such as CGI and special effects can invoice overseas clients in their own currency to pitch and even compete directly in foreign markets.
Increasingly we are receiving enquiries from sports related businesses, teams and clubs keen to minimise their exposure to ever changing exchange rates and mitigate their effects on transfer costs, contract disputes, overseas licensing of sports products and the import and export of merchandise.
At an individual level sporting professionals with interests globally can rely on CrossbarFX to execute transfers and payments discretely, at a moment’s notice and at the best commercial rates of exchange.
Our experience extends to working with rugby and football clubs at player, agent and board level; golfers and tennis players, racing yards and bloodstock agencies and trainers.
Sports businesses tend to face many of the same concerns as other companies in sectors we understand and so passporting our depth of knowledge into as dynamic and fast-growing an area as this gives an edge to our proposition and can be hugely to the advantage of our clients and their representatives.
As well as transacting directly for organisations’ management and operating teams, for example in instances where they collect membership subscriptions from non-doms or are required to pay for events and conferences abroad, we also trade for members and patrons of these associations and groups. Many pan-industry alliances and partnerships present specific member communities or club members with ‘preferential rates’ and ‘unique’ services.
We ask “What does ‘preferential’ mean when you should be operating at the most competitive levels already?”.
Our directors and associates speak regularly to business groups and organisations in person and we contribute to a number of national periodicals and news letters to educate our potential clients as to why specialist foreign exchange firms afford them distinct commercial advantages not just in terms of an improved bottom line, but also when competing in overseas markets.
Our team are ready and waiting to talk you through how we can assist with your forex requirements.