Lloyds TSB International has removed fees for its international money transfers for Premier International Account holders as of the 30th of May.
New and existing holders of the account will no longer be charged a transfer fee to move currency to any overseas bank account, whether it involves currency exchange or not and regardless of how they request the transfer – online, by telephone or by post.
The lack of fees will be welcomed by the large numbers of expats who transfer money to and from overseas accounts. A recent Lloyds TSB survey found that 34% of expats, some 1.87 million people , transfer money internationally at least once a quarter at an average cost of £15.10 per transfer. 18% of expats transfer money overseas monthly, weekly or more frequently still. Furthermore, with 39% of expats' savings held in Sterling, fee-free money transfers may prove particularly popular for regular savers who prefer Sterling to their local currency.
“Removing fees for international money transfers is a logical, and we hope popular, step to take as we try to build the market-leading banking service for expats,” said Russell Galley, Managing Director, Lloyds TSB International. “It demonstrates our commitment to our expat customers and reflects improvements that we're making across the board, from introducing best-buy savings rates to developing an award-winning internet banking service.
“Many expats rate foreign exchange and money transfers as an important financial service and fee-free transfers will be a great benefit to the huge number of our customers who continue to have financial commitments in more than one country.”
Read our guides to exchanging foreign currency here